ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has forced us to think critically about alternative global and local response strategies to the unprecedented devastation. Some of the most infected groups are Pacific communities and this has raised concern about the need to seriously address the issue of health and socio-economic inequality. One way of doing this is through social protection. The paper critically examines some of the conventional notions of social protection, especially those predicated on market-imperatives and assumptions and argues for new and community-relevant innovative social protection strategies to effectively mitigate the effects of COVID-19. It then discusses the integrated social protection approach (ISPA). The paper argues that while ISPA is an attempt to create an alternative, inclusive and participatory social protection strategy, the issues of equity in terms of distribution of resources and power still need to be fully addressed because of their potential to cause tension within the community. The meaningful participation and empowerment of the Pacific communities and the strategic use of their cultural norms in social protection framing and implementation are important in building up resilience and sustainability to mitigate effectively against the sudden onset of pandemics such as COVID-19.

摘要

COVID-19迫使我们批判性地思考针对史无前例的破坏的替代性全球和本地应对策略。一些感染最严重的群体是太平洋社区，这引起了人们对认真解决健康和社会经济不平等问题的关注。一种方法是通过社会保护。该论文批判性地考察了一些传统的社会保护概念，尤其是那些以市场必要性和假设为基础的概念，并提出了与社区相关的新的创新性社会保护策略，以有效减轻COVID-19的影响。然后讨论了综合社会保护方法（ISPA）。该论文认为，尽管ISPA试图创建一种替代性，包容性和参与性的社会保护战略，资源和权力分配方面的公平问题仍然有待充分解决，因为它们有可能引起社区内部的紧张局势。太平洋社区的有意义的参与和授权以及在社会保护框架和实施中战略性地使用其文化规范，对于增强抵御能力和可持续性以有效地缓解诸如COVID-19等大流行的突然发作至关重要。