In this episode of the Social Inclusion Series*, we explore how social protection systems can support greater inclusion for persons with disabilities across the Asia-Pacific region. Most of them face multiple and interconnected barriers, ranging from inaccessible environments and social stigma to the high costs of healthcare, assistive technologies, and care. When these needs go unmet, they can lead to increased risk of poverty, reduced participation in education and employment, and diminished well-being for individuals and their families.

This episode examines how governments and communities are working to address these challenges. We unpack “cash-plus” approaches that combine income support with health coverage, assistive devices, and care services, and look at how countries, especially in Southeast Asia, are designing more inclusive and responsive forms of support..

Meet our guests: 

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Sam Drummond, the host of the podcast ‘Building Inclusion’, a limited podcast series that highlights the voices shaping the future of disability inclusion in Australia.

*The Social Inclusion Series, produced by socialprotection.org in partnership with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is a three-part series that explores how social protection systems can advance the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific, in line with GEDSI principles, addressing key themes such as gender equality, demographic shifts, and disability inclusion.

Resources:

Multimedia | Building Inclusion: Australia’s Disability Strategy

Publication | Global Disability Inclusion Report

Publication | Methodological Guidelines on Assessing Household Disability-Related Costs and Their Implication for Participation

Publication | Building an inclusive future: Social protection as a catalyst for disability empowerment in Viet Nam

Publication| Bridging the information gap towards inclusive governance

In this second episode of the Social Inclusion Series*, we explore how ageing populations are reshaping social protection needs and development across Asia and the Pacific. While demographic trends vary widely across the region, countries are increasingly facing issues on how to support income security, health, care, and dignity in later life.

The episode explores the links between ageing, pension systems, and the care economy, which has long relied on women’s unpaid labour, including how family-based care is coming under increasing pressure from migration, urbanisation, and changing social and economic conditions. Drawing on examples from the Asia-Pacific region, with a closer look at the experience of Fiji, our guests discuss how social protection can evolve to complement family and community support, reduce poverty, and strengthen resilience across the life course.

Meet our guests: 

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Meghna Ranganathan, Associate Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who shared insights on how the impacts of social protection interventions on intimate partner violence and household dynamics evolve over time, and reflected on more inclusive approaches to research and evidence.

*The Social Inclusion Series, produced by socialprotection.org in partnership with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is a three-part series that explores how social protection systems can advance the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific, in line with GEDSI principles, addressing key themes such as gender equality, demographic shifts, and disability inclusion.

**P4SP stands for Partnership for Social Protection and it is a program funded and supported by the Australian Government. More information here. 

Resources:

Publication | World social protection report 2024-26: Regional companion report for Asia and the Pacific

Publication | Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific 2024 - Protecting our Future Today: Social Protection in Asia and the Pacific

Publication | Toward a Resilient Care Ecosystem in Asia and the Pacific - Promising Practices, Lessons Learned, and Pathways for Action on Decent Care Work

Publication | Caring Societies, Inclusive, and Green Economies in Asia and the Pacific: Unveiling Data To Advance Women’s Empowerment Beyond GDP

Blog | Why Asia-Pacific should care about care: Care infrastructure is the next frontier development solution across the region

Blog | Ageing in the Global South: The challenge of social protection

Publication | Future demand for care in Indonesia, the Philippines & Vietnam

Website | Cash Transfer and IPV Research Collaborative

Publication | Evolution of intimate partner violence impacts from cash transfers, food transfers, and behaviour change communication: Mixed-method experimental evidence from a nine-year post-programme follow-up in Bangladesh

Publication | Decolonising implementation science: a call for methodological pluralism

In this first episode of the Social Inclusion Series*, we shine a spotlight on adolescent girls. Adolescence is a turning point—but one that often goes overlooked in social protection. These years are filled with major transitions, especially for girls, who often face greater challenges in staying in school, taking on care responsibilities, navigating sexual debut, and making decisions about their futures. These challenges are often driven by underlying gender inequalities and poverty, which shape and often constrain these pathways.  

In this episode, we explore how social protection can help shift that trajectory. Focusing on risks such as child marriage and early pregnancy, we unpack how well-designed programmes can support girls to stay in school, access essential services, and navigate this critical stage of life with greater security. It also discusses how crisis—from economic shocks to climate change—can deepen risks, making already fragile transitions even more uncertain for adolescent girls. 

Our guests dive into the evidence on what works providing some examples in Asia and worldwide and discuss why investing in adolescent girls is key to building more inclusive, resilient and climate-adaptive societies. 

Meet our guests: 

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Eunice Tumwebaze, who is the Manager for Gender, Youth, and Children at the Kampala Capital City Authority in Uganda, who provided and overview of the Uganda's first urban social protection program for girls called “Girls Empowering Girls”. 

*The Social Inclusion Series, produced by socialprotection.org in partnership with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is a three-part series that explores how social protection systems can advance the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific, in line with GEDSI principles, addressing key themes such as gender equality, demographic shifts, and disability inclusion. 

Resources:

Publication | Unlocking Potential: How Social Protection Can Improve Disadvantaged Children’s Foundational Cognitive Skills 

Publication | Weathering the Storm: Climate Shocks Threaten Children’s Skills and Learning But Social Protection Can Mitigate Impact 

Publication | A Call to Action to expand social protection and care systems and promote decent work to address child poverty 

Publication | Non-contributory Social Protection and Adolescents in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review of Government Programming and Impacts 

Publication | Impacts and Design of Social Assistance for Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment and Well-Being in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: What Works for Adolescent Girls 

Publication | Systematic review of cash plus or bundled interventions targeting adolescents in Africa to reduce HIV risk 

News | DSWD's ProtecTEEN program to address adolescent pregnancy 

News | DSWD XI, CPD XI forge partnership on Social Protection and PopDev 

Technical Brief | The Investment Case for the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy and Child Marriage in South-East Asia  

Webinar | Global Evaluation of UNICEF work supporting expansion toward universal child benefits - cash plus programming strengthening adolescent and youth development, opportunities and empowerment In Good practices from Uganda and India 

Website | Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) project 

Publication | Towards Gender-Responsive Social Protection: Evidence on policymaking, programme implementation and impacts for women and girls 

Publication | A Cash Plus Model for Safe Transitions to a Healthy and Productive Adulthood: Round 4 Findings 

 Between 2015 and 2025, the number of displaced people worldwide nearly doubled. Today, more than 123 million people are forcibly displaced globally, including around 42 million refugees. Many of the countries that host refugees internationally are low- or middle-income, often lacking adequate social protection systems for their own citizens, let alone for displaced populations. As conflicts become increasingly protracted, displacement now lasts for years, or even decades, turning forced displacement from a short-term emergency into a long-term development challenge.

Given this background, the episode explores how perspectives on forced displacement have evolved, shifting from a primarily humanitarian concern to a broader development issue. It examines how social protection systems can be expanded to better include refugees, and discusses the opportunities and challenges of approaches that bridge humanitarian and development responses within social protection frameworks.

This month’s episode marks five years of the Social Protection Podcast. Over this time, the podcast has brought together voices from a wide range of institutions, countries, and perspectives to explore the evolving debates, policies, and practices shaping social protection worldwide. Since its launch, the podcast has released 70 episodes, including five special series, and reached thousands of listeners in over 180 countries. This milestone reflects the commitment of our guests and partners, as well as the dedicated work of the socialprotection.org team and its collaborators. And, of course, to you, the listener: thank you for being part of this journey!

Meet our guests:

Mattia Polvanesi, Senior Social Protection Officer, UNHCR

Pablo A. Acosta, Lead Economist for Social Protection and Global Lead for Migration, World Bank Group

Sarah Hague, Senior Advisor and Global Coordinator, Economic and Social Policy Global Practice, UNICEF

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Lauren Whitehead, Lead on Inclusive Social Protection and Gender, UNICEF, who shared key outcomes and takeaways from the Gender-Responsive Social Protection Symposium.

Resources:

Website | 1951 Refugee Convention

Publication | 2018 Global Compact on Refugees

 Publication | Refugees and Social Assistance in Low- and middle-income Countries : A Review of Operational Experiences

Publication | Responsibility Sharing and the Economic Participation of Refugees in Chad

Publication | Leaving no one behind: Why social protection must include displaced people (not open access)

 Publication | IMF World Economic Outlook  - A Critical Juncture amid Policy Shifts

 Publication | The Global Cost of Refugee Inclusion in Host Countries’ Health Systems: A Joint World Bank-UNHCR Report

Publication | G20 Call to Action Towards Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Development through Universal Social Protection Systems

Publication | Tipsheets for applying the Common Principles for linking Humanitarian Assistance and Social Protection: Principle 9

Publication | Guiding Principles for Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Social Protection

The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, launched under Brazil’s G20 Presidency in 2024, seeks to accelerate progress towards ending extreme poverty and hunger while tackling inequality. Bringing together over 200 members including governments, international organisations, and other partners, the Alliance aims to mobilise political commitment, align public and private financing, and promote evidence-based policy solutions that are country-led and centred on those most affected. 

In this episode, we unpack the Alliance’s mandate and early achievements, explore how it supports countries in identifying needs and scaling proven policy instruments, and discuss what lies ahead as the Global Alliance moves from coordination to large-scale implementation. 

Meet our guests: 

Renato Domith Godinho, Director, Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Support Mechanism 

In our Quick Wins segment, we speak with Raphaël Duteau, Manager for AI and Data Ethics at Employment and Social Development Canada, about the opportunities Artificial Intelligence presents for social protection. He also shares insights on the AI Hub launched under the Digital Convergence Initiative. 

References: 

Resource | Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty 

Resource | AI Hub 

Webinar recording | The AI Hub for Social Protection - supporting responsible AI in social protection 

In this episode, we explore how TRANSFORM is being institutionalised as a core approach to continuous capacity building for social protection practitioners and leaders across Africa. The conversations focus on how the initiative has supported the development of rights-based, inclusive social protection systems and how its content and methodology are being embedded within training programmes to strengthen leadership and skills at national and decentralised levels. This episode also reflects on the future of TRANSFORM in the context of shifting global dynamics, including changes in the official development assistance landscape.

The episode concludes the three-part TRANSFORM Podcast Series, which presents the initiative's achievements 10 years since its inception through conversations with guests from the continent. In case you missed the prior episodes of the series, you can access them here: 

Hosted by Abidemi Coker, a passionate TRANSFORM Master Trainer.

Meet our guests for episode 3:

For our testimonial segment, we welcome Samuel Kapingidza, Social Protection Specialist at the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa, and the TRANSFORM Advisory Group chairperson.

To learn more and explore how TRANSFORM can be tailored for your context and how you can get involved with the initiative, go to https://transformsp.org and contact [email protected].

In this episode, we explore how TRANSFORM has helped promote a ‘culture of social protection’ across Africa, shaping how civil servants approach their roles and how institutions adapt to address lifecycle challenges using TRANSFORM’s building-block methodology. The conversations highlight the initiative’s leadership effects and its influence at national and sub-national levels, while also examining how it has supported the integration of social protection into the priorities of the African regional bodies and governments.

This is the second of the three-part TRANSFORM Podcast Series, which will present the initiative's achievements 10 years since its inception through conversations with guests from the continent. In case you missed the first episode of the TRANSFORM series, you can access it here: Ep. 1 | Social Protection Capacity Building in Africa: 10 Years of TRANSFORM

Hosted by Abidemi Coker, a passionate TRANSFORM Master Trainer.

Meet our guests for episode 2:

For our testimonial segment, we welcome Felix Mwenge, TRANSFORM Coordinator and the Technical Officer for TRANSFORM and Knowledge Management at the ILO Country Office for Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

To learn more and explore how TRANSFORM can be tailored to your own context and how you can get involved with the initiative, go to https://transformsp.org and contact [email protected].

In this special episode with Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, we explore where global efforts stand today to combat poverty and how international actors can strengthen their support, particularly through a human-rights lens. The discussion brings what an effective path forward might look like in today’s complex global context, and how poverty, as a deeply transversal issue, is interlinked with a myriad of other major themes requiring international and national attention.

Our regular podcast episodes will take a short break in January 2026, but we will be back in February with exciting guests and new social protection topics. In the meantime, we leave you with our special TRANSFORM podcast series, which will feature two more episodes: one to be released later this month and the other in January. Stay tuned!

Meet our guests:

For our Quick Wins segment, we have Marco Knowles, Senior Social Protection Officer at FAO, talking about the latest publication on social protection for rural populations within green climate fund projects. We also discuss the latest development on COP30 in Belém and the advocacy efforts that have been made so far.

Publication: Weathering the storm: poverty, climate change and social protection

Publication| Breaking the cycle: ending the criminalization of homelessness: Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter

Publication | The Poverty of Growth

Publication | Eradicating poverty beyond growth: Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter

Publication | Non-take-up of rights in the context of social protection: Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter

Publication | Social protection and inclusive climate action – A review of social protection for rural populations within Green Climate Fund projects

 Do cash transfers drive inflation? Is social protection a cost to the economy, or an investment in its future? And who should these systems ultimately serve? In this second and final episode on social protection myths and misperceptions, we turn to the economic and systemic dimensions — how social protection interacts with markets, fiscal policy, and national development.

Davide Rasella, ICREA Research Professor and Head of the Global Health Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group, ISGlobal and ISC.

Resources:

Podcast | Ep.54 | Social Protection Myths and Misperceptions Part 1

Publication | Do cash transfers cause inflation?

Publication | The multiplier effects of government expenditures on social protection

Publication | Social protection systems, redistribution and growth in Latin America

Publication | Impact of social protection on child malnutrition and mortality across 46 LMICs: a longitudinal study over two decades with insights from the COVID-19 pandemic

Publication | Effects of conditional cash transfers on tuberculosis incidence and mortality according to race, ethnicity and socioeconomic factors in the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort

Publication | Effect of a conditional cash transfer programme on AIDS incidence, hospitalisations, and mortality in Brazil: a longitudinal ecological study

Publication | Evaluation and Forecasting Analysis of the Association of Conditional Cash Transfer With Child Mortality in Latin America, 2000-2030

This episode introduces listeners to the origins and essence of the TRANSFORM initiative—an innovative, leading capacity-building program designed to strengthen social protection systems in Africa. It explores what sets TRANSFORM apart from other training programs and how it was designed as a uniquely African initiative, tailored to the continent’s context and adaptable to the needs of its countries and communities. 

The episode is the first of a three-part TRANSFORM Podcast Series, which will present the initiative's achievements 10 years since its inception through conversations with guests from the continent. The series explores the impact of TRANSFORM on the social protection in the region, showcasing achievements in building culture and its integration into institutions. 

Hosted by Abidemi Coker, a passionate TRANSFORM Master Trainer. 

Meet our guests for episode 1: 

For our testimonial segment, we welcome Aly Cisse, Social Protection and Labour Migration Specialist and a TRANSFORM Master Trainer from Senegal.  

To learn more and explore how TRANSFORM can be tailored to your own context and how you can get involved with the initiative, go to https://transformsp.org and contact [email protected].