A global conference on how to build a social protection system that cares for the most vulnerable and improves welfare around the world opened in Seoul on Thursday as the world economy is grappling with the 2007-08 economic crisis.

The two-day conference of the International Policy Dialogue: Mitigating Vulnerabilities and Promoting Sustainable Growth is hosted by South Korea’s foreign ministry and the United Nations Development Program.

“The recent global economic and financial crisis confirmed the importance of well-designed, prudent social protection systems in cushioning economies against shocks and in achieving more sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth,” said Anne-Isabelle Degryse-Blateau, the director of the UNDP’s policy center in Seoul. (Yonhap News)