Apecsocialsafetynet-Capacitybuilding Network

______

2005/SOM2/005

Agenda Item: VI.1

Progress Report

APECSocialSafetyNet-CapacityBuilding Network

Purpose: Information

Submitted by: Korea and Thailand

/ Senior Officials’ Meeting II Jeju, Korea
30-31 May 2005

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background Information

As endorsed at the 13thAPEC Ministerial Meeting in 2001 in China, APEC Social Safety Net Capacity Building Network (SSN-CBN) was launched in July 2002 with Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) as Head Institution, and with the participation of Lead Institutions from APEC member economies. The activities of the SSN CBN was reported to, and endorsed by the 14th APEC Ministerial Meeting in 2002 in Los Cabos, Mexico.

At the 16th APEC Ministerial Meeting in Santiago in 2004, Ministers commended the initiatives undertaken in APEC, aimed to empower vulnerable people, ensuring more equitable distribution of the benefits brought by globalization. In this regard, they welcomed the outcomes of two SSN-CBN meetings in 2004 “The 2nd International Meeting of Experts on Social Safety Nets in APEC,”“High-level Seminar on Social Safety Nets: Social Protection of the Vulnerable Group in a Changing World” co-hosted respectively by Thailand and Korea and the People’s Republic of China and Korea. Ministers also noted the launching of a pilot project entitled "Workforce Retraining through Digital English Instruction Media" proposed by the HRDWG and SSN-CBN in 2004.

To further address the central issues raised at the “High-level Seminar on Social Safety Nets: Social Protection of the Vulnerable Group in a Changing World” held in Shenyang, China in 2004, the head institution of the APEC SSN-CBN and the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare will hold a meeting under the banner of “APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets under Rapid Socio-economic Changes” in August 23-24in Seoul, Korea. Focusing on the APEC-wide initiatives aimed at empowering vulnerable people, ensuring more equitable distribution of the benefits brought by globalization, the symposium will promote a comprehensive discussion on the role of safety nets for the vulnerable people under the socio-economic impact of globalization, free trade, labor market changes.

Recently, the Head Institution of APEC SSN-CBN completed a research project focusing on the 6 SSN-CBN areas including the issue of “workforce retraining.” In this regard, a workshop was held in March 23, Seoul, Korea to discuss on the outcomes of the APEC Social Safety Net Capacity Building Research Project, inviting all the appointed researchers involved in the project and a number of APEC SSN-CBN Lead Institution officials. The outcomes of the research project and the workshop will be published by the Head Institution in May 2005. The research outcomes are also available in the APEC SSN-CBN website (

Recommendations

It is recommended that SOM:

Welcome the outcomes of the “Workshop on the APEC Social Safety Net Capacity Building Research Project” held in March 23, 2004 in Seoul, Korea.
Welcome Korea to hold “APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets under Rapid Socio-economic Changes” in August 23-24, 2005 in Seoul, Korea.

Progress Report

APECSocialSafetyNetCapacityBuilding Network

Republic of Korea and Kingdom of Thailand

Overview

The APEC Ministerial Meeting, held in November 2000 in Brunei, agreed to establish the Ad Hoc Task Force on Strengthening APEC Social Safety Nets(the Task Force). The Task Force had three consecutive meetings in 2001, and it submitted recommendations including establishment of Social Safety Net Capacity Building Network to the 2001 SOM III. The recommendations were then endorsed atthe 13thAPEC Ministerial Meeting in Shanghai, China.

The APEC Social Safety Net Capacity Building Network (SSN CBN)was launched in July 2002 with Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) as Head Institution, and with participation of Lead Institutions from APEC member economies. The activities of the SSN-CBN was reported to and endorsed by the 14th APEC Ministerial Meeting in 2002 in Los Cabos, Mexico.

The goal of the SSN-CBN is, in the first instance, to focus on capacity building to implement the SSN recommendations made by the Finance Ministers and the study conducted in the HRDWG. Among the mechanisms the SSN-CBN consists of are exchange of information, collaborative research and development, and seminars among the concerned institutions, government bodies, and other suitable international organizations and individuals.

SSN-CBN activities can be classified into two types: Information Exchange and Dissemination of Effective Practices for Better Social Safety Net Delivery. Theseactivities include the following six major areas:

Pre-crisis social safety net planning and prevention measures;

Capacity for evaluating effectiveness of policy action;

Collection of dis-aggregated data and access to current data;

Identifying at-risk populations;

Designing response institutions and financing; and

Strengthening transparency and accountability in social safety net operations.

All APEC member economies have been invited to designate Lead Institutions to be part of the SSN-CBN. Thus currently the following 16 Lead Institutions have been designated:

Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS);

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for Canada;

Ministry of Labour and Social Security for China;

Health, Welfare and Food Bureau and Social Welfare Department for Hong Kong, China;

National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) for Indonesia;

Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Japan;

Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Prime Minister’s Department for Malaysia;

Ministry of Economy for Mexico;

Ministry of Social Development for New Zealand;

Prime Minister Office for Peru;

Department of Social Welfare Development (DSWD) for the Philippines;

Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) for Singapore;

Council for Economic Planning and Development for Chinese Taipei;

Ministry of Labour & Ministry of Social Development and Human Security for Thailand;

Department of Labor for the U.S.; and

Vietnam Social Security (VSS) & Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MoLISA) for Vietnam.

The SSN-CBN website () is being managed by the Head Institution of SSN-CBN. Recently, the renewal of the APECSSN website is completed and the additional page titled “Social Safety Net Herald” is newly open to make all the scattered social safety net related information available within the site.

The 16th AMM’s Instructions

At the 16th APEC Ministerial Meeting in Santiago in 2004, Ministers commended the initiatives undertaken in APEC, aimed to empower vulnerable people, ensuring more equitable distribution of the benefits brought by globalization. In this regard, they welcomed the outcomes of two SSN-CBN meetings in 2004 −“The 2nd International Meeting of Experts on Social Safety Nets in APEC,”“High-level Seminar on Social Safety Nets: Social Protection of the Vulnerable Group in a Changing World”−, co-hosted respectively by Thailand and Korea and the People’s Republic of China and Korea. Ministers also noted the launching of a pilot project entitled "Workforce Retraining through Digital English Instruction Media" proposed by the HRDWG and SSN-CBN in 2004.

In addition, Minister welcomed Korea’s offer to hold a symposium in 2005.

III. Recent Development

The Head Institution of APEC SSN-CBN completed a research project focusing on the 6 major areas of SSN-CBN including “workforce retraining in response to economic liberalization.” The major goal of this project was to produce a social safety net training manual for the APEC economies that are developing or considering developing social safety net programs. This research contains the following seven sup-topics;

Social Safety Nets: Lessons from the Past Experiences;

- Dr. Bong Joon Yoon, Professor, StateUniversity of New York at Binghamton, U.S.;

Identifying At-risk Populations and the Poverty Statistics;

- Dr. Neung-Hoo Park, Professor, Kyong-Gi University, Korea;

Designing Response Institutions and Financing;

- Dr. Yongha Kim, Professor, Soonchunyang University, Korea;

Strengthening transparency and accountability in social safety net operations

- Dr. Jin Soo Kim, Professor, Yonsei University, Korea;

Capacity for Evaluating Effectiveness of Policy Action

- Dr. Yeongran Park, Professor, Kang-Nam University, Korea; and

Workforce Retraining in response to economic liberalization

- Dr. Kusol Soonthorndhada, Professor, Mahidol University, Thailand.

In this regard, a meeting, “Workshop on the Outcomes of the APEC Social Safety Net Capacity Building Research Project” was held in March 23, Seoul, Korea, inviting all the appointed researchers of the project to present their papers and a number of APEC SSN-CBN Lead Institution officials as discussants. The Head Institution of APEC SSN-CBN will publish the outcomes of the research project and the workshop in May 2005. The research outcomes are also available in the APEC SSN-CBN website (

IV. Future Activity

The head institution of the APEC SSN-CBN and the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare will hold a meeting under the banner of “APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets under Rapid Socio-economic Changes” in August 23-24,Seoul, Korea. Focusing on the APEC-wide initiatives aiming to empower vulnerable people, ensuring more equitable distribution of the benefits brought by globalization, the symposium will promote a comprehensive discussions on the role of safety nets for the vulnerable people under the diverse socio-economic impact of globalization (An overview of the “APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets under Rapid Socio-economic Changes” is attached as Annex A).

The symposium invites senior officials from all APEC economies, representatives of the SSN-CBN Lead Institutions, the APEC Secretariats, and HRDWG as well as specialists from International Labor Organization, International Finance Institutions, and UN Development Program. The meeting will provide a forum for sharing information, experience, and best practices of the APEC economies in response to and preparation for the rapid socio-economic changes such as free trade, structural reform, and labor market change. It will bring together not only government officials, but also academic scholars specialized in social safety nets, so that they can bring forth long-term perspectives on the role of social safety nets to empower vulnerable social groups under the rapid socio-economic changes.

The Head Institution of the APEC SSN-CBN has finished contacting scholars who will participate in the Symposium. Detailed information on the scholars, who will present the expert views on social safety nets at the Symposium, is available in the Tentative Program attached as Annex B. In addition, an Administrative Circular for the Symposium on Social Safety Nets is now available in the APEC SSN-CBN website (

Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Head Institution of the APEC SSN-CBN (Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs) encourage and welcome support and participation from all APEC member economies.

APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets Under Rapid Socioeconomic Changes

23-24 August, 2005

Seoul, Korea

Host Economy:

Republic of Korea

Host Organizations:

Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea

Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs

(Head Institution of the APEC SSN-CBN)

APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets

Under Rapid Socioeconomic Changes

(23-24 August 2005, Seoul, Korea)

Background

At the 16th APEC Ministerial Meeting in Santiago, 2004, Ministers commended the APEC initiatives that aimed to empower vulnerable group of people and ensure more equitable distribution of the benefits brought by globalization. To further the APEC-wide initiatives in 2005, Korea, the host of APEC 2005, is holding “APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets under Rapid Socio-economic Changes” in August 2005 this year in Seoul.

Coming after the two social safety net international meetings held in Thailand and China in 2004, the Symposium in Seoul will build on the activities APEC member economies have carried out in the area of social safety nets. The past two meetings have left many questions and challenges that require further work and effort by APEC member economies as they seek equitable and sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The Symposium will bring together internationally recognized experts to pick up where the two international meetings left off and find ways of improving cooperation in the area of social safety nets among APEC member economies.

Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Head Institution of the APEC SSN-CBN (Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs) are in hopes that this symposium will contribute to realizing the APEC-wide goal of sustainable and equitable growth by presenting a better social safety net model for the APEC region.

Theme

Strengthening social safety nets in response to rapid socio-economic changes in Asia-Pacific Region

Sub-topics

▪Opening Session: Why is it important for APEC to address the social safety nets issue?

i)Addressing social dimension of globalization

ii)How can social safety nets contribute to the Bogor Goals?

▪Session I: The Causes and Conditions of Social Vulnerability

▪Session II: Problems and Issues in Strengthening Social Safety Nets

▪Session III: Best practices on Social Safety Net Building

▪Session IV: Long-term Strategies on Strengthening Social Safety Nets in APEC

i) Collaboration among APEC economies and the role of international organizations

Dates

23-24 August 2005

Venue

Lotte Hotel, Seoul

Address: 1, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea 100-721

Phone: 82-2-771-1000

Fax: 82-2-752-3758

Participants

Senior Officials and policy makers from APEC Economies

Representatives of Head Institution and Lead Institution of the APEC SSN-CBN

Representatives from the APEC Secretariats and HRDWG

Representatives from ESCAP, Specialists from ILO, IFIs, and UNDP

Scholars specialized in social safety nets

Contact

Dr. Seokpyo Hong or Ms. Jiwoon Lee

Tel: +82- 2-380-8205/8289

Fax: +82-2-352-8106

Email: ;

Website:

APEC Symposium on Strengthening Social Safety Nets Under Rapid Socioeconomic Changes

August 23-24, 2005

Tentative Program

The 23rd August 2005 (Tuesday)

09:30-10:00Registration

Opening Ceremony

10:00-10:20Opening Remarks (Geun-Tae Kim, Minister of Health and Welfare, Korea)

Opening Session

10:20-10:40Addressing Social Dimension of Globalization

(Chang-Jin Moon, Deputy Minister, Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare)

10:40-11:00How Can Social Safety Nets Contribute to the Bogor Goals?

(Representative of the APEC Secretariat)

Session I: The Causes and Conditions of Social Vulnerability

This session will be focused on what makes some individuals and their families, in the context of advancing economic globalization, socially vulnerable and what makes them different from the existing poor. In addition, it will coverthe status of these new poverty groups as well as the impact economic globalization has on poverty in general.

11:00-11:30Dr. Timothy M. Smeedingis the Maxwell Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Policy Research. He is also the MaxwellSchool’s Associate Dean for Sponsored Research. This past year he worked on cross-national studies of income inequality among children, the social consequences of economic inequality, health care costs in old age, and the economic status of children and the aged.

11:30-12:00Dr. Michael Wisemanis a Professor of Public Policy and Economics at George Washington University and Visiting Scholar in the Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy at the State Security Administration in the U.S. He is a consultant on program management and evaluation to the Administration for Child and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services.

12:00-12:30Dr. David M. Betson is a Professor of Economics and the former Director of the Hesburgh Program in Public Service at the University of Notre Dame. Betson is a research affiliate with the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin.

12:30-13:00Comments and Responses

13:00-14:00Luncheon

Session II: Problems and Issues in Strengthening Social Safety Nets

This session will be focused onwhat developing and developed countries have done to protect the new poor as well as the existing poor, and with what kind of social safety net systems, in the context of economic liberalization and structural adjustment. Also, it will cover, if the current social safety nets are unable to cater to the needs of the socially vulnerable groups, what options we should consider.

14:00-14:30Dr. Peter Taylor-Goobyis a Director of the ESRC Social Contexts and Responses to Risk Network and the EU Welfare Reform and the Management of Social Change project, Chair of EU COST A15 group on Subsidiarity and Convergence and Chair of the Social Policy panel for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent.

14:30-15:00Dr. Nanak Kakwaniis a Director and Chief Economist of the International Poverty Center in the United Nations Development Program. He is a leader in the field of econometrics theory and welfare economics, having extensively researched inequality and poverty, public finance and development economics. He was elected fellow of the Academy of Social Science in Australia and awarded the prestigious Mahalanobis Memorial Gold Medal for outstanding research in quantitativeeconomics.

15:00-15:30 Dr. Ernie Lightmanis a Professor of Social Policy at the University of Toronto. Currently, he is Principal Investigator for the SANE (Social Assistance in the New Economy) Project at the University of Toronto. A recurring theme in his work is the interplay between the economic market and the social market. He is he author of Social Policy in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2003).