The Annual Public Policy Conference (APPC) is the main and culminating activity of the Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) celebration held every September. The 8th APPC will feature the theme “#CloseTheGap: Accelerate Post-pandemic Recovery through Social Justice” in a four-part webinar series.

This second webinar in the series will be on September 15, from 9:00 to 11:30 am, via Zoom. It will feature the topic “Human Capital Development and Social Protection”. Through esteemed local and international speakers, this session will answer the following questions:

• How can inequity in access to quality education be addressed, especially as students from low-income households and marginalized groups tend to experience larger learning losses due to school disruptions?
• How can the welfare of workers—especially the disadvantaged groups such as the working poor, informal workers, women, persons with disabilities, and marginalized groups—be protected from adverse labor market shocks and changing work landscapes?
• How can the government, private sector, and international institutions work together to achieve social justice in human capital development through equitable access to quality education, decent work, and social protection amid wide economic and social disparities?

This event will be streamed live on the PIDS Facebook page (facebook.com/PIDS.PH) and the SERP-P Community page (facebook.com/SERPPH/).

#APPC2022CloseTheGap
#APPC2022AcceleratePostPandemicRecoveryThroughSocialJustice

PROGRAM

APPC Webinar 2: Human Capital Development and Social Protection (9:00 am to 11:30 am)

Presentation of the Speakers (9:15 am to 9:55 am)
Learning Crisis in the Philippines and Policy Recommendations to Recover Learning Losses

• Mr. Isy Faingold
  Chief of Education
  United Nations Children’s Fund - Philippines

COVID-19 and labor market adjustments in Southeast Asia: Who has been hurt and what policies have mitigated the impact?

• Dr. Sameer Khatiwada
  Social Sector Specialist (ICT)
  Southeast Asia Department
  Asian Development Bank

Panel Discussion (9:55 am to 11:00 am)
Dr. Elizabeth King
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Managing Editor, Journal of Development Effectiveness
Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service

Mr. Juan Miguel Luz
President, Quality Education Design Company
Adjunct Professor, Asian Institute of Management

Ms. Lovelaine Basillote
Executive Director
Philippine Business for Education

Mr. Amir Jilani
Social Sector Specialist
Human and Social Development Division
Southeast Asia Department
Asian Development Bank

Open Forum (11:00 am to 11:30 am)

Emcee and Moderator
Dr. Ma. Christina Epetia
Research Fellow
Philippine Institute for Development Studies

PROFILES

Mr. Isy Faingold
Chief of Education
United Nations Children’s Fund - Philippines

Isy Faingold is the chief of education at UNICEF Philippines. He holds a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University. He has more than 15 years of experience in the public sector and international organizations in the design, implementation, and evaluation of education and social programs.  He served as the national director of Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education in Peru, general director of Social Policy at the Ministry of Social Development and Inclusion in Peru, and the global director of Policy at the Teach For All in London. He has also worked in the World Bank’s education team in Washington D.C.

Dr. Sameer Khatiwada
Social Sector Specialist (ICT)
Southeast Asia Department
Asian Development Bank

Sameer is an economist who leads preparation and implementation of ADB loans and technical assistance projects in the areas of education, skills development, social protection and jobs. Prior to joining ADB operations in Southeast Asia, he was with the Macroeconomic Division of the Research Department at ADB. His research interest is spread across areas such as impact of technology on employment, innovation and structural transformation, industrial policy, enterprise dynamics and impact of COVID-19 pandemic on labor markets. Before joining the ADB in 2017, he spent close to 10 years at the International Labor Organization. A Nepali national, he holds a PhD in Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva and has a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. Follow him on Twitter: @Khatiwada_S

Dr. Elizabeth King
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Managing Editor, Journal of Development Effectiveness
Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service

Elizabeth M. King is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Managing Editor of the Journal of Development Effectiveness, and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She serves on the boards of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), Room to Read, and Education Commission-Asia; is technical adviser to Echidna Giving and the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab, and a judge of the Yidan Prize for education research. She was the World Bank's global director for policy and strategic issues in education and acting vice-president for human development sectors. She has published journal articles, books, book chapters and blogs on human capital, labor markets, and gender. Her book, Human Capital and Gender Inequality in Middle-Income Countries, will be published in 2023 under Routledge’s Development Economics Series. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University.

Mr. Juan Miguel Luz
President, Quality Education Design Company
Adjunct Professor, Asian Institute of Management

Juan Miguel Luz is president of Quality Education Design Company and an adjunct professor at the Asian Institute of Management.

From 2009 to 2016, he was the Dean of the Stephen Zuellig Graduate School of Development Management (ZSDM) at the Asian Institute of Management.  The Zuellig School offers graduate degree programs in development management as well as a range of executive education programs in development.  The latter is offered across Asia and faculty of the school have offered courses in post-conflict and/or emerging countries in Asia including Timor Leste, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Prior to rejoining AIM, Luz served a term as president of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, a global NGO with headquarters in the United States, a campus in the Philippines and programs in Southeast Asia, southern China and East Africa (2006-2008).  Before joining IIRR, Luz served a term as Undersecretary of Education, Republic of the Philippines (2002-2005).

Over the past two decades, Luz has held various management positions in Government (Presidential Management Staff, Office of the President under Corazon C. Aquino; Department of Education), non-governmental organizations (Philippine Business for Social Progress), private sector (vice president for a leading Philippine commercial bank), academe (Asian Institute of Management, De La Salle University) and international organizations (APEC Business Advisory Council). 

Luz has a Master in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University where he was an Edward S. Mason Fellow in international development.  He is an author/editor of five books on the strategic management of NGOs, on corporate-community relations in Asia, and on education management.

Ms. Lovelaine Basillote
Executive Director
Philippine Business for Education

Love Basillote is a human capital development and education specialist, with significant experience in non-profit management, program management, public policy, and communications. She is currently the executive director of Philippine Business for Education, and she is an independent director of a fin-tech start-up. She has a master's degree from Harvard University, and bachelor’s in Political Science from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Mr. Amir Jilani
Social Sector Specialist
Human and Social Development Division
Southeast Asia Department
Asian Development Bank

Amir is an economist and social sector specialist at the Asian Development Bank. He has extensive experience working on the design, development and evaluation of social protection, human development, and women’s empowerment projects. Amir leads social policy dialogue with governments in Asia and the Pacific as well as the preparation and implementation of ADB loan and technical assistance projects designed to address poverty and vulnerability. His research and operational experience focused on social assistance and cash transfers, economic inclusion (graduation) programs, basic education, and the use of digital technology solutions to improve public service delivery. Prior to joining the ADB, Amir worked at the International Food Policy Research Institute as an applied microeconomist on a series of social protection, health, nutrition, and education initiatives. Amir holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Finance from the Australian National University and a Master of Public Policy, specializing in applied microeconomics and international development, from Georgetown University.

Dr. Ma. Christina Epetia
Research Fellow
Philippine Institute for Development Studies

Dr. Ma. Christina F. Epetia is a Research Fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). Her primary research interests are in the areas of labor economics and macroeconomics. Prior to joining PIDS, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE). She was also previously engaged as a consultant at the World Bank Office Manila, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and FEU Public Policy Center. She obtained her Ph.D. in Economics, M.A. in Economics, and B.S. in Economics from the UPSE.

This webinar is organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, with support from the BSP Research Academy.