This webinar highlighted key takeaways from the new report Strengthening Active Labor Market Policies to Drive an Inclusive Recovery in Asia. The editors and a panel of contributors discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment among vulnerable groups in developing Asia and the importance of overcoming related barriers to boost access to decent work and socioeconomic well-being.

This ADBI Featured Speaker webinar spotlighted Harvard University’s Fernando Reimers, who examined the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on education and lessons for building education system resilience.

Reimers discussed educational innovations that emerged during the pandemic and how they can support education system development, as outlined in a recent United Nations (UN) report he co-authored.

Quality education is critical for boosting human resources development, economic growth, and sustainable development, prompting many governments to invest heavily in education to promote their future competitiveness. Despite encouraging trends in public education investment and school completion in Southeast Asia, however, the learning outcomes gap remains significant.

Closing schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial learning losses, which threaten to weigh down a generation of students for life.

What can be done to recover these losses?

A panel of experts explored different approaches to address this urgent challenge.