What will social welfare look like after the pandemic? Experts tackled this question at a recent event in an ongoing lecture series hosted by Harvard University’s Center for International Development. The “Beyond COVID” conversation “How to rethink social welfare” featured HKS Professor of Southeast Asian Studies Geoffrey Chia and Rema Hanna. Mr. Sudarno Sumarto, Poverty Reduction Policy Advisor to the Indonesian Government. Stephen Berge, associate professor of global health at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health.
Asim I. Khwaja, Director of CID and Professor of International Financial Development at Sumitomo FASID, said while many countries are still grappling with the pandemic and its effects could last for years, COVID-19 infections are declining. He opened the discussion by expressing optimism that there may be a trend. . But he said it was an “opportunity for us to rethink and reimagine” the flaws in many social systems that the pandemic has exposed. “Our discussion today is not only to recognize and honor the losses we have experienced, but also to discuss some of the opportunities that may come in the future, which will make us “We hope that it will be more resilient, more socially informed, and lead in a more social direction,” he said. Conscious economy and society. ”
Mr. Hanna noted that the social costs, such as increased poverty and unemployment, are very similar to those expected in a global economic downturn. “But what’s so different about this pandemic is the fact that in addition to the poverty issue, schools are closed in many countries around the world,” she says. With schools closed for months, if not years, in some countries, children are suffering losses that, if left unaddressed, are likely to increase over time. “I think we need to think carefully about identifying the support programs our children need to make sure they catch up,” Hannah said.
There are signs of hope for Hannah. “I think there was a lot of creativity in how to use and improve existing systems to get help to as many people as quickly as possible,” she said. She also noted that the government is experimenting with new technology to get people to sign up for aid. “I think the focus is often on social protection in bad economic times, but the reality is that we build these systems in good times and have them available in bad times so we can respond quickly. ” she said. she said. She says, “We need systems in place that take into account the intersection of education, human capital development, health, etc.” However, maintaining the database also poses challenges. “Poor people are often excluded from these lists because they are less connected to society and governments may not have an incentive to find them,” Hanna said.
Smarto, who recently co-authored an article with Hanna on the challenges of universal health coverage in developing countries, said the pandemic has caused a spike in poverty in Indonesia, with nearly 1.3 million people newly falling into poverty and experiencing food and job insecurity. was said to be increasing. “The pandemic has undermined Indonesia’s poverty reduction efforts over the past three years,” he said. Like Hanna, he predicted that the impact of COVID-19 on education will be felt for years to come. “Recent research shows that learning interruption occurs in approximately 60 percent of children. [Indonesian] Families with school-age children who do not have a stable internet connection to participate in online learning. And this can potentially lead to a loss of learning ability. ” However, Smarto is hopeful about the measures being taken by the Indonesian government. “To reduce the impact of the pandemic, the government has launched a special budget in 2020 to expand the scale and scope of social assistance programs,” he said. “We have also created health assistance programs and job training programs to reach those above the bottom 40 percent of the current social register. And the good news is that our economy is slowly recovering. It’s about being there.”