Social risk management

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Social risk management (SRM) is a new conceptual framework assigned and designed by the World Bank ^[1]. The objective of SRM is to extend the traditional framework of social policy to the non-market based social protection of which its three primary strategies include prevention, mitigation, and coping. It is now well understood that social unrest is positively parallel to the poverty and assisting individuals, households and communities to elevate living standard above the poverty level will harmonize global economy and strengthen the social security.

Prevention strategies are the ones implemented before a risk event occurs. Some typical measures could be

In the labor market, SRM intervention targets on skill training or job function improvement to reduce the risk of un/under- employment or low wages which are probably man-made.
In the financial market, SRM emphasize on optimizing macroeconomic policies to reduce the shocks of financial crisis, such as oil price surges, or unpredictable market moves on currencies, indices and blue chip stocks.
For natural disasters and environment degradation, SRM are gear to deploy a networked pre-warning system or sustainable, renewable and environmental friendly eco-system to minimize the impact of the consequences, such as flooding, earthquakes, drought, global warming and soil salinity.
In health care, SRM focuses on the prevention of pan epidemic illnesses by implementing vaccination and public health education programs. Setting up rehabilitation centers to help drug addicts.
In the public social security, establishing a community-based insurance schemes to compensate pensioners, disability or chronic illness person's living expenses. Building up nursing homes for elderlies and setting up public housing for homelesses and orphans.

Mitigation strategies focus on reducing the probability of inpact that the risk event will bring and have brought. Common practices maybe

In the financial market, diversifying portfolios or hedging stocks to decrease the exposure of the financial risks.
Microfinancing to the poor or jobless people from begging and famines.

Coping strategies are designed to relieve the impact of the risk event once it has occurred. The typical examples are

Issuing government relieve fund or publicly raising money to save natural catastrophes.
Setting up unemployment benefit schemes for job loss people.

[edit] Source of social risks

The degree of social risks usually vary from idiosyncratic (micro) regional covariant (meso) to nation-wide covariant (macro). The following table lists the source of the risks that are being encompassed

Main Sources of Risks *(adapted from Holzmann and Jorgensen, 2000 ^[2])*
	Micro (idiosyncratic)	Meso <-------->	Macro (covariate)
Natural		Rainfall Landslides Volcanic eruption	Earthquakes Floods Drought Tornados
Health	Illness Injury Disability Food poisoning	Pan epidemics Food poisoning	Pan epidemics
Life-cycle	Birth Old age Death
Social	Crimes Domestic violences Drug addiction	Terrorism Gangs	Civil strife War Social upheaval Drug addiction Child abuses
Economic	Unemployment Harvest failure	Unemployment Harvest failure Resettlement	Blue chip company collapsing Financial or currency crisis Market trading shocks
Administrative & Political	Ethnic discrimination	Ethnic conflict Riots Chemical & biological mass destruction Administrative induced accidents & disasters	Political induced malfunction on social programs Coup
Environmental		Polution Deforestration Nuclear disasters Soil salinities Acid rains	Global warming