19-21 June 2013
Asian Development Bank Headquarters, Manila, the Philippines
Global Development Network will hold its 14th Annual Global Development Conference on 'Inequality, Social Protection and Inclusive Growth' in Manila on 19-21 June 2013. About 400 participants are expected to attend the conference from all over the world including the East Asia region and the Philippines.
Issues related to social protection are becoming very crucial in the aftermath of the global financial crisis but also in view of growing inequality in the developing world (although recent trends and experience on inequality vary substantially among regions and countries). Indeed, there is a growing consciousness of the benefits of social protection as a measure to protect people from becoming trapped in poverty, to empower them to seize opportunities, to help workers to adjust to changes and to deal with unemployment and, thus, support productivity.
Therefore, the importance of social policies and social protection systems that address and reduce inequality and social exclusion for long-term sustainable and inclusive growth should be taken into consideration in development policy. Social protection can also support the achievement of poverty reduction, raising the income in the short run, allowing people to build their assets (such as in the case of the Brazilian Bolsa Familia Program and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of conditional cash transfers in the Philippines) and, as a result, accelerating growth, with positive spillovers at the community level (for instance, the case of the Mexican PROGRESA/Oportunidades Program).
Promoting inclusive growth via social protection policies can also help on the political stability front in developing countries. Yet, we need to know more about the mechanisms and the channels through which social protection and social policy in general affect the most vulnerable in the developing world (and beyond). Furthermore, social protection policies are absolutely essential in countries suffering from "structural economic vulnerability". Finally, conceptual as well as measurement issues regarding inequality and inclusive growth require further attention and a fresh look in order to delve deeper into these issues and go beyond mainstream approaches in defining the various forms of inequality and inclusive growth (and thus the need to adopt multidisciplinary approaches on that front).
Since its inception in 1999, GDN has organized conferences in almost every region of the world. GDN conferences are also unique, not just in the sheer numbers of people who attend, but also in the range of issues they discuss and the regions they represent. Another important feature of GDN conferences is that they provide promising young researchers from developing countries with the opportunity to showcase their research in an international forum and benefit from interaction with world renowned academics and policymakers. This has important positive implications for capacity building, a central element of the GDN mission.
Topics to be covered at the conference will include (but are not limited to):
Inequality: conceptual and measurement issues
Multidisciplinary dimensions of inequality
Global perspectives on inequality
The determinants of inclusive growth
Regional perspectives on inequality and inclusive growth
Gender, inequality and social protection
Structural vulnerability issues
Mechanisms to promote social protection for inclusive growth
Lessons learnt from social protection policies
Sectoral experiences in the area of social protection and inclusive growth
Key challenges for social protection policies
Inequality, social protection and inclusive growth in the context of the post-2015 development agenda
Conference Program Committee
(in alphabetical order)
ARIFF, Mohamed, GDN Board of Directors and Malaysia Institute of Economic Research
BOURGUIGNON, Francois, GDN Board of Directors and Paris School of Economics
JACQUET, Pierre, President, GDN
KANBUR, Ravi, GDN Board of Directors and Cornell University
LEVY, Santiago, Vice President, Inter-American Development Bank
LUSTIG, Nora, GDN Board of Directors and Tulane University
MAVROTAS, George, Chief Economist and Conference Director, GDN
PORIO, Emma, GDN Board of Directors and Ateneo de Manila University
RAVALLION, Martin, Georgetown University
RHEE, Changyong, Chief Economist, Asian Development Bank
WEBER, Shlomo, GDN Board of Directors and Southern Methodist University
WINTERS CB, L. Alan, Chairman, GDN Board of Directors and Professor, University of Sussex
YAP, Josef, East Asian Development Network and Philippine Institute for Development Studies
ZHUANG, Juzhong, Deputy Chief Economist, Asian Development Bank
Local Organizing Committee
(in alphabetical order)
ABIVA, Thelma Gail, Asian Development Bank
ANTONIO, Mary Ann, Asian Development Bank
ARAULLO, Clarisse, Asian Development Bank
SIAR, Sheila V., Philippine Institute for Development Studies
SIBAL, Rina, Asian Development Bank
YAP, Josef, East Asian Development Network and Philippine Institute for Development Studies
ZHUANG, Juzhong, Asian Development Bank
Keynote Address
H.E. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines
Confirmed Plenary Speakers
(in alphabetical order)
ARYEETEY, Ernest, Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana
BALISACAN, Arsenio M., State Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning and Director-General, National Economic and Development Authority, The Philippines
BENTANCOR, Andrea, ComunidadMujer, Chile
CUONG, Nguyen Viet, National Economics University, Hanoi, Vietnam
DE HAAN, Arjan, International Development Research Center
FERREIRA, Francisco, World Bank
FILER, Randall, Hunter College, City University of New York, and Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education-Economics Institute
FLORANO, Ebinezer R., National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines, The Philippines
GALAL, Ahmed, Director, Economic Research Forum
GIOVANNETTI, Giorgia, European University Institute and University of Florence
HADI, Widyawati, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia
JACQUET, Pierre, President, Global Development Network
KAYIZZI-MUGERWA, Steve, Director of Development Research, African Development Bank
