"Successes in social protection: what lessons can be learned?"
Professor Giorgia Giovannetti , University of Florence
The recent food, fuel and financial crises have triggered innovation in social protection programmes around the world. Existing evidence suggests that such programmes both protect people from shocks and enable them to participate in economic growth. The presentation explores lessons learned in social protection initiatives across countries and contexts, and identifies a set of ‘success conditions’ for social protection programmes, focusing
mainly on sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s national health insurance illustrates well three key features of an enabling environment: political commitment at the top; high administrative capacity; and financial sustainability and commitment to programme spending controls. To influence policy, these lessons need specification to the given context. A social Protection Index for Sub saharian Africa will be proposed.
About the speaker
Giorgia Giovannetti is full Professor of Economics at the University of Florence (since 2001), and Part time professor at the European University Institute. She has acted as Scientific Director of the European Report on Development in 2009 and 2010, Director of the Development research Area in the Global Governance Programme (2011-2013), Director of the Research Centre of the Italian Trade Institute (2005-2007). She has been advising the President of ICE (2004-2011), the Italian Treasury (2003-05) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Trade (2002-05). She is scientific coordinator of the FondazioneManlioMasi, member of the globalization team at OECD, fellow of the Foundation for International Development Study and Research-FERDI, (University of Auvergne at Clermont Ferrand) and Fondazione Luca D’Agliano (Turin) and of a Group for the Reform of the Rome Agencies of the Center for Global Development in Washington. She holds a PhD and an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University, and a Laurea cum laude in Statistics from the University of Roma la Sapienza. In the past she has been fellow of Trinity College- Cambridge and lecturer (1990-1995) and visiting Professor in several universities (UPF, NYU, Hoover Institution, UniversitatTorcuato de Tella). Her research interests include macroeconomics, political economy, international trade and development economics. Her work has been published in leading academic journals and presented in main international conferences.
Venue: Conference room
Date: 17 March 2014
Time: 12:30 - 13:30 CEST
