IN CONVERSATION
Valerie Guarnieri, Assistant Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, chats with renowned economist, professor Naila Kabeer, and Nobel Laureate in economics, Professor Abhijit Banerjee, about the ways in which social protection systems can reduce inequalities, help individuals manage risk and address food insecurity.
The last two years have demonstrated how we are all exposed to risks, but also how our experience of shocks is shaped by existing vulnerabilities and our access to resources. Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic risk worsening inequalities, constraining people’s ability to meet their essential needs – the most essential being food. If carefully designed and well implemented, national social protection systems can be transformative for addressing inequalities that underpin people’s vulnerabilities and their exposure to risks. Bringing research and practice together, Professors Banerjee and Kabeer explain why we need to strengthen and build up social protection systems now more than ever, and how we should do it.
