Leveraging the Private Sector to Deliver Social Protection Services in Central and West Asia

Proposed

1.This regional Technical Assistance (TA) aims to explore innovative and actionable strategies for leveraging the private sector in the delivery of inclusive, equitable, and effective social protection (SP) services in Central and West Asia (CWA). The TA aligns with the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Strategy 2030 , which emphasizes inclusive economic growth, resilience to economic and social shocks, and private sector engagement as critical pathways for achieving its overarching development goals. The TA will help achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those focused on poverty reduction, gender equality, and reduced inequalities, while enhancing the capacity of governments in CWA to address systemic challenges in SP delivery. This TA will cover nine countries within the CWA region. 2.SP systems in these countries face a range of issues, including inefficiencies in SP services delivery, poor targeting mechanisms, limited-service coverage, insufficient resources allocated for SP and limited administrative capacity to adapt to crises or meet the needs of marginalized groups. Vulnerable populations, particularly women, elderly people, orphans, youth, displaced persons, refugees, homeless people, and persons with disabilities, often experience barriers to accessing SP services. At the same time, many public sector institutions struggle with insufficient resources, dilapidated infrastructure, outdated technologies, bureaucratic procedures, and lack of single window access to provide adequate and equitable support. By identifying industry-best practice from the private sector, the TA seeks to address these gaps, leveraging private sector's expertise, innovation, and resources to create cost-effective, gender-responsive, and scalable solutions. The scope of this TA will include diagnostic study, including assessing gender-specific barriers in SP systems, the development of a strategy for leveraging the private sector in relation to SP systems and services, that integrate gender, capacity-building initiatives for stakeholders, and the preparation of a pipeline of potential gender-responsive SP projects with private sector participation (PSP) and/or Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), including initial pre-feasibility studies . The outcomes of the TA are expected to provide governments with actionable tools to enhance SP services delivery, reduce gender disparities, benefit vulnerable populations, and establish resilient systems capable of addressing the specific needs of women, youth, and persons with disabilities while responding effectively to future challenges.