Livingstone: Long viewed as a fallback for hard times, social protection is now being reimagined as a driver of resilience. With rising costs, widening inequality, and fragile economies, governments are searching for ways to make every policy choice count. These challenges brought policymakers from Africa, Asia, and the Pacific to Livingstone, Zambia, from 8 to 10 July, where they focused on targeted refinements and applied approaches to strengthen social protection.
According to African Press Organization, the gathering centered on hands-on methods: tools, data, and policy strategies that help governments respond to poverty, economic shocks, and climate threats with greater precision. It formed part of a broader UN effort to promote universal, adaptive, and inclusive social protection systems worldwide. Selahattin Selsah Pasali, Social Affairs Officer at ESCAP, noted that member states such as Cambodia and the Maldives value the tools’ flexibility and training support, which helps localize and institutionalize them. Many are now considering a shift from survey data to administrative records to better design policies and estimate costs.
Namibia shared its progress in digitizing its social grant system, while Malawi, a global champion for the Social Protection Accelerator, is rolling out a new policy rooted in a lifecycle approach addressing risks across age groups. Tanzania is widening its model, with Frank Kilimba from the Office of the Prime Minister stating efforts to expand beyond contribution-based systems to ensure broader coverage, especially for informal and rural populations.
Rwanda was among the countries exchanging experiences. Ariane Mugisha, Chief Digital Officer in the Local Government Sector, said the sessions on social registries and data integration offered key insights into building adaptive systems. Her colleague Joel Murenzi, Social Protection Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Local Government, emphasized the importance of learning from others' approaches to expanding coverage and adjusting benefit levels in line with inflation.
Organizers intentionally drew from diverse settings to facilitate grounded exchanges. Amson Sibanda, Chief of Service at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), explained that the mix of small island states like the Maldives and middle-income countries like Namibia with least developed economies such as Malawi and Zambia highlighted varied challenges, yet a shared commitment to reform.
Mamusa Siyunyi, Social Affairs Officer at ECA, highlighted the importance of targeted support amidst demographic pressures, climate risks, and limited fiscal space. Delegates requested additional training and ongoing technical assistance, stressing the need to bridge institutional divides that hinder implementation.
Hudha Haleem of the Maldives Bureau of Statistics emphasized the importance of collaboration between data producers and program implementers to make systems more responsive and inclusive. Fathimath Nisha Fahmy from the Maldives Pension Office added that geographic realities demand precise, adaptive systems, with real-time data playing a critical role in targeting and adapting social protection.
Mr. Sibanda underscored the need to match innovation with institutional readiness, advocating for public institutions to harness tools and understand their benefits and potential pitfalls. As countries prepare for global forums on social development, the Livingstone meeting formed part of a wider push to build smarter, more resilient social protection systems.
The three-day interregional workshop was organized by UN DESA, ECA, and ESCAP in collaboration with the government of Zambia. It brought together officials from eight countries across Africa and Asia-Pacific with a shared aim to build systems that sustainably lift people, rather than merely catching them when they fall.