It's December and we've made it to the end of 2021. This was another year dominated by COVID-19 in the field of social protection - and we've certainly spent plenty of time talking about that on this show. But while we were preoccupied with the pandemic, what else did we see happening in the social protection world?

In this episode, we bring three guests to spotlight non-COVID related news, papers and events from the year just gone. We'll talk about how to design safety nets to reduce gender-based violence, the role of social protection in food systems and on climate change mitigation, as well as a call for Latin American countries to develop welfare states.

We also asked our guests for their new year's resolutions, and, for the first time, our podcast team chimes in with recommendations.

Our guests for this episode are:

• Prof. Armando Barrientos, Professor Emeritus of Poverty and Social Justice at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester in the UK and Mercator Fellow at the Global Dynamics of Social Policy at the University of Bremen;
• Alessandra Heinemann, Senior Social Protection Specialist and Gender Lead in the Global Practice for Social Protection and Jobs; and
• Garima Bhalla, Economist and Social Protection Specialist at FAO

Links from the episode:

ASPIRE Database

Safety First toolkit

Five things you should know about how safety nets can curb gender-based violence

Social Protection and Labor: A Key Enabler for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

Building welfare states in Latin America, but which type?

Intergenerational nutrition benefits of India’s national school feeding program