In collaboration with Jordan’s Ministry of Labour and its Social Security Corporation, the ILO Regional Office for Arab States will bring together government officials, employers’ and workers’ representatives, as well as, non-governmental organizations, international experts and academics from around the world to discuss methods aimed at guaranteeing social protection coverage to all those in need throughout the Arab region.

Entitled Rethinking Social Protection in a Changing Arab Region, the seminar which will be held under the patronage of Jordan’s Prime Minister, His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Ensour, will focus on examining regional experiences and their challenges, as well as leading international practices to build national Social Protection Floors, nationally-defined sets of basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion.

The conference main objectives are to:

• Discuss the concept of Social Protection Floors and their relevance to help solve key social issues in the Arab region;
• identify elements of successful inclusive social protection policies from regional and international examples to inform the establishment of national Social Protection Floors;
• identify context-specific policy and implementation challenges of extending social protection in Arab States;
• identify and agree on strategies and key stakeholder inputs required to build national Social Protection Floors in Arab countries, including the role of specialized UN agencies; and
• identify gaps in research which can help inform inclusive social protection policies and practices in the Arab region.