Public Finance for Social Protection Analysts
Online
Public Finance for Social Protection Analysts
6 October–21 November 2025
The course is available in English
Introduction to the course
"How do you finance social protection?" is the (multi-)million-dollar question being asked in the social protection sector. This course will equip participants to answer this question by bringing together two important strands of social protection financing. The first strand engages participants in analysis of the extent of social protection expenditure, and the hypothetical and real-world options for financing it. The second introduces participants to the Public Finance Management Cycle and provides hands-on experience of how this can be applied to social protection. The course provides a bridge between the conceptual and practical elements of social protection financing. Successful participants will obtain a Certificate of Achievement eligible for the Diploma for Social Protection Analysts.
Who attends this course?
Participants will be officials with sound quantitative skills and a strong commitment to advancing social protection who already have a number of years' work experience in this field. They should hold a bachelor or advanced degree and have a strong quantitative background in business, public administration, economics, political science, social science, finance, actuarial studies, mathematics, statistics or a related field. Typical participants will be professionals working in social security institutions and key ministries responsible for the development and monitoring of social protection systems, such as ministries of finance, labour, finance and planning, health or social protection/social affairs; representatives of the social partners involved in the governance of social security institutions; officials of UN agencies working in the field of social protection; members of non-governmental organizations engaged in social protection.
What topics does this course cover?
- Taxation and revenue collection: trends and policy choices
- The Public Financial Management (PFM) cycle
- Reading and assessing national budgets, including classifying and interpreting social protection expenditure
- Assessment of social protection gaps
- Contribution financing of social protection
- Costing tax-financed social protection schemes
- Creation of fiscal space for social protection
- Assessing value for money
- The political economy of social protection financing
- Development of medium term financing strategies
While the course covers some exploration of contribution finance of social protection, the focus is on schemes financed by general revenues.
What will I be able to do?
- Assess the public finance context in terms of revenue collection, government expenditure and the PFM cycle
- Develop a compelling business case for investment in social protection to be fed into the national budget cycle
- Produce costed medium-term plans outlining core priorities for social protection system expansion and reform.
Why should I join?
- Put learning into practice through an Integrated Applied Exercise focused on your own national context
- Participants join and interact with a diverse network of professionals engaging in issues of social protection financing
- The course uses a mix of training methods: lectures, plenary discussions, good practices, case studies, group work, and individual exercises.
- Take a step towards achieving the ITCILO Diploma for Social Protection, a new accreditation for the next generation of social protection practitioners.
This course is one of four eligible courses for the Diploma For Social Protection Analysts. To achieve the Diploma, successful candidates must complete three of four courses within a five year period, and undertake a capstone assessment.
How?
The course consists of a number of online modules offered through the eCampus online platform to be completed over a period of seven weeks for an estimated total of 100 learning hours.
- Pre-course: Flexible (asynchronous) self-guided online learning on eCampus and an end of phase assessment.
- ‘Real time’ learning: Live interactive sessions and engaging video presentations by highly experienced trainers, blended with individual and collaborative group exercises, peer-to peer assessment and online technical forums on eCampus.
- End of course assignment: Individual assignment applying cutting-edge technical knowledge to the participants’ organization. Participants who successfully complete all assessments and the final assignment will receive a Certificate of Achievement.
