August Newsletter - Exploring Social Protection and UBI

Welcome to socialprotection.org August Newsletter (special edition for LinkedIn)!

Considering recent global crises, the debate surrounding the conceptualisation and implementation of Universal Basic Income (UBI) recurs repeatedly, shedding light on both its benefits and associated challenges.

UBI, and versions of it, were debated during the COVID-19 pandemic as policy instruments to address poverty and loss of income, especially as the pandemic exposed the shortcomings in the social protection systems. While UBI has the potential to enhance income security, can it be integrated with existing social protection systems to complement rather than replace them?

Explore our curated content to delve deeper into this critical issue. Be sure to tune in to our latest special podcast dedicated to UBI. Additionally, you can register for upcoming webinars, review selected publications, and more!

Don’t miss out!

Upcoming webinars and events

• 15 August 2024 | 09:00 (GMT+10) - Financing social protection in the Pacific and Timor-Leste, by Partnerships for Social Protection (P4SP), Australia - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, DFAT
•  22 August 2024 | 14:00 (GMT+2) - In the Trenches - Understanding and Supporting Africa’s Social Protection Frontline Workforce, by TRANSFORM
• 29 August | 13:00 (GMT+3) - Multi-faceted integration of Social Protection in Morocco / التكامل المتعدد الجوانب للحماية الاجتماعية في المغرب | socialprotection.org, by ISSA, ILO
• 29-31 August | Reclaiming the Future: Basic income and socio-ecological transformations, by Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN)

Social Protection Podcast

Ep. 41 | The Evolution of Universal Basic Income: From Pilots to Policy— In the episode, we explore the possible advantages of adopting a UBI, the main challenges and what lessons have been learned with the recent discussions on the theme.

Meet our guests:

• Eduardo Suplicy, State Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo 
• Jürgen de Wispelaere, IPR Policy Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath 

Hit play!

Highlights

• Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty—Proposed by the G20 Brazil 2024 presidency, the Global Alliance is a groundbreaking initiative designed to mobilise resources and expertise for the development and implementation of effective public policies and social technologies aimed at reducing hunger and poverty worldwide. Explore now the foundational documents and learn more about the initiative ahead of its official launch this November.

socialprotection.org is supporting the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty by developing an online hub to gather and curate information on a comprehensive range of policy instruments linked to successful governmental implementation cases aimed at fighting poverty and hunger. Stay tuned!

• GitHub Discussions Forum—The Digital Convergence Initiative - DCI Standards Committee on Interoperability of Social Registry, Social Protection Management Information Systems, and Integrated Beneficiary Registry invites you to participate in a public review and provide feedback on the DCI draft standards. Click here to know more and participate.

Online Community

• Survey time! | Participate in this quick survey to share your preferences for the format, frequency, and timing of the Social Protection in Crisis Contexts Online Community Hangout* meetings. Help community administrators deliver improved sessions starting in September. It takes less than 3 minutes to complete and will be open until 27 August!

*The Hangouts provide an informal space to exchange ideas, voice concerns, and share experiences regarding #SocialProtection in crisis contexts and #HumanitarianAssistance-SocialProtection linkages in an open and supportive environment

Blogs of the Month

• Basic income and related forms of unconditional support: A role in promoting a green & fair transition? —Recent health, economic, and social crises have intensified debates on effective targeting and universal versus needs-based support. Read now! This blog was specially produced for our August newsletter by Herwig Immervoll , Head of Social Benefits and Green Transition, OECD - OCDE
• Basic income as an innovative social protection tool— This piece calls for a systematic consideration of the basic income in social protection schemes across humanitarian, development and peacebuilding settings. Read now! This blog was specially produced for our August newsletter by Diana Bashur , Basic Income Earth Network Secretary

Publications, courses and multimedia

Studies and publications:

Theme of the month

• The potential of universal basic income schemes to mitigate shocks, by UNU-WIDER - United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (2024)
• How Cash Incentives Can Affect Childbearing Among Low-Income Women: Evidence from the Finnish Basic Income Experiment, by Stockholm University (2024)

Recently added

• The Effectiveness of Cash and Cash Plus Interventions on Livelihoods Outcomes: Evidence from a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) , CGIAR (2024)
• Who holds the levers of design? Insights and ideas for cash and locally led response Christian Aid (2024)

e-Learning:

• Introduction to Social Protection: A Systems Approach to Universal Social Protection | Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University , evaplan Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH . Access now!
• Introduction to social protection in the Pacific and Timor-Leste | Partnerships for Social Protection (P4SP) Access now!

Multimedia:

• The Economics of Implementing a Universal Basic Income in South Africa | Social Policy Initiative - SPI —Location, race, gender, age, and parental status significantly influence South Africa’s inequality. This video is a recording of the "Economics of Implementing a Universal Basic Income in South Africa" webinar. Watch now!

 Programme profiles

Targeted Subsidies Reform Act (Iranian UBI) | Iran—Established in 2010, the Reform Act aims to replace direct price subsidies with universal cash transfers to households and absorb the increase of the prices of all major petroleum products and natural gas as well as electricity, water and bread. Know more!

Read also blog post: The Golden Age of the Universal Basic Income in Iran, by Amirhosein Rahbari , socialprotection.org

 More related Content:

• Access a comprehensive collection of past webinars, including their recordings and presentations, focused on UBI. Watch now!
• Listen to a two-part Social Protection Podcast series about UBI released in 2022

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