Online workshop "Social Protection as a Part of Anti-Crisis Support Packages during Covid-19 Pandemic: Global and Russian Experience"

The Institute for Social Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics will held on Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 5 p.m. the 15th academic workshop on the topic of Social Protection as a Part of Anti-crisis Support Packages during COVID-19 Pandemic: Global and Russian experience. The event is organized on the online platform Zoom in the framework of a research grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2020-978) and in cooperation with the World Bank within the series of events under the topic “Active Ageing Policy and Pension Reforms: Russian and International Experience”.

The Covid-19 pandemic poses serious challenges to sustainable social and economic development, which are not exhausted by the impact on poverty and inequality that is obvious but nevertheless needs to be addressed. In the midst of the pandemic, the role of social states as anti-crisis managers helping to overcome the macroeconomic crisis more quickly has become even clearer than during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Social support measures are taken by countries having different levels of economic development. Some rely on existing social programs, sometimes expanding or modifying them; others introduce new, innovative measures. What kind of social protection will be provided after the end of the pandemic? What challenges will have to be met and what solutions and approaches will have to be supported? Will the Covid-19 pandemic become a starting point for innovative approaches in social protection? The seminar will discuss these questions through the lens of international and Russian experience in social support.

Speakers:
	Ugo Gentilini, Global Lead for Social Assistance with the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank Is Covid-19 a Game Changer for Social Protection? The presentation will review key trends and features in social protection responses worldwide, discuss emerging innovations and challenges, and reflect on possible implications for the future of social protection
	Oksana Sinyavskaya, Deputy Director, Institute for Social Policy, Higher School of Economics Alina Pishnyak, Director, Center for Studies of Income and Living Standards, Institute for Social Policy, Higher School of Economics Social Support in Russia during Covid-19: Government Action vs Reaction of Society
	The paper analyses social support measures taken in Russia in 2020 in response to the challenges of the pandemic at the federal and regional levels, and how the population assesses the proposed measures. The prospects for social protection development in the post-Pandemic recovery period are discussed, including through the prism of public expectations.
Moderator:
	Oksana Sinyavskaya, Deputy Director, Institute for Social Policy, Higher School of Economics
Panelist:
	Elena Grishina, Head, Laboratory for Living Standards and Social Protection Research, Institute of Social Analysis and Forecasting, RANEPA