Building Climate Resilience Through Social Protection
10 to 12 November 2025

Philippines

As climate-related risks escalate across Asia and the Pacific, the need to equip vulnerable communities with tools for resilience is more urgent than ever. Social protection (SP) systems -when designed with adaptive features - can serve as powerful instruments to help individuals and communities anticipate, absorb, and adapt longer-term to the impacts of climate shocks and stresses. Yet, climate-responsive measures are still nascent in SP operations, and many development practitioners are not yet familiar with its potential. 

This learning event is designed to address that gap. It brought together a diverse group of developing member country (DMC) representatives and ADB staff for a focused, hands-on exploration of how adaptive SP can be embedded into ongoing and future operations.  

Program and Learning Materials
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Slides Day 1 Presentations
Consolidated presentations and activities
Welcome Welcome and Opening Remarks Shamit Chakravarti
Director, Human and Social Development Sector Office, ADB
Activity Learning Goals and Icebreaker Session Facilitators:

Bob Babajanian
Senior Social Development Specialist (Social Protection), ADB

Nard Huijbregts
ADB Consultant / Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI)

Christina Lowe
ADB Consultant
Keynote Session Keynote: How can Adaptive SP promote Climate Resilience? Christina Lowe
ADB Consultant / ASP Specialist
Discussion Interactive Q&A
Session 1 Rapid Diagnosis: Assessing Progress towards Adaptive SP in your context
Session 2 Lessons from the Field Moderator:
Kathryn Milliken
Social Climate Change Specialist, ADB

Panelists:
Muhammad Inam
Social Protection Advisor, GIZ Pakistan

Ruth Honculada-Georget
Advisor, Community Resilience and Emergency Response , FAO
Session 3 Why invest in Adaptive Social Protection?
Activity Learning Journal
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Slides Day 2 Presentations
Consolidated presentations and activities
Welcome Day 2 Opening Reflections Session Facilitators:

Bob Babajanian
Senior Social Development Specialist (Social Protection), ADB

Nard Huijbregts
ADB Consultant / Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI)

Christina Lowe
ADB Consultant / ASP Specialist
Session 1A Leveraging Disaster Risk Financing for shock responsive social protection Nard Huijbregts
ADB Consultant / Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI)
Session 1B Leveraging Disaster Risk Financing for shock responsive social protection Nard Huijbregts
ADB Consultant / Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI)
Session 2: The Investment Case for Anticipatory Action Leveraging Social Protection Systems for Shock Responsive Anticipatory Action Hannes Goegele, Emergency Coordinator, WFP Philippines

Ana Ocampo, Head of Social Protection and School Feeding, WFP Philippines
Session 3 Social Protection for Long-term Climate Resilience Christina Lowe
ADB Consultant / ASP Specialist
Clarifying key concepts Clarifying key concepts and Cross-country Knowledge Exchange on applying the ASP framework Christina Lowe
ADB Consultant / ASP Specialist
Reflection Learning Journal
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Slides Day 3 Presentations
Consolidated presentations and activities
Recap Recap and Set the Scene Session Facilitators:

Bob Babajanian
Senior Social Development Specialist (Social Protection), ADB

Nard Huijbregts
ADB Consultant / Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI)

Christina Lowe
ADB Consultant
Working Session 1 Policy
Working Session 2 Programs
Working Session 3 Systems
Closing and Reflection Final takeaways, and reflection on areas for collaboration and knowledge integration Nard Huijbregts
ADB Consultant / Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI)

Christina Lowe
ADB Consultant
Closing Remarks Closing Remarks Bob Babajanian
Senior Social Development Specialist (Social Protection), ADB

Disclaimer

The views expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

ADB Organizer/s

  • Human and Social Development Sector Office

Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Social Development and Protection