GCSPF E-Newsletter #13 - July 2018 - HLPF

e-GCSPF # 13 - July 2018 - HLPF

Members of the GCSPF participate at the High Level Political Forum 2018 The high-level political forum on sustainable development will meet from Monday, 9 to Wednesday, 18 July 2018. The ministerial meeting of the forum will be from Monday, 16 July, to Wednesday, 18 July 2018. The theme is: "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies". The HLPF will also review progress towards the SDGS and focus in particular on Goal 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 and 17. During the ministerial meetings 47 countries will carry out Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). Members of the GCSPF will organize and/or participate in several side events, see below the information. Members of the GCSPF will hold an INFORMAL MEETING next Monday 16th at 10:15 am at Guillermo Campuzano’s office which is located at 246 E 46th street between 2nd and 3rd., New York. SDG 6 and Leave No Woman Behind Access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is a human right. It is a precondition for combating poverty, securing good health and well-being, enhancing dignity, and reducing exposure to violence for all women and girls. Slow progress ensuring the right to water and sanitation for all is a significant obstacle to the achievement of all SDGs. Rapid urbanization has brought particular challenges including housing, transport and inadequate basic services for water and sanitation. Difficult terrain, unsafe access to toilets and the risk of sexual assault are special hazards for children, adolescent girls and older women. This event will bring together the experiences of marginalized women, including girls and older women, and women with disabilities, in accessing safe and secure water, sanitation and hygiene in slum communities. It will discuss innovations and best practices to promote women and girls’ greater safety and security. Commentary for progress will be given by UN Women and WaterAid. Organizing Partners: Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)| Gray Panthers Co-Organizers: Action for Sustainable Development (A4SD) | Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities | Stakeholder Group on Ageing | International Disability Alliance | International Forum of National NGO Platforms | Asia Dalit Rights Forum | Asia Civil Society Partnership for Sustainable Development | African Platform for Social Protection | FEMNET The African Women’s Development and Communication Networks | WaterAid Friday, 13 July 2018, 12:30 to 14:30 Venue: AARP office 750 Third Avenue (between E 46th St and E 47th St), 31st Floor Read more SDG-implementation at national level: What's the point of national reports? VNRs and shadow (or spotlight) reporting: How it is key for meaningful participation and accountability The national voluntary reporting to the High Level Political Forum of ECOSOC is a practice that has gained traction, as dozens of governments are volunteering each year to participate and contribute their VNRs. A number of CSOs have prepared their own shadow or spotlight reports to follow-up on their governments efforts to implement the 2030-Agenda. Is there a meaningful dialogue between the official and the alternative reports? What is the value of the whole exercise? These issues will be debated on July 13, 2018 | 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM at WeWork Grand Central, 4th Floor, Room 4A, 450 Lexington Ave, New York 10017 Read more Partnership or Business Case? Private Sector and the SDGs The private sector plays a significant role in achieving the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Several corporations have already pledged their support for the SDGs or evaluated the relevance of SDGs in their business activities. The UN Global Compact has started a global campaign to celebrate business leaders who are taking action to advance the 2030 Agenda. In many countries, engaging the private sector in SDG implementation is part of official policy. Governments and the UN are seeking increased commitment from the private sector in order to finance SDG implementation and bring growth to their economies. Many governments expect the involvement of companies in SDG implementation to lead to greater social and environmental awareness in business strategies. Date: Friday, 13 July 2018, 7:15 pm – 8:45 pm Place: Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UN, 871 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 Read more Sustainable Use of Waters – Precondition for a World without Hunger The implementation of SDG 6.4 Water use and scarcity and its link to the Human Right to Food Monday, July 16th, 2018, 06:30 p.m. – 08:30 p.m. Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, Auditorium, 871 United Nations Plaza (First Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets), New York The side event is organized by Bread for the World together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Read more

JOIN US TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL GLOBAL COALITION FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOORS - GCSPF For comments, sugestions, collaborations contact us at: anaclau@item.org.uy To stop receiving this newsletter send a message with the subject "unsubscribe" to: anaclau@item.org.uy

e-GCSPF # 12 - July 2018 - HLPF

Members of the GCSPF participate at the High Level Political Forum 2018 The high-level political forum on sustainable development will meet from Monday, 9 to Wednesday, 18 July 2018. The ministerial meeting of the forum will be from Monday, 16 July, to Wednesday, 18 July 2018. The theme is: "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies". The HLPF will also review progress towards the SDGS and focus in particular on Goal 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 and 17. During the ministerial meetings 47 countries will carry out Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). Members of the GCSPF will organize and/or participate in several side events, see below the information. Building inclusive and resilient cities in an ageing world: From words to action Rapid urbanisation and rapid population ageing are two global trends that are reshaping our world. However, the two are rarely considered together, despite a rapid increase in the number of older urban citizens. The pledge to leave no one behind requires all actors to take a rights-based, life course, approach to urban planning that solicits the active participation of all, including older persons. This event will bring together a range of experts to examine practical steps for implementing goal 11’s promise to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Wednesday 11th July - 1.15 - 2.30 PM Venue: Conference Room A Read more Conversation with authors of Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2018 Exploring new policy pathways: How to overcome obstacles and contradictions in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda The world is off-track in terms of achieving sustainable development. Fundamental policy changes are necessary to unleash the transformative potential of the SDGs. In particular, there is a need for more coherent fiscal and regulatory policies and a whole-of-government approach towards sustainability. The Spotlight Report 2018 describes policies, resources and actions that are necessary to implement the 2030 Agenda. It highlights strategies and approaches which depart from business-as-usual and prioritize fulfilment of human rights and respect for planetary boundaries. At the roundtable event authors of the Spotlight Report 2018 will present key findings and recommendations to participants for discussion. Church Center, 10TH Floor, 777 UN Plaza, New York 12 July 2018, 6:15-7:45PM Jointly organized by Arab NGO Network for Development, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Public Services International, Global Policy Forum, Society for International Development, Social Watch, Third World Network with support from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Read more SDG 6 and Leave No Woman Behind Access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is a human right. It is a precondition for combating poverty, securing good health and well-being, enhancing dignity, and reducing exposure to violence for all women and girls. Slow progress ensuring the right to water and sanitation for all is a significant obstacle to the achievement of all SDGs. Rapid urbanization has brought particular challenges including housing, transport and inadequate basic services for water and sanitation. Difficult terrain, unsafe access to toilets and the risk of sexual assault are special hazards for children, adolescent girls and older women. This event will bring together the experiences of marginalized women, including girls and older women, and women with disabilities, in accessing safe and secure water, sanitation and hygiene in slum communities. It will discuss innovations and best practices to promote women and girls’ greater safety and security. Commentary for progress will be given by UN Women and WaterAid. Organizing Partners: Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)| Gray Panthers Co-Organizers: Action for Sustainable Development (A4SD) | Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities | Stakeholder Group on Ageing | International Disability Alliance | International Forum of National NGO Platforms | Asia Dalit Rights Forum | Asia Civil Society Partnership for Sustainable Development | African Platform for Social Protection | FEMNET The African Women’s Development and Communication Networks | WaterAid Friday, 13 July 2018, 12:30 to 14:30 Venue: AARP office 750 Third Avenue (between E 46th St and E 47th St), 31st Floor Read more SDG-implementation at national level: What's the point of national reports? VNRs and shadow (or spotlight) reporting: How it is key for meaningful participation and accountability The national voluntary reporting to the High Level Political Forum of ECOSOC is a practice that has gained traction, as dozens of governments are volunteering each year to participate and contribute their VNRs. A number of CSOs have prepared their own shadow or spotlight reports to follow-up on their governments efforts to implement the 2030-Agenda. Is there a meaningful dialogue between the official and the alternative reports? What is the value of the whole exercise? These issues will be debated on July 13, 2018 | 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM at WeWork Grand Central, 4th Floor, Room 4A, 450 Lexington Ave, New York 10017 Read more Partnership or Business Case? Private Sector and the SDGs The private sector plays a significant role in achieving the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Several corporations have already pledged their support for the SDGs or evaluated the relevance of SDGs in their business activities. The UN Global Compact has started a global campaign to celebrate business leaders who are taking action to advance the 2030 Agenda. In many countries, engaging the private sector in SDG implementation is part of official policy. Governments and the UN are seeking increased commitment from the private sector in order to finance SDG implementation and bring growth to their economies. Many governments expect the involvement of companies in SDG implementation to lead to greater social and environmental awareness in business strategies. Date: Friday, 13 July 2018, 7:15 pm – 8:45 pm Place: Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UN, 871 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 Read more Sustainable Use of Waters – Precondition for a World without Hunger The implementation of SDG 6.4 Water use and scarcity and its link to the Human Right to Food Monday, July 16th, 2018, 06:30 p.m. – 08:30 p.m. Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, Auditorium, 871 United Nations Plaza (First Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets), New York The side event is organized by Bread for the World together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Read more

JOIN US TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL GLOBAL COALITION FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOORS - GCSPF For comments, sugestions, collaborations contact us at: anaclau@item.org.uy To stop receiving this newsletter send a message with the subject "unsubscribe" to: anaclau@item.org.uy

The article SDG 1: Mobilize the financial means for social protection systems for all by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors is included at the Report Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2018 Exploring new policy pathways. How to overcome obstacles and contradictions in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
by the Civil Society Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Download this chapter in pdf format here.

El informe se encuentra disponible en español aquí, vea aquí el capítulo ODS 1. Financiar los sistemas de protección social para todos.

The report is also available in Arabic, here.

By the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors

The international commitment is explicit and ambitious: “Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable“ (SDG target 1.3). Social protection systems include contributory and non-contributory schemes for children, people in active age and older persons, as for example child grants, health insurance or pension programmes. Social protection floors provide at least a basic level of income security and access to health services for all residents in all main contingencies along the life cycle, as defined in the ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation 2012 (no. 202).¹

There is no doubt that social protection is a key instrument to end poverty and to give people access to opportunities for a self-determined life in dignity. National social protection systems can also contribute to achieving other SDGs, including food security, good health, decent work, gender equality, reduced inequality and cohesive communities.

The social protection target is ambitious as there is an extremely wide gap between the commitment and the current situation. The ILO World Social Protection Report 2017-2019 shows that only 29 percent of the world’s population is covered by adequate social protection.² And yet many more countries than those who already have complete social protection systems could afford at least to complete their Social Protection Floors (SPFs). The forthcoming 2018 update³ of the SPF Index that the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors has published in 2016, finds that

• 32 countries would require no more than 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP);
• 39 countries would require between 1 and 2 percent of GDP to complete their SPFs in the short run.⁴

In medium term, a number of countries should be able to close most of their social protection gaps, including:

• 45 countries with SPFs gaps of between 2 and 4 percent of GDP and
• 9 further countries with gaps of between 4 and 6 percent GDP.

In the longer term

• 12 further countries might be able to close most of their gaps between 6 and 10 percent of GDP.

However, even for countries that have the political will to close the gap and the organizational capacity to implement the required policies, a major challenge is to mobilize and maintain the necessary resources to cover the cost in a sustainable way, year in and year out, through good times and bad. Social protection spending is not a short-term effort but needs to be planned and guaranteed for the indefinite future.

Large differences in the funding of social protection

The ILO found large regional differences in the funding of social protection, ranging from about 15 percent of GDP in Europe to 4.5 percent in Africa on average. That funding is almost exclusively mobilized through taxation, social security contributions and other public revenues. Very little official development assistance (ODA) is used to support social protection in developing countries. Total ODA for social protection disbursed in the years 2010-2015 varied between US$ 1.9 billion and US$ 2.6 billion or only about 2 percent of total ODA.⁵

In many countries, contributory pensions, employer paid insurance for workers injured on the job and other social insurance systems provide social protection to some of the population, albeit usually not for all people and in particular not for people living in poverty in the informal economy, who are generally not in a position to pay the mandatory contributions. It is thus necessary to allocate government expenditures to social protection systems to protect people from poverty, for which countries need to build strong and fair national tax systems, increase efficiency in tax collection and administration, and end tax evasion and fraud. In some cases, budget expenditures can be reallocated from less essential uses to social protection. In some countries it will be necessary to raise taxes or other fiscal revenues, which should be done in a progressive manner, for instance through taxing personal and corporate income, as well as property and wealth.

Financing mechanisms for social protection

The choice of financing mechanisms should take account the administrative demands of their implementation and their impact on investments and economic performance. But it is essential also to consider the net fiscal impact and incidence of the combination of financing choices and transfer payments on poverty and on inequality.⁶ A well-designed mix of financing mechanisms and social protection transfer programmes can reduce both poverty and inequality as decades of experience in Europe and other parts of the world show.

Striving for universal social protection, some countries have used and improved the fiscal resources earned from extractive industries. A case in point is Bolivia, where the sharing of revenues of gas exports changed from 18 percent to the government and 82 percent to the producers to a revenue 50-50 split, which led to the pledge of additional funds to core social services, including a universal old age pension, and a cash transfer for children in public primary schools to compensate for the cost of books, uniforms and transportation.⁷

Political will as well as long term fiscal planning is needed to maintain social protection expenditures in the face of economic volatility (and increase them as conditions warrant). For commodity-dependent developing countries, some governments build up a reserve fund during boom times to draw down during bad times. It requires government discipline during boom times when there may be strong political pressure to expand government expenditure in unsustainable ways and in which the government administration might assume that the next crisis will fall on a successor government. The success of such a strategy requires good fiscal monitoring, including by civil society organizations.

Even if at first sight social protection seems to be a purely domestic public task, there is without doubt also an international responsibility to support developing countries in this regard, as backed by the extraterritorial state obligations agreed upon in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, Art. 2.1). One element of this responsibility is to help individual countries to collect taxes owed that presently escape their fiscal systems. Internationally coordinated efforts are required to effectively reduce tax evasion. Technical assistance is also beneficial to help countries design systems that prevent opportunities for legal, but unethical, tax avoidance schemes, and so not offer competing tax incentives to foreign investors that erode the national tax base in other countries and constitute a fiscal ‘race to the bottom’.

There is a human rights obligation to protect ongoing social protection spending in times of economic distress. Austerity measures typically taken after crises occur must not cut into social protection spending that protects people from the most disastrous fall-out of these crises. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in General Comment 19 (2008) has noted that states have a minimum core obligation to provide some form of social protection, which is not subject to availability of resources. The positive economic effects of social protection as investments in social and economic development must also be recognized, for instance, in terms of supporting skill development and employability, as well as sustaining aggregate demand. During the international financial crisis of 2008, for instance, we observed the stabilizing effect of social protection in some countries, preventing worse impacts on people and economies and enabling faster recoveries.

One reason social protection is threatened in crisis periods is that priority is given to continuing to pay government creditors. It is high time to re-calibrate the risk-sharing between involved parties. The obligation to protect people from intolerable hardship should take precedence over the obligation to honour debt payments when government revenues contract. However, we do not need to wait for sovereign bankruptcy and measures of last resort to protect spending for basic social protection. Proposals to design loans and bonds that automatically postpone or cancel debt servicing during periods of economic stress, called “State-contingent debt”, have many supporters but need to be put into practice. Moreover, the practice of lending conditionalities requiring States to scale back their social protection systems must be immediately reconsidered.

International ODA for social protection has to increase. Public funds will be usefully spent to contribute to national efforts to design, implement and finance systems of social protection. A reliable international funding mechanism for social protection could have added value, especially as a bridging mechanism for least developed low-income countries that might not yet have sufficient fiscal capacity. In this regards a Global Fund for Social Protection has been proposed that would aim at creating a solidarity-based financing mechanism for social protection floors.⁸ The Fund would be governed by a board consisting of representatives from different constituencies, including the UN, ILO, donor countries, recipient countries and civil society. ODA resources could be complemented by innovative sources of development finance, such as a financial transactions tax (FTT), carbon taxes, and/or a decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to issue new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for unrestricted use.

Mobilizing adequate public resources to cover the cost of social protection floors and social protection in a wider sense is a challenging terrain on the international as well as the national level. And yet, the challenge can be met because the requisite techniques and mechanisms of public finance exist. They will have to be implemented to guarantee that nobody is left behind.

The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors is a network of around 100 NGOs and unions promoting the right of all people residing in a country to social security, regardless of documentation. It promotes social protection floors as key instruments to achieve the overarching social goal of the global development agenda (www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org).

Notes:

Literature

Bierbaum, Mira/Schildberg, Cäcilie/Cichon, Michael (2018): Social Protection Floor Index – Update and Country Studies. Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stfitung.
www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017-Social-Protection-Index.pdf

Cichon, Michael (2015): A Global Fund for Social Protection Floors: Eight Good Reasons Why It Can Easily be Done. Geneva: UNRISD.
www.unrisd.org/road-to-addis-cichon

De Schutter, Olivier/Sepúlveda, Magdalena (2012): A Global Fund for Social Protection (GFSP), Executive Summary. Geneva: United Nations.
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Food/20121009_GFSP_execsummary_en.pdf

Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (2015): A Global Fund for Social Protection. A proposal for the Conference on Financing for Development Addis Ababa. Geneva.
www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/FfD_GFSP14April2015final.pdf

Herman, Barry (2018): Sustainably financing social protection floors, Brot für die Welt, Berlin
https://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/themen/fachpublikationen/armut-sozialpolitik/

ILO (2017): World Social Protection Report 2017-2019. Universal social protection to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Geneva.
www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_604882/lang – en/index.htm

Inchauste, Gabriela/Lustig, Nora (Ed.) (2017): The Distributional Impact of Taxes and Transfers. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/27980/9781464810916.pdf

Ortiz, Isabel/Cummins,Matthew/Karunanethy, Kalaivani (2017): Fiscal Space for Social Protection and the SDGs: Options to expand social investments in 187 countries. Geneva/New York: ILO, UNICEF and UN Women.
www.social-protection.org/gimi/RessourcePDF.action?ressource.ressourceId=51537

UN (2018): Financing for Development: Progress and Prospects 2018. Report of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development. New York.
https://developmentfinance.un.org/iatf2018

The article SDG 1: Mobilize the financial means for social protection systems for all by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors is included at the Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2018 Exploring new policy pathways. How to overcome obstacles and contradictions in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda report by the Civil Society Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development