The name may be a mouthful–the Asia Public Policy Forum on Poverty, Inequality and Social Protection–but the cause is clear and worthwhile.
Held in Jakarta in May 2013, the forum brought together experts and policy makers to discuss how social protection could reduce poverty and contain the rise in inequality in Asia.
Social protection for the poor can take the form of regular cash transfers such as pensions or child grants, or in-kind income-generating transfers such as the provision of livestock.
These measures help poor families continue to buy food, access healthcare and send their children to school.
To show how social protection can help the very poorest, the Australian aid program co-hosted the Asia Public Policy Forum, delivering it in conjunction with Harvard University [external link], the Government of Indonesia's Vice-Presidential Team to Accelerate Poverty Reduction [external link] and Ministry of National Development Planning [external link] (BAPPENAS), and the Rajawali Foundation [external link].
The workshop was an opportunity for world-leading experts on social protection to meet with Indonesia's Vice President Hon Boediono and senior officials from BAPPENAS working on major reforms to Indonesia's social protection programs. These reforms are set to affect around 80 million people in Indonesia.
The forum is the first major event organised by the Australian aid program's new Social Protection Hub. The Hub was created to provide learning opportunities for partner government counterparts and the Australian aid program staff working on social protection. It will produce relevant and timely research publications, build policy dialogue and train officials working on social protection.