Local government leads the way with inclusive social protection in Indonesia
28th August 2017: The local government in one Indonesian district has reported on the impacts of an inclusive social protection scheme for the elderly and committed to its continuation. The...
Thailand’s Old Age Pension: an example of the importance of good quality analysis
I recently come across a draft report by the World Bank on Thailand’s old age pension system. The report states it is for consultation, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to provide a few thoughts and helpfully point out a key problem with the analysis. In 2009, Thailand implemented a large-scale...
Introducing “The Contents – and Discontents – of Graduation”: Development Pathways blog series
Development Pathways today launches a blog series entitled The Contents – and Discontents – of Graduation in order to further debate the pros and cons of graduation strategies. Over the next six weeks, we will host a weekly blog from practitioners and academics; advocates and critics; government implementers and NGOs. There has...
Dangerous Habits of Thought: why I fear ‘graduation’ and ‘resilience’
Shivers ran down my spine when I interviewed an official in Bangladesh about social protection last week. We had a friendly discussion about, among other things, why the Government of Bangladesh has shown such strong commitment to social protection – including taking out a US$0.5 billion soft loan with the World...
What is the Evidence on ‘Graduation’ Programmes?
How easy is it to ‘graduate’ people out of poverty? In recent years, there has been a wave of so-called ‘graduation’ programmes in developing countries, all of which are derived from BRAC’s Targeting the Ultra-Poor (TUP) programme in Bangladesh. Claims are made by these schemes of a high proportion of...
Bangladesh: Social Unrest, Elections and a Failed Social Model
Bangladesh has just experienced troubled elections boycotted by the main opposition party, amid strikes and violence. It is not a happy country. Yet, in many respects, since independence the country has made good progress. While many commentators in the 1980s wrote off the country as a basket case, its economy...
Bangladesh approves, in principle, its National Social Security Strategy
In early April 2015, the Cabinet of the Government of Bangladesh approved in principle its new National Social Security Strategy (NSSS), subject to some changes. Since independence, Bangladesh has instituted a range of social security schemes although the level of investment in conventional cash-based schemes has remained relatively low, at...
Economic Impacts of a Universal Pension in Bangladesh
Dr. Bazlul Khondker is an economist, specialising in econometric modelling and social security. In this perspective, he looks at the economic impacts of a universal pension in Bangladesh. Through his modelling, he demonstrates that investing in a universal pension has similar economic impacts to those of investing in infrastructure and capital goods. Further, the distribution of economic benefits of a universal pension appear to be pro-poor and pro-rural.
Indonesian social protection system must be for all citizens, declares Government report
26th November: A recommendation that Indonesia moves from a social protection system that only targets the poorest to one that is inclusive of all citizens is included in a new...
Lessons to Be Learned: International Interventions in Timor-Leste
The time has come to learn from international interventions in Timor-Leste: Political economy and conflict analyses must be applied in support of countries in transition. Sitting at a long table in a quiet pedestrian street soaking in the Portuguese sunshine, I recently caught up with a former colleague who was in...