1. Background
According to the World Social Protection Report 2024-2026 the world has surpassed an important milestone: for the first time, more than half the world’s population (52.4 per cent) are covered by at least one social protection benefit. Yet, the remaining 47.6 per cent are left unprotected, without access to any social protection. Only 19 per cent of Africa’s population receives at least one social protection benefit. The Asia-Pacific region has made tremendous strides with coverage now exceeding the global average at 53.6 per cent. Despite this, some 2.1 billion people remain unprotected against various life cycle and socio-economic risks while progress in extending social protection has been uneven.
Social protection systems in Africa and Asia-Pacific regions face both recurrent and new transformative challenges and require significant strengthening if they are to help effectively mitigate the impacts of the triple global crisis in fuel, food and finance. Progress towards fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals target on social protection (indicator 1.3.1) is being adversely affected by gaps in the coverage, comprehensiveness and adequacy of social protection systems. The situation is being exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis triggered by the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, internal and international conflicts, the energy crunch, financial constraints and related surging inflation (in other words, the triple crisis in fuel, food and finance). Beyond the triple crisis, climate change both in terms of slow-onset and sudden events, is also negatively impacting lives and livelihoods, especially among vulnerable groups and pushing millions of people back into poverty. Further, the recent tariff announcements have increased trade tensions and uncertainty, threatening to exacerbate existing inequalities.
In Africa, many countries are struggling to invest in social protection, health and education due to limited resources and high debts. At the 11th session of the Africa Regional Forum for Sustainable Development, held in Kampala, Uganda in April 2025, it was agreed that African countries and development partners should strengthen economic security and resilience through robust and targeted social protection mechanisms, such as voluntary savings schemes and grants for older persons and persons with disabilities. Further, the Kampala Declaration on “Sustainable, Inclusive, Science-based and Evidence-based Solutions for Driving Job Creation and Economic Growth and for Implementing the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063” called for building and strengthening nationally appropriate, universal, inclusive and gender-responsive social protection systems and programmes and services accessible for persons with disabilities and enhancing their ability to withstand and recover from disasters and maintain continuity in times of crisis.
The pandemic triggered a historic shock to the global economy, affecting all regions. According to The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022, more than four years of progress against poverty was erased, with an additional 75 million to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022 compared with the pre-pandemic level. Africa has been particularly affected: its poverty rate increased, and millions were pushed into extreme poverty. While many countries around the world introduced new social protection measures in response to the crisis, many of the measures were short-term in nature, and large numbers of people living in multidimensional poverty and groups in vulnerable situations have yet to benefit from them. Inequalities between and within countries have also worsened, while rising inflationary pressures, in particular price hikes in the energy sector, have eroded the purchasing power of households and have disproportionately affected the most vulnerable segments of the population, who were also the hardest hit by the pandemic, such as women, children, older persons, workers in the informal economy and the urban poor. Rising prices also spread from the energy sector into other sectors, with food prices being one of the most affected. Staple food prices in sub-Saharan Africa increased by about 24 per cent between 2020 and 2022. This was the sharpest increase since the 2008 global financial crisis. As a result, the number of people facing severe food insecurity increased sharply, with more than one in five people in sub-Saharan Africa facing hunger and more than 250 million people being undernourished. In response, some African countries turned to subsidies and tax cuts to alleviate suffering and the squeeze in household incomes. More recently, FAO’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report notes that food availability, accessibility, and affordability continue to be impacted by conflicts, economic disruptions, natural and man-made disasters, rising inequalities, and the growing frequency of climate-related shocks such as floods, droughts, and extreme weather events.
Against this backdrop, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), are implementing an innovative joint three year project (2024 to 2026) that is supporting four selected countries in Africa (Namibia, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia) and two countries in Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia and Maldives) to strengthen their social protection systems and programmes’ capacities to identify, reach out and expand to those left behind. The project entitled “Strengthening Capacity for evidence-based Social Protection Policies for responding to the triple global crisis in fuel, food and finance” is working to inform robust, sustainable, inclusive and crisis responsive policies and programmes with evidence and by fostering sharing of experiences across regions and training policymakers on the use of already existing digital platforms that can provide useful guidance on monitoring SDG progress and acceleration by identifying those groups left furthest behind and adversely impacted by the triple crisis. The project will also deliver knowledge products that aim to promote effective and equitable government spending and progressive tax systems, including the alignment of fiscal systems with social protection outcomes by committing to protect and expand social protection spending in government budgets.
As part of this initiative and to create a firm foundation for the project, ECA, ESCAP and DESA were co-organising an interregional training workshop for development officers from Africa and Asia and the Pacific participant countries to enhance learning and expertise on how best to respond to the impact of the triple global crisis.
2. Objective
The aim of the workshop was to equip participants with practical skills to inform social protection policies and programmes with inclusive evidence. It would underscore the importance of aligning national social protection policies and strategies with global agendas and overarching principles, including the outcomes of the Summit of the Future and its Pact for the Future. Building upon insights gained from the national capacity building workshops undertaken as an initial step of the project, the workshop trained participants to access and effectively utilize the United Nations' and UN-promoted third parties’ social protection toolsets that seek to amplify the reach and efficacy of social protection programs, including the multidimensional poverty index (MPI), the Social Protection Simulator and the Social Protection to Leave No One Behind (SP2LNOB) App. Further objectives were to share experiences and enhance partnerships, including those between policymakers in the Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Workshop deliberations would be informed by the draft outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit for Social Development that would be held in Doha, Qatar from 4-6 November 2025.
3. Target Group
The training workshop targeted policymakers from the project focus countries engaged with social protection policymaking and programme delivery, including government officials directly dealing with policy formulation and data management. In addition, this workshop also engaged policy makers from non-project countries to raise awareness about tools and capacitate them to address social protection issues and expand and enrich the dialogue on how best to respond to the impact of the triple global crisis encompassing the cost-of-living crisis, and other emerging shocks. Representatives from the United Nations system and civil society organizations were also invited. A total of around 70 participants were expected.
4. Date, venue, and language
The workshop was conducted in the format of interactive presentations and dialogues focused on the sharing of experiences and peer-to-peer learning on strengthening social protection systems.
It was hosted by the Government of the Republic of Zambia and took place in Livingstone, Zambia, from 8 to 10 July 2025.
The working language of the workshops was English with French translation; documentation was provided in English.
5. Organizational and administrative matters
The workshop was held in person. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa or the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific met the costs related to the participation (travel and per diem) of all the invited participants and experts from outside the United Nations system.