Summary of the Social Protection Policymaker Symposium

Introduction and Motivation for the SymposiumAs discussed in the introduction, this book aims not just to look back on the research that has been done but to also look ahead at the pressing questions and prob lems faced by policymakers in delivering social protection.As part of this goal, we organized a symposium to discuss these issues and discuss ave nues and questions for future research.The Social Protection Policymaker Symposium was jointly hosted on September 18, 2023 by Harvard University's Center for International Development (CID) and the Mas sachu setts Institute of Technology's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), in partnership with the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program.Coordination of the symposium was managed by the J-PAL/CID Social Protection Initiative, a research initiative that funds randomized evaluations of social protection programs in low-and middleincome countries (LMICs) and supports policy engagement to share insights from completed research.The symposium featured contributions from the following current and former government ministers from Africa and Asia