Social Protection and Care Economy in Africa
Announcement in Brief
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Programme Rationale
Over the past three decades, Africa has witnessed notable fluctuations in economic growth. Average growth in the 1990s was around 2.5%, followed by a sustained growth from 2000 to 2015, making the continent the second fastest-growing region in the world (UNECA 2015). The
economic growth has slowed down after 2015, with annual growth rates averaging 3.2 per cent (UN 2019). This was due to the lingering effects of the global financial crisis and subsequent falling commodity prices. The COVID-19 pandemic further impacted growth performance with a contraction of 2.1% in 2020. Additionally, the war in Ukraine has added another layer of difficulties for countries already grappling with the effects of the health crisis1.
The fluctuation of growth performance is mainly explained by the high vulnerability of the continent to external factors. The economy is poorly diversified and highly dependent on mining and extraction sectors, which do not generate sufficient employment opportunities for the growing labor force.
Between 1990 and 2015, the poverty rate in Africa fell continuously, from 54 per cent to 41 per cent. However, the absolute number of African people living in extreme poverty (on less than US$1.90 per day) increased from 278 million in 1990 to 413 million in 2015. According to data
from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed an estimated 55 million Africans into extreme poverty in 2020 and reversed more than two decades of progress in poverty reduction on the continent2.
Objectives
The objective of the course is to provide middle and senior level officials and decision makers with comprehensive understanding social protection and care economy in Africa, including the design, financing, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of related policies and
programs.
By the end of the capacity-enhancement training programme, the participants are expected to have acquired:
- Enhanced understanding of social protection frameworks and care systems.
- Knowledge of existing tools and mechanisms to address the financial sustainability of social protection systems, including insights into the relationship between social protection, public finances, and economic stability.
- Knowledge and expertise to design, implement, monitor and evaluate Social Protection Policies
Skills to develop strategies for advancing gender and care sensitive social protection and building shock-responsive systems that enhance resilience to unexpected events, ensuring better mitigation and preparedness.