Background

The recent economic and financial crisis caused harm to millions of people in the Asia and Pacific region. In response, many governments have strengthened their social protection systems to reduce vulnerability and address chronic poverty. One tool receiving greater attention is the conditional cash transfer (CCT), which provides grants to disadvantaged families that ensure their children attend school and receive basic preventative medical care. CCTs have received considerable attention in the Latin American context, and now are being tried out in Asian countries as diverse as Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

In a unique and timely webchat, ADB social policy experts will shed light on the considerations involved in government adoption of CCT programs, including those related to effective targeting of beneficiaries, long-term impacts, and fiscal sustainability.

Karin Schelzig Bloom, social sector specialist, and Clifford Burkley, social development specialist, will answer your questions on conditional cash transfers in a live online chat on Wednesday, 28 April 2010.

Read the chat transcript.

Here's more about ADB's social policy experts:

Since joining ADB in 2004, Karin Schelzig Bloom, a social sector specialist, has worked with the governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam and their development partners to design social safety net policies, strategies, and programs, including CCTs. She has managed implementation of large-scale projects in early childhood care, and rural water supply and sanitation. Prior to joining ADB, Karin managed a USAID-funded global research program on pro-poor growth, and worked on poverty measurement and/or poverty reduction strategies in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Karin has a PhD in development studies from the London School of Economics. She completed her thesis on multidimensional poverty measurement in the Philippines. Within the field of social safety nets, her particular areas of interest lie in poverty and vulnerability assessments, gender equity, and targeting methods.

Prior to joining ADB in 2008, Cliff Burkley, a social development specialist, served as counsel for farmers' and labor organizations, and a consultant for investors in alternative power, micro-finance and public sector management. He also served as undersecretary in the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development, and first project director of KALAHI - CIDSS, a community-driven development project. He also served as assistant secretary in the Philippines Department of Agrarian Reform. He has a law degree from the University of the Philippines, and a master's degree in public administration and public policy from Harvard University. He was team leader in the initial preparatory stages of the Philippine CCT project, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4 Ps).