The Asian financial crisis and its social aftermath triggered a fundamental reappraisal of the role of social protection in Asia. Existing social protection programmes in many Asian countries were found to be insufficient and not well designed. It is now widely agreed that considerable effort is required to set up and further develop appropriate social protection mechanisms in the region.

This book provides the proceedings of two meetings organised by the OECD to discuss the issue of developing social protection. It brings together perspectives of experts from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, as well as contributions from Korea and Australia, plus the views of the Asian Development Bank, the International Labour Organisation and the World Bank. The book focuses on practical ways of developing programmes that can contribute positively to Asian social development. This book was edited by Peter Whiteford. This book is part of the OECD's on-going co-operation with non-Member economies around the world.