Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) in cooperation with Ford Foundation, launched a regional dialogue series aim to investigate and document the point of view of Arab experts, on the multi-layered impact of this current COVID-19 health crisis on inequalities in the region, as well as its effects on poverty levels, social protection, and welfare of individuals and communities, on a macro perspective.
Many concerns have been raised in the economic and political fronts; while the health measures in many Arab countries seem to be largely effective, they have increased the vulnerability of many people and crippled the economy.
Therefore, ARDD organized this online debate to bring together key international and regional experts, including representatives from the civil society organizations and document the observations and findings of the debate, which will be used to suggest approaches and strategies towards mitigating the impact of COVID19 crisis.
The ‘Regional Dialogue on Social Protection Policies in the Arab World’ aim to investigate and document the points of view and perspectives of Arab experts with regard to the multi-layered impact of the current COVID-19 health crisis on inequalities in the region, as well as its effects on poverty levels, social protection, and welfare of individuals and communities from a macro perspective of analysis. The debate series has been hosted and moderated by Senator Sawsan Majali, the Chair of the Senate Labor and Development Committee in Jordan. As an organization, we are committed to a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to human and economic development. Therefore, ARDD is organizing these online debates to bring together key international and regional experts, including representatives from civil society organizations. We intend to document the observations and findings of these debates, which will be used to inform and suggest approaches and strategies towards mitigating the impact of COVID-19 crisis.
The sessions have been covered by many media outlets in Arabic and English, following are links to their summaries on ARDD’s website and the video recordings on our YouTube channel:
Session 1: The importance of localization and solidarity between the government, the private sector and civil society organizations to combat COVID-19 (video in Arabic)
Session 2: Developing the public sector and the role of the private sector in combating COVID-19 crisis (Arabic video)
Session 3: Continued consequences of the COVID–19 crisis on the future of the Arab world (Arabic video)
Session 4: The importance of preserving human dignity of those most affected in the face of crises (Arabic video)
Session 5: The importance of political will to sustain social protection after the pandemic
Session 6: National and international priorities in responding to the refugee crisis amid COVID-19 (English video)
Session 7: The importance of working to achieve food sovereignty and ensuring access to technology for all (Arabic Video)
Session 8: Economy of life, social economy and food sovereignty crucial to enhanced social protection (Arabic Video)
Session 9: Special dialogue session on World Refugee Day shedding light on the importance of offering services to refugees, including people with disabilities, as a means of social protection (Arabic Video)
