GDI Lecture: Beyond the World Bank: The Fight for Universal Social Protection in the Global South
| Dates: | 22 April 2026 |
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| Times: | 16:30 - 18:00 |
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| What is it: | Lecture |
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| Organiser: | Global Development Institute |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, External researchers, Alumni, Current University students |
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Speaker: Matthew Greenslade, Economist and former employee of the UK Department for International Development
Matthew Greenslade describes the damage being done by the World Bank's insistence on pursuing a poverty-targeted approach to social protection (social security, or the benefit system) in lower income countries.
Matthew describes why the World Bank does what it does and describes successes in the global fight for a more universal approach which is led by governments and supported by the UN and NGOs, a fight we can all support. Poverty targeting has intuitive appeal but is error-strewn and can cause social unrest, setting back the development of universal social protection systems for years.
Nearly half of the world’s population does not have access to social protection, leaving them vulnerable to life events and crises such as pandemics and climate-related events, and making it harder for nations to develop and make a successful transition to low-carbon growth.
Matthew Greenslade is an economist who has worked on social protection for 25 years, first as a government official on the UK benefit systems, from 1996 to 2003, then in developing countries for the UK Department for International Development, from 2003 to 2016, and after that as a consultant with a company called Development Pathways.
Matthew has just published a book, ‘Beyond the World Bank: The Fight for Universal Social Protection in the Global South’ which is free to download. Hard copies are available with a 20% discount, using discount code GLR BD8.
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G32
Humanities Bridgeford Street
Manchester
