The pandemic highlighted pre-existing weaknesses in social protection systems in the Arab region, but spurred a new mobilization of resources to extend social safety nets in response to the crisis. Arab countries have an opportunity to learn from this experience to construct stronger, shock-responsive social protection systems that provide whole-of-life coverage and resilience against future crises.
Directly related goals:
Countries in the Arab region responded rapidly to the economic repercussions that the crisis had on individuals and households through measures such as cash transfers, wage subsidies, utility waivers and price controls on staple goods. While many of these interventions were limited in scope and duration and will not become permanent components of the region’s social protection systems, government responses to the crisis acknowledged the need to help those left behind by existing programmes. Shock-responsive expansions of support systems, innovative delivery mechanisms, efforts to improve social registries and the acceleration of long-term reform projects could result in durable improvements to social protection systems and advance progress on the 2030 Agenda.
Social protection is defined as a set of public policies and programmes intended to ensure an adequate standard of living and access to health care throughout the life cycle. Social protection benefits can be provided in cash or in kind through universal or targeted non-contributory schemes, contributory schemes such as pensions, and complementary measures serving to build human capital, create productive assets and facilitate access to employment.
Arab countries frequently employed existing social protection infrastructure to scale up programmes in response to the crisis, either by increasing the benefits sent to recipients, or by increasing the number of beneficiaries, strategies respectively known as vertical and horizontal expansion. While many measures were temporary, some countries accelerated reform processes, made permanent changes to existing programmes, or introduced new components to their social protection systems.
Temporary expansion measures targeting women, families with children, older persons, persons with disabilities, workers left unemployed by the crisis and other vulnerable groups were introduced throughout the region:
The crisis also drove forward-looking, permanent reforms of social protection regimes, and led policy makers to accelerate the launch of new programmes. Examples include:
As countries pursue reforms seeking to replace universal food and energy subsidies with targeted programmes serving the poorest households, attention must be paid to the “missing middle” who are insufficiently poor to qualify for targeted assistance programmes and are often either excluded from contributory social insurance schemes, or unlikely to sign up in cases where optional enrolment has been made possible.[16]
Those most excluded from social protection systems include informal and agricultural workers, members of the liberal professions (such as lawyers, doctors and independent contractors), the unemployed and youth not in education, employment, or training. Further, migrant workers and refugees, persons with disabilities, older persons, the ultra-poor and persons engaged in unpaid work (who are disproportionately women) are frequently left out of the region’s social protection systems.[17]
Coverage gaps are largely consequences of exclusionary contributory insurance schemes, fragmented and insufficient social assistance programmes, and underinvestment in social protection.
To implement a recovery that leaves no one behind, Arab countries must find ways to fill in these gaps to fulfil the right to social protection for all. Avenues for action include:
Figure 1 demonstrates that the Arab region is far behind the world average for the coverage of many vulnerable groups:
Similarly, investment in social protection remains low compared to other regions, as demonstrated in figure 2.
Arab States deployed technology and demonstrated flexibility in their social protection responses to the crisis. These adaptations have the potential to permanently impact the administration of social protection systems in the region and transform how people access benefits.
In much of the region, technology-based platforms and Internet applications became important parts of the user interface of social protection programmes:
In some cases, the COVID-19 pandemic led policymakers to accelerate efforts to improve the administrative capacity of social protection systems:
Delivery mechanisms were also adapted to the exigencies of the crisis:
Women are at particular risk of being left out of social protection systems in the Arab region, even as they disproportionately bear the consequences of socio-economic crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The following trends have been observed in the Arab region:
On migration: As of 2019, the Arab region hosted more than 40 million migrants and refugees, representing around 15per cent of the global total.[40] Although humanitarian aid is often available for refugee populations, the long duration of their stays in host countries gives rise to other social protection needs, such as health insurance and old-age income security.[41] Non-refugee migrant workers in the region are also often unable to access social protection programmes, and were excluded from many emergency relief measures instituted during the pandemic. Regional and international strategies must be developed to ensure the continuity of protection across national borders. International frameworks such as the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration can serve as useful guideposts for establishing non-discriminatory social protection systems and portability of benefits across borders.[42]
On financing: Many countries in the region – particularly the least developed countries (LDCs) and crisis-afflicted countries – fall far short of the resource requirements needed to establish effective social protection floors. Arab States could work together to make social protection an impactful focal point for international financial mobilization, potentially by establishing a regional fund for social protection to guarantee a basic standard of living for everyone in the region.[43]
On capacity-building and technical cooperation: International development partnerships can maximize their impact by responding to the long-term needs of beneficiary countries, and where possible working to enhance governments’ capacities to deliver social protection to their populations, for example, through the development of social registries. Technical cooperation initiatives, including the Expert Group on Social Protection Reform managed by ESCWA, can offer valuable platforms for information exchange. Further, regional fora such as the Council of Arab Ministers for Social Affairs can serve as platforms to exchange regional best practices relating to the coverage, shock responsiveness, financing and governance of social protection systems.
“We commit to assist migrant workers at all skills levels to have access to social protection in countries of destination and profit from the portability of applicable social security entitlements and earned benefits in their countries of origin or when they decide to take up work in another country.”
United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (A/RES/73/195).
[1] United Nations, COVID-19 Stimulus Tracker. Available at: http://tracker.unescwa.org/ (accessed on 8 October 2021); World Bank, “Social Protection and Jobs Responses to COVID-19: A Real-Time Review of Country Measures”, version 15, (Washington, D.C., World Bank, 2021).
[2] World Bank, “Social Protection and Jobs Responses to COVID-19”, 2021.
[3] Ibid.
[4] World Food Programme, “WFP’s Work in Enabling Social Protection in Somalia: Highlights of the World Food Programme’s Contributions to Social Protection in a New Normal”, 2021.
[5] United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), “Role of Social Protection Information Systems in Expansion of Cash Transfer Programmes during Covid-19 Pandemic: Experience from Selected Arab Countries”, Strengthening Social Protection for Pandemic Responses, 2021.
[6] United Nations, COVID-19 Stimulus Tracker. Available at: http://tracker.unescwa.org/ (accessed on 8 October 2021); International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPCIG), “Social protection responses to COVID-19 in the Global South: Online Dashboard”, 2021 (accessed on 15 September 2021); World Bank, “Social Protection and Jobs Responses to COVID-19”, 2021.
[7] Egypt, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, “Egypt’s 2021 Voluntary National Review”, 2021.
[8] Marina Wes, “Building Back Better: Supporting Egypt’s efforts at inclusive recovery”, World Bank, 22 June 2021.
[9] Watania, The Ministry of Social Development disbursed allocations for the month of April 2020 – Link to verify the names of beneficiaries.
[10] Gnet, The National Fund for Retirement and Social Security announces the dispersal of pension funds (French original title: Tunisie : La CNRPS annonce le versement des pensions à partir de demain, mercredi), 23 March 2021.
[11] Ahram Online, "Egypt's Sisi issues decree raising pensions 14% starting July”, 1 July 2020.
[12] United Nations, COVID-19 Stimulus Tracker. Available at: http://tracker.unescwa.org/ (accessed on 8 October 2021); IPCIG, “Social protection responses to COVID-19 in the Global South: Online Dashboard”, 2021 (accessed on 15 September 2021).
[13] Iraq, The Cabinet, “Cabinet approves draft pension and social security law, authorises signing of contract for automating customs procedures”, 18 November 2020.
[14] International Labour Organization (ILO), “Oman institutes its first unemployment insurance scheme”, 16 October 2020.
[15] Le Point, In Morocco, the implementation of generalized social protection (French original title: Maroc : la couverture sociale généralisée mise en œuvre), 16 April 2021; Slate, In the midst of a pandemic, Morocco aims to revolutionize its social protection system (French original title: En pleine pandémie, le Maroc veut révolutionner sa protection sociale), 29 April 2021.
[16] ESCWA, “Social Protection Reform in Arab Countries”, 2019.
[17] United Nations, “Social Protection Responses to the COVID-19 crisis in the MENA/ARAB States region”, 2020.
[18] ESCWA, “Social Inequalities in the Arab Region Post-COVID-19”, 2021.
[19] United Nations, “Social Protection Responses to the COVID-19 crisis in the MENA/ARAB States region”, 2020.
[20] Ibid.
[21] ESCWA, “Targeted Social Protection in Arab Countries before and During the COVID-19 Crisis”, Strengthening Social Protection for Pandemic Responses, 2021.
[22] Ibid.
[23] World Bank, “Comoros: World Bank Provides $10 Million to Support Emergency Response to COVID-19 and Recovery”, 10 December 2020.
[24] World Bank, “Lebanon Emergency Crisis and Covid-19 Response Social Safety Net Project”, 4 November 2021.
[25] ESCWA, “Role of Social Protection Information Systems”, 2021.
[26] ESCWA, “Social Inequalities in the Arab Region Post-COVID-19”, 2021.
[27] ESCWA, “Targeted Social Protection in Arab Countries”, 2021.
[28] Ibid.
[29] IPCIG, “Social protection responses to COVID-19 in the Global South: Online Dashboard”, 2021 (accessed on 15 September 2021).
[30] Ibid.
[31] Business News, In Tunisia, the launch of digital wallets (French original title: Tunisie - Mise en place du portefeuille digital), 5 May 2020.
[32] IPCIG, “Social protection responses to COVID-19 in the Global South: Online Dashboard”, 2021 (accessed on 15 September 2021).
[33] Mauritania, Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Modernisation of Administration, Distribution of food products and disinfectants to labour unions (French original title: Distribution de produits alimentaires et de désinfectants aux syndicats), n.d.
[34] United Nations, COVID-19 Stimulus Tracker. Available at: http://tracker.unescwa.org/ (accessed on 8 October 2021).
[35] ESCWA, “Social Protection Reform in Arab Countries”, 2019.
[36] Ibid.
[37] ESCWA, “Role of Social Protection Information Systems”, 2021.
[38] ILO, “Social Protection Spotlight: Extending social protection to informal workers in the COVID-19 crisis: country responses and policy considerations”, 14 September 2020.
[39] Australia, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, "Social Protection’s Contribution to Social Cohesion”, 2021.
[40] United Nations. The Impact of COVID-19 on Migrants and Refugees in the Arab Region. 2020.
[41] ILO, World Social Protection Report 2017–19: Universal social protection to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (International Labour Office – Geneva: ILO, 2017).
[42] A/RES/73/195.
[43] Olivier De Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, and Magdalena Sepúlveda, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty And Human Rights, “Executive Summary: A Global Fund for Social Protection (GFSP)”, 2012.