This webinar is part of the research project “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Protection in the Arab Region” launched recently by ARI in collaboration with a consortium of research centers (Phenix Center for Economics & Informatics Studies, Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights – FTDES, and Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights – EIPR) and independent Arab media platforms (Mada Masr, Daraj Media, and Inkyfada). The special working group is looking forward to hosting a series of webinars under the title “Arab Hub for Social Protection from COVID-19”. The current webinar launches this series with a conceptual topic that will help frame subsequent discussions and will formally launch the project to the public.
As such, this webinar aims to look back on the formative moments of social protection in the Arab Region and to review the historical evolution of the understanding of social protection. The speakers will analyze these in the context of current social contracts in the Arab world and other factors (such as the nature of institutions and their work, the policies of international financial institutions, etc.), with a specific focus on the case studies of Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan.