Social Protection and Violence against Women and Girls in the Indo Pacific region: Responding to COVID-19

Organiser: 

• Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board, SPIAC-B
• International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Australia - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, DFAT

This webinar will explore the potential role of social protection to respond to the ‘shadow pandemic’ of violence against women and girls (VAWG) during COVID-19 in the Indo-Pacific. It will specifically look at intimate partner violence (IPV), and cash transfers, the most common social protection, and focus of research to date. The webinar will present emerging evidence, practitioner perspectives, as well as examples of emerging practical innovations from programing, within the context of social protection approaches and experiences to address IPV. It will seek to pinpoint key opportunities and actionable recommendations for actors working on social protection responses to COVID-19 in the Indo-Pacific region and at the intersection of long-term and emergency (humanitarian) situations.

The webinar will address the following questions:

1. What is the current evidence base/research on the role of cash transfers in having positive impacts on violence against women and girls? What does it say about the factors and conditions that influence this positive impact and where are the gaps in knowledge? What about the potential of unintended consequences? 

2. How can social protection policies and program, contribute to addressing the shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Indo-Pacific? What are the differences in application across our region, for example what are the differences in application of social protection policies and programs in MICs and LICs?

3. What are promising examples of how social protection programs (on the ground) are addressing GBV in the Indo-Pacific?  

4. How can and are cash transfers responding to the GBV impacts of the pandemic on women in crises and conflicts through humanitarian mechanisms? Are there particular challenges or opportunities that humanitarian mechanisms present to using cash transfers to respond to GBV? 

Speakers:

• Dr Amber Peterman, Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Social Policy Consultant 
• Melissa Alvarado, Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) Regional Programme Manager at UN Women, Asia-Pacific Regional Office.
• Nalini Singh, Executive Director, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement
• Lara Quarterman, Independent Consultant (Social Protection and VAWG)

 
Moderators: 

• Julie-Ann Guivarra, Ambassador for Gender Equality, Department of Foreign Affairs of Australia 
• Sarah Goulding, Assistant Secretary, Education, Social Protection and Human Development Finance Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs of Australia