Resource Portals – Arab Region Hub for Social Protection

Our comprehensive collection of Social Protection Resource Portals encompasses dashboards, databases, toolkits, and monitors, among others, serving as a valuable resource for policymakers, civil society organizations, researchers, activists, and practitioners working on social protection in the Arab region. These resources cover diverse thematic areas, including social protection policies, social protection financing and the role of International Financial Institutions, and broader issues of development and social and economic justice. This compilation invites users to build on the rich body of knowledge produced, both regionally and globally, to support creating a critical mass working towards universal social protection in the region.

This collection is comprehensive but not exhaustive and is intended as a living resource that will be continuously updated and expanded over time. As a CSO-led initiative, we welcome feedback, suggestions, and contributions to ensure it remains relevant and useful for all. You can send your input to: socialprotectionhub@arab-reform.net or the Hub’s Listserv (if you are a member), or through this form.

Information Portals and Databases

Socialprotection.org

Socialprotection.org is an online member-based knowledge sharing and capacity building platform, open to social protection practitioners, policymakers, and experts, as well as academics and students. The platform provides free access to a variety of features, including searchable databases of social protection publications – which include text, audio, slides, infographics, videos, photos, databases, online tools, legal and policy frameworks – as well as blogs, news, events, jobs, programme and country profiles. It is committed to generating and sharing knowledge for the promotion of innovative and effective social protection policies and programmes, with the ambition of contributing to inclusive growth and sustainable development.

The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors advocates for the right of all people, regardless of documentation, to social security. It promotes social protection floors as essential tools for achieving inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development while enhancing resilience against crises. Established in 2012, the Coalition unites over 100 NGOs and trade unions worldwide to advance social justice and universal social protection. It collaborates with international organizations and contributes to global and regional discussions on social protection policies.

In 2016, the World Bank and the International Labour Organization jointly initiated the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (USP2030) to transform the SDG Agenda’s vision of universal social protection into reality. USP2030 has grown into a worldwide alliance which, for the first time, brings together governments, international and regional organisations, social partners and civil society organisations, in a shared commitment towards ensuring social protection for all.

The Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board is a light, lean and agile interagency coordination mechanism – composed of representatives of international organizations and bilateral institutions – to enhance global coordination and advocacy on social protection issues and to coordinate international cooperation in country demand-driven actions.

ILO Global Care Policy Portal

The ILO Global Care Policy Portal is a knowledge hub to disseminate data and resources on care leave policies and services to advance the ILO transformative agenda for gender equality and non-discrimination. The portal presents over 60 legal and statistical indicators on maternity protection, paternity leave, parental leave and other care leave and non-discrimination policies, as well as childcare and long-term care services in more than 180 countries. It uses international labor standards as benchmarks and builds on ILO policy research since 1994. The portal also offers a Care Policy Investment Simulator, a user-friendly online tool aimed to support Member States and other partners to make simulations on how to close care policy gaps and reap the multiple benefits of investing in the care economy.

The ILO’s World Social Protection Database has become the leading global source of social protection data. It aims to collect, store, and disseminate comparable statistical data on social security worldwide. The Social Protection Monitor tracks announcements of social protection measures, while the World Social Protection Data Dashboards provide in-depth statistics on social protection systems at the global, regional, and country levels.

Inequality Solutions Portal

The Inequality Solutions Portal by UNESCWA in partnership with Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, and the London School of Economics’ Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity, offers researchers and policymakers a curated selection of policies that have successfully reduced inequality and/or exclusion. Many of the featured policies for the Arab region focus on social protection.

Arab National Development Planning Portal

The Arab National Development Planning Portal is an interactive tool that aims to enhance the process of development planning in the Arab region by supporting policymakers and other stakeholders in creating evidence-based decisions and policies. It contains hundreds of updated national strategic, development, and sectoral plans of ESCWA’s member states and their link with the relevant SDGs to help policymakers analyze and monitor national and regional priorities.

Toolkits

An IMF Advocacy Toolkit for Organizations Based in the Arab World

The IMF Advocacy toolkit for Organizations Based in the Arab World developed by the Arab Watch Coalition is a three-part toolkit that covers the IMF’s functions, loans, and conditionalities, its governance and power dynamics, and strategies for advocacy and policy influence. Each toolkit builds on the previous one, offering a structured approach to understanding and navigating IMF processes. The goal is to equip stakeholders with the tools to monitor, challenge, and propose alternatives allowing for meaningful and effective advocacy strategies.

A Guide to Access World Bank Project Information and Understand Project Documents for CSOs

The Guide to Access World Bank Project Information and Understand Project Documents for CSOs is a toolkit series developed by the Arab Watch Coalition that addresses the information gap in the Arab region regarding the influence of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), particularly the World Bank Group (WBG). It equips civil society organizations (CSOs) with the knowledge needed to access project information, understand lending instruments, and monitor compliance with environmental and social standards. Covering the IBRD and IDA, the toolkits offer practical guidance on engaging with IFI-funded projects and holding institutions accountable.

A Toolkit for MENA Activists: Understanding the World Bank’s Different Lending Instruments (DPF, PfoR, IPF)

The Toolkit for MENA Activists: Understanding the World Bank’s Different Lending Instruments (DPF, PfoR, IPF) was developed by the Arab Watch Coalition to provide Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and activists with a comprehensive understanding of the World Bank’s financing instruments and the associated policies that govern their use. The toolkit is a resource for those seeking to monitor World Bank-funded projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With the World Bank’s project portfolio in the MENA region valued at approximately $25.9 billion, understanding these mechanisms and policies is essential for effectively evaluating World Bank projects, identifying potential policy breaches, and holding the Bank accountable.

Advocating for Universal Social Security: How to Win Hearts and Minds serves as a strategic tool for advocates of universal social security, offering guidance on effective messaging and engagement. Developed by Development Pathways and Act Church of Sweden, it explores the most impactful ways to frame arguments, emphasizing a rights-based narrative to social security. By promoting inclusive language and addressing key stakeholders, the tool strengthens advocacy efforts across civil society, government, and international organizations.

The Advocacy Toolkit for Fiscal Justice and Human Rights

The Advocacy Toolkit for Fiscal Justice and Human Rights by the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) is designed to assist civil society organizations who want to leverage human rights standards and strategies in their pursuit of accountability for injustices rooted in economic policy. It helps advocates of all experience levels to access and understand complex global and regional institutions like the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Giving practical advice, concrete examples and success stories, the guide outlines the most effective tactics and entry points for channeling evidence and arguments through these institutions and their related advocacy forums.

The Toolkit on ILO Social Security Standards was developed with the aim of raising awareness about ILO social security standards and promoting their ratification as well as increasing their impact and application in national contexts. The toolkit provides very practical and useful insights as to the ratification procedure, model instruments of ratification as well as interactive information on the relevance and key provisions of these standards.

Monitors and Trackers

The Social Expenditure Monitor (SEM) by UNESCWA is a tool to inform government decision-making on smart spending towards achieving macro-fiscal objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It supports budgeting and fiscal policy choices to rebalance priorities in spending, improve transparency and minimize leakages in public finance management. The SEM can also serve as a social countercyclical tool in times of crises.

The Global Child Benefits Tracker

The Global Child Benefits Tracker developed by Save the Children, UNICEF and ILO is an online platform to monitor access of children to their social protection right, identify gaps and effectively advocate with governments and donors to close these protection gaps. The aim is to provide a dedicated knowledge management platform to foster progressive and evidence-based dialogue on the need for and feasibility of greater investment in child-sensitive social protection.