Webinar on Government Innovation for Social Inclusion of People in Vulnerable Situations

Event Overview

A webinar was held to introduce a newly launched eLearning course on “Government Innovation for Social Inclusion of People in Vulnerable Situations.” This course is designed to equip government officials and stakeholders with the knowledge and tools needed to promote inclusive governance. The event featured expert presentations from Morocco and Sri Lanka, offering valuable insights into the course content and its practical applications. Organized by UN DESA/DPIDG/UNPOG, the webinar highlighted the importance of innovation in fostering social inclusion.

The webinar showcased the eLearning course’s content, purpose, and accessibility features which was created to promote government innovation for the social inclusion of people in vulnerable situations. The course presents effective approaches, strategies, and real-world experiences at the national, local, and regional levels, helping participants develop people-centered strategies, policies, and projects to tackle persistent inequalities.

Madhavi Ariyabandu, a Steering Committee member of Duryog Nivaran, participated in the event. She represented Duryog Nivaran and shared her expertise on gender and social inclusion in the context of disaster mitigation, adding valuable perspectives to the discussion.

Madhavi provided key recommendations for addressing the structural and normative barriers that consistently exclude vulnerable and marginalized groups from development, resilience-building, and accessing public services. Her insights emphasized the following points:

• Recognize and Address Barriers: Vulnerable groups, including women, girls, other genders, children, the elderly, and differently-abled individuals, often face significant barriers to participation. It is essential to acknowledge and address these barriers to ensure inclusive development and resilience-building efforts.
• Importance of Awareness and Education: Allocating additional time and resources to build awareness, provide knowledge, and gather evidence is crucial. This will ensure that necessary actions are taken to address the different barriers, issues, and needs related to vulnerability and exclusion.
• Inclusive Decision-Making: The exclusion of vulnerable groups from planning, financial allocations, and overall decision-making for disaster risk reduction and resilience building leads to ineffective and inadequate results. It is imperative to include these groups in all stages of decision-making processes.
• Shared Responsibility for Social Inclusion: There needs to be a shift away from the mindset that social inclusion is the responsibility of a select few. It is a collective responsibility that requires the involvement of all stakeholders.
• Designing Inclusive Interventions: Policies, programs, strategies, and plans should be designed based on differentiated vulnerabilities, needs, and capacities. Inclusive governance models should be developed to empower people in vulnerable situations, ensuring their active participation and engagement.

The eLearning course is available at UN DESA Digital Learning Centre and it can be accessed here.

The event successfully highlighted the importance of government innovation for social inclusion and encouraged participants to engage with the eLearning course material and apply it in their respective fields.