What's next for Social Protection: A Global Fund for Social Protection

Social protection gaps left individuals and societies vulnerable to health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19. A Global Fund for Social Protection could accelerate progress in building social protection floors worldwide and strengthen crisis resilience decisively.

Social Protection has been an essential tool to face the pandemic and to mitigate its health, social and economic impact on individuals and societies. So far, 209 countries adopted 1,568 social protection measures in response to COVID-19 - 54 % of these measures were new emergency programs and 46% adjustments of pre-existing contributory and non-contributory social protection programs (ILO, 16/11/2020). Mozambique, for example, adapted its national cash transfer program to provide higher levels of benefits to its 600,000 beneficiaries, and extended transfers to one million additional individuals as a temporary emergency assistance.

Despite the impressive number and scale of responses, many programs have failed to protect all people in need, especially those formerly not integrated into the social protection system, as for instance workers in the informal sector (ILO, 2020a; CGAP, 2020). Overall, performance of the programmes varies strongly and points to the secret of success: "We have seen, once again, that countries that already had well-designed social protection systems in place were able to rapidly guarantee access to much needed health care and ensure income security through sickness benefits, unemployment benefits and social assistance" (Valérie Schmitt, 2020).

Large gaps in social protection floors

Among those left without income opportunities and without adequate social protection, hunger and extreme poverty are rising dramatically. It is expected that the COVID-19 pandemic will cause between 83 and 132 million more people to suffer from hunger this year (FAO et al., 2020).

Social protection gaps are not exclusively, but still strongly related to financial gaps. The International Labour Organization estimates that around US$77.9 billion would be required in 2020 alone, if social protection floors in all low-income countries were to be completed at once (ILO, 9/2020b).

While financing social protection is primarily the responsibility of national governments, it is evident that in some low-income countries international support is required until domestic fiscal capacity increases, and international tax justice improves. While the financing gap for low-income countries represents 15.9% of their GDP, related to the Global GDP it is only 0.25%.

Reaching the furthest behind first

Astonishingly, international funding for social protection is still extremely low, despite the vast scientific evidence on the effectiveness of investing in social protection to tackle extreme poverty. International aid only covers about 3% of the social protection sector financing gap in low-income countries (Manuel et al., 2020).

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed the willingness of many countries to make unprecedented financial efforts to provide protection. A Global Fund for Social Protection could now strengthen these national initiatives, as well as up-scale well-functioning forms of international cooperation. It could contribute to transform current emergency programmes into coherent elements of sustainable social protection systems able to respond also to future crises. There is the need to act as a global community and push decisively towards the goal of universal social protection, starting from those left furthest behind.

Lessons from other Global Funds

The proposal to pool funds globally for high priority issues is far from new. Many times, it has been the instrument of choice to engage for common goals and coordinated progress in various specific sectors, as for example in Health (Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), Education (Education cannot wait), and Climate (Green Climate Fund) as well as related to the cross-sectoral Agenda 2030 (Joint SDG Fund).

There are important lessons to learn from earlier experiences of Global Funds. Among them is the observation that Global Funds were able to mobilise political commitment on national and on international level. Global Funds came with a stronger focus on data, results and joint learning and have led to more effective collective donor effort (Manuel and Manuel, 2018). In the context of social protection, donor coordination is particularly important, as social protection systems need to be integrated and coherent: “Fragmented aid and associated advice embodies the risk that systems become or remain un-coordinated and fragmented” (Michael Cichon, 2020).

Earlier experiences of Global Funds also have caused strong criticism, mainly around their narrow, vertical focus of intervention, donor dominance and additional bureaucracy. Therefore, specific design features - mandate, governance structure and procedures - are extremely important.

Mandate of a Global Fund for Social Protection

In the proposal of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors the mandate of a Global Fund for Social Protection differs explicitly from a narrow focus of intervention. It is described as “supporting national governments in their efforts to build up and strengthen their universal and rights-based social protection systems, based on national dialogues with social partners and civil society” (GCSPF 2020). In essence the aim is to provide for:

  1. Technical support to introduce or complete social protection floors and to develop countries’ preparedness to sustain and expand social protection in times of crises.  
  1. Co-financing of social protection floor benefits, in cases where low-income countries would require a prohibitive high share of their current total tax revenue to do so.   
  1. Support during crises to strengthen responsiveness of social protection systems.  

A Global Fund for Social Protection is important, not only to mobilise additional international finance, but also to leverage domestic resources and to support policy and technical coherence for efficient and accountable building of national social protection systems: “Essential elements for sustainable system building are an inclusive national social dialogue, legislation to ensure social protection becomes a right, and reliable allocations in the national budget. The Mandate of a Global Fund for Social Protection is to play a catalytic role to strengthen these elements” (Gabriel Fernandez, 2020).

Governance features

Consequently, the governance structure of a Global Fund for Social Protection needs to put country ownership first, as agreed upon in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. “It is solely up to the recipient countries to decide on the concrete shape of their national social protection floors – even if they are temporarily co-financed by international donors. Therefore, the decision-making structures of the Fund must be designed in such a way that no decisions can be taken against the will of the recipient countries” (Markus Kaltenborn, 2020).

The second priority feature is to institutionalize participation of social partners and civil society. “Social Partners and civil society have an important role as part of the national social dialogue, in the design, implementation and monitoring of social protection, to sustain political will for long term allocation of public spending and to hold governments accountable. They consequently also have a role to play within the international governance structure of a Global Fund for Social Protection” (Sulistri Afrileston, 2020). 

Towards social protection floors worldwide

The international community of nations has long committed to ensure the human right of all people to social protection. In this Decade of Action to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, commitments must be translated into tangible results. “This is not only required by global solidarity, but there is also a legal obligation in this regard, derived from fundamental human rights (…).” (Kaltenborn, 2020).

To build solid protection floors, which we can rely on even in times of crisis, requires determined and courageous steps towards more national and international solidarity. “Present levels of inequality of standards of living and injustice are not sustainable in a globalizing world. In a world with global markets, global health crisis, global migration, global financial and economic crises and a looming climate disaster, the solidarity between people cannot stop at national borders. The Fund is only a tiny contribution, but perhaps a visible indication of that understanding” (Michael Cichon, 2020).

This blog post is published as part of the activities to promote and disseminate the results and key discussions of the global e-Conference ‘Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity: What’s next for social protection?’, held in October 2020. The blog summarises the key messages from the e-Conference’s Side Event on A Global Fund for Social Protection. The session was moderated by Alison Tate, Director of Economic and Social Policy of International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and joined by speakers Valérie Schmitt, Deputy Director of International Labour Organization (ILO); Gabriel Fernandez, Social Protection Specialist of Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP); Markus Kaltenborn, Professor of Law of Ruhr University Bochum; Sulistri Afrileston, Deputy President of the Confederation of Indonesia Prosperous Trade Union KSBSI, member of ITUC;  Michael Cichon, Professor emeritus of Social Protection of Maastricht Graduate School of Governance at the United Nations University in Maastricht (UNU MERIT); Marcus Manuel, Senior Research Associate of Overseas Development Institute (ODI). You can watch the full session here.

References:

CGAP (2020). Relief for Informal Workers: Falling through the Cracks in COVID-19, Covid-19 Briefing, Accessible: Relief for Informal Workers: Falling through the Cracks in COVID-19 (cgap.org)

FAO et al. (2020). The Report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, Accessible:   SOFI2020_EN_web.pdf (reliefweb.int)

GCSPF (2020). Global Fund for Social protection. Concept note, Accessible: Global Financing Mechanism for Social Protection.doc

ILO (9/2020a). Extending social protection to informal workers in the COVID-19 crisis: country responses and policy considerations, Social Protection Spotlight, Accessible: https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/RessourcePDF.action?id=56833 

ILO (9/2020b). Financing gaps in social protection: Global estimates and strategies for developing countries in light of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, Social Protection Spotlight, Accessible: RessourcePDF.action (social-protection.org)

ILO (16/11/2020). Social Protection Monitor, International Labour Organization, Accessible: ILO | Social Protection Platform | (social-protection.org)

Kaltenborn, M. (2020). “Social Protection Floors as an investment in the future”, International Journal of Public Law and Policy (IJPLAP), vol. 7 (2020), forthcoming

Manuel, M. et al. (2020). Financing the reduction of extreme poverty post-Covid-19, ODI Briefing Note, Accessible: reducing_poverty_post_covid_final.pdf (odi.org)

Manuel, M. and Manuel, C. (2018). Achieving equal access to justice for all by 2030. Lessons from global funds, ODI working paper 537, Accessible: 12307.pdf (odi.org)

By Nicola Wiebe.

Source: socialprotection.org.

e-GCSPF # 47 - December 2020
   
 

The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, the ILO and UNICEF join forces to expand social protection for all through sustainable financing

   
 

The programme “Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management” was launched by the European Union, the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF on a virtual conference that took place on December 1st.
The multi-country programme presented an innovative partnership on social protection and public finance management – supported through funding from the European Union – that was developed in collaboration with eight partner countries including Angola, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Paraguay, Senegal, and Uganda. It supports the development of more inclusive, robust and sustainable social protection systems that can also respond to future shocks. This new partnership provides integrated support to national ministries and public agencies on the planning, design, financing and implementation of social protection systems, programmes and delivery mechanisms. Read more

   
   
 

Activities in the Latin America region

   
 

A series of video/zoom conferences and a workshop in the Latin America region with participation of experts, trade unions, feminist organizations, academics and activists with a common inspiration in social and economic justice to debate on the monitoring, advocacy at national, regional and international levels will be carried out in 2021 and 2022. These activities hope to strengthen networks at national and regional level and it is an opportunity to reinforce the work of the GCSPF on (sub)regional level, as has been proposed in our Core Team strategy meetings.
These activities will be in Spanish and open to our members and interested partners from all our networks. Please contact Ana Zeballos at anaclau@item.org.uy if you are interested in participating.

   
   
 

The social contract and the role of universal social security in building trust in government

   
 

Development Pathways and Act Church of Sweden co-published the report “The social contract and the role of universal social security in building trust in government”. Trust in government is the basic building block of any successful nationstate. It needs to be at the very top of the list of government priorities since, once trust is undermined, the state itself can be threatened. History tells us that a key factor in building trust is the provision of universal public services, since they can be enjoyed by everyone on an equal and impartial basis. And, if trust is to be built quickly, the best means of doing so is through universal social security.
COVID-19 has created a major crisis across all countries and has highlighted the failings of the prevailing social and economic policies in most countries in the Global South. A key question is whether COVID-19 can be the catalyst for the type of paradigm shift in social and economic policy that occurred across Western Europe following the Second World War. If this change in paradigm is to happen, it will need progressive politicians and development partners to come together and move away from the poor relief model that has dominated policy thinking across the Global South. Instead, they need to have an unremitting focus on building the type of universal social security system that transformed the social contract in Europe. Read more

   
   
 

“Building Back Better: A Call for Courage”

   
 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the fragility of the global system, highlighted inequalities, and left the most vulnerable groups exposed. The crisis has affected the enjoyment of human rights, social and economic protection as well as global trade and brings hunger for change and the hope of renewal. After the initial shock, the appetite for reform is suppressed by the yearning for the comforting certainty of the familiar. This new publication and its related podcast series by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva office delineate concrete and possible avenues in different policy areas towards a world of prosperity and equality for all. The authors of the 13 think pieces have developed concrete policy recommendations. These recommendations are possible ingredients for a future in which “Building Back Better” is a success and not another failed attempt. Read more

   
   
 

G20 Leaders’ Declaration Lacks Plans for Jobs and Social Protection

   
 

The G20 Leaders’ statement released on 22 November covers many highly important topics but does not provide the urgently needed coordinated boost for jobs and social protection.
The support for equitable access to treatments and eventual vaccines is welcome, however there is no new initiative on support for developing countries and no progress on international tax reform.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said: “The world is facing its greatest employment challenge in living memory, however the G20 leaders have not shown the leadership that is needed. The Declaration acknowledges the scale of the challenge without offering real solutions. Coordinated action, with support for the least wealthy countries, is needed for recovery and resilience. The lack of global ambition in this G20 Declaration is extremely disappointing and will leave countries on their own to fight the terrible economic consequences of the pandemic.” Read more

   
 

Breaking Silos, Building Movements: Connecting Gender Equality and Macroeconomics

   
 

How do global economic and development structures impact the daily lives of women? Experts Barbara Adams (Global Policy Forum), Emma Bürgisser (Bretton Woods Project), Eleanor Dictaan-Bang-oa (Tebtebba), Azra Talat Sayeed (Roots for Equity) and Chantal Umuhoza (SPECTRA: Young Feminists Activism) explain macroeconomic policies and their relevance to the struggle for gender equality, particularly in the Global South. Watch the video

   
   
   
 

Call for reactions: Proposal for a Global Fund for Social Protection

   
 

The idea of a Global Fund for Social Protection starts from the finding that social protection floors are affordable, provided low-income countries receive international support in order to complement their own efforts to mobilize domestic resources.
The desirability and feasibility of a new international mechanism in support of social protection floors remains debated.
On 22-23 September 2020, Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, organized jointly with the French government a High-Level Expert Meeting on this topic, which brought together 12 governments, 18 international agencies, social partners, civil society, and academic experts. The questions listed here are informed by the views expressed during that meeting. The Special Rapporteur would be grateful for answers to be provided before 15 December 2020. On the basis of the reactions received, he intends to present the Human Rights Council with a mapping of the positions adopted, and to identify ways forward.
The GCSPF submitted its contribution which is based on “A Global Financing Mechanism for Social Protection”. Members of the Global Coalition have also participated, among them, ITUC, Markus Kaltenborn

   
   
 

Global wages in times of COVID-19

   
 

The “Global Wage Report 2020-21: Wages and minimum wages in the time of COVID-19” by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found that monthly wages fell or grew more slowly in the first six months of 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic , in two-thirds of countries for which official data was available, and that the crisis is likely to inflict massive downward pressure on wages in the near future.
The wages of women and low-paid workers have been disproportionately affected by the crisis.
Furthermore, while average wages in one-third of the countries that provided data appeared to increase, this was largely as a result of substantial numbers of lower-paid workers losing their jobs and therefore skewing the average, since they were no longer included in the data for wage-earners.
In countries where strong measures were taken to preserve employment, the effects of the crisis were felt primarily as falls in wages rather than massive job losses. Read more

   
   
 

Welcome to new member

   
 

Institute of Global Homelessness

   
 

The Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH) drives a global movement to end street homelessness. Our vision is a world where everyone has a home that offers security, safety, autonomy, and opportunity. Founded in 2014, IGH is the first organization to focus on homelessness as a global phenomenon with an emphasis on those who are living on the street or in emergency shelters. It is a partnership between DePaul University (Chicago, USA), and Depaul International (London, UK), which provides direct services for people experiencing homelessness  in the UK, Ireland, Ukraine, Slovakia, Croatia, USA, and France. The IGH staff and Advisory Committee work with a broad network of world-class advisors, experts, and organizations — balancing geographies, cultures, and skills.

Contact information: Lydia Stazen, Executive Director, lstazen@ighomelessness.org
https://ighomelessness.org/ - Twitter: @ighomelessness - https://www.facebook.com/ighomelessness

   
   

JOIN US TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL

GLOBAL COALITION FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOORS - GCSPF

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anaclau@item.org.uy

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Joint programme on improving synergies between social protection and public finance management

Brussels/Geneva/New York – 1 December 2020 – The European Union, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF today presented an innovative partnership on social protection and public finance management.

The multi-country EUR 22.9 million programme – supported through funding from the European Union – was developed in collaboration with eight partner countries including Angola, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Paraguay, Senegal, and Uganda. It supports the development of more inclusive, robust and sustainable social protection systems that can also respond to future shocks. This new partnership provides integrated support to national ministries and public agencies on the planning, design, financing and implementation of social protection systems, programmes and delivery mechanisms.

Social protection is a human right, and an investment with high social and economic returns– yet more than half the world’s population do not have access to any social protection1, and  coverage remains particularly low for vulnerable groups such as children, persons with disabilities, women and men who work in the informal economy and migrants.

A key barrier to expanding social protection is the lack of adequate and sustainable financing. A recent ILO report estimates that developing countries would need to invest an additional USD 1.2 trillion2 – equivalent to 3.8 per cent of their average gross domestic product (GDP) annually – to close the massive social protection financing gap and ensure minimum income security and access to health care for all.

“Closing these gaps is both necessary and achievable. With concerted political will, we can make this happen and make social protection a reality for all” said Shahra Razavi, Director of the ILO’s Social Protection Department.

The current COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic crisis demonstrate the relevance and timeliness of the programme on social protection and public finance management. With the pandemic set to push up to 150 million people3 into extreme poverty, and 150 million children into multidimensional poverty4, it is more important than ever to strengthen and scale up social protection systems, to cushion the impacts of the crisis on workers and their families, and to ensure an inclusive recovery for all.

According to the ILO’s latest global estimates, employment has declined significantly, as measured by a 17.3 per cent reduction in working hours for the third quarter of 2020 compared with the last quarter of 2019. This is equivalent to the loss of 495 million full-time jobs.5 Among the most vulnerable are the almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers who are significantly impacted by lockdown measures and/or working in the hardest-hit sectors.6

To respond to the socioeconomic fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries enacted social protection responses to support workers, children and families.7 However, these are, for the most part, ad hoc measures of short duration. It is time to build on these experiences to turn the short-term measures into long-term social protection systems for all.

“The sheer scale and depth of financial hardships brought on by the pandemic are set to reverse years of progress in reducing poverty, especially among the most marginalized children and communities. Investments to strengthen and expand the coverage and adequacy of social protection systems are critical to reverse these trends and ensure a sustainable recovery and avert a lost generation”, said UNICEF Associate Director and Global Chief of Social Policy Natalia Winder-Rossi.

In Angola for instance, the project supports a coordinated national dialogue for the formulation of the social protection policy with concrete costing and sustainable financing options; in Cambodia, the project contributes to the development of an Integrated Family Package of cash transfers, with the aim of expanding the coverage and adequacy of the social assistance delivery across life cycle. In Paraguay, the project supports the implementation of the Social protection system ¡Vamos! by providing technical assistance to the Government in public finance management and resource identification for social protection. In addition to the eight partner countries, other countries can request shorter-term advisory services to increase performance of their social protection system and related financing options.

The programme will contribute to increasing public investments in social protection by linking the efforts deployed by the EU and other international organizations to strengthen partner countries’ public finance systems and capacities to increase domestic resources for social protection.

The programme will also contribute to investing better in social protection systems by creating a common roadmap and improving coordination between ministries of finance, technical ministries, social partners and the civil society on policy issues of social protection and public finance.

“We will work closely with national civil society organizations and trade unions to ensure their meaningful participation in social protection dialogues and decision-making processes. As increased social protection financing is built on inclusive dialogues and country-ownership, we hope that the programme will set an example for a new collaborative way of working”, said GCPSF Bart Verstraeten.

In addition to supporting inclusive response and recovery amidst the COVID-19 crisis, the project will also contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 10 on poverty and inequality reduction, and the broader Agenda 2030, including goals on gender equality, access to health, education and decent employment and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Further information here.

Source: UNICEF.

Notes:

The European Union, the International Labour Organization, UNICEF and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors  are implementing a thematic flagship programme aimed to strengthen Social Protection systems and ensure sustainable financing while improving Public Finance Management. Currently, the overall programme is being implemented in 18 partner countries. The programme immediately reoriented funds to respond to Covid-19 needs.

A virtual conference taking place on 1st December 2020 will mark the launch of the programme "Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management". The event will be opened by Ms Henriette Geiger, Director B - People and Peace. A high-level technical panel will be held with the participation of representatives of the partners engaged in the programme, followed by a discussion about the role of Social Protection during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, feeding into Human Development on the way forward.

Register here.

Speakers

Henriette Geiger, Director People & Peace, DEVCO B

Shahra Razavi, Director of the ILO Social Protection Department

Natalia Winder Rossi, Associate Director and Chief of Social Policy, UNICEF

Bart Verstraeten, Political Secretary of WSM, GCSPF member

Valérie Schmitt, Deputy Director of the ILO Social Protection Department

Doerte Bosse, European Commission, DEVCO B3

e-GCSPF # 46 - November 2020
   
 

Launching event of the Civil Society Call for a Global Fund for Social Protection

   
 

The global community of nations has long decided to ensure the Human Right of all people to social protection. Studies have shown that ensuring a basic level of social protection for all is affordable for most countries and definitely for the global community of nations. A solidarity-based Global Fund for Social Protection could support countries to design, implement and, in specific cases, co-finance national floors of social protection. This side event offers civil society and academic perspectives on the proposal of a Global Fund for Social Protection and gives room to discuss ways and means of turning this idea into reality.
Moderator: Alison Tate - Speakers: • Valérie Schmitt (ILO) • Gabriel Fernandez (APSP) • Markus Kaltenborn (Ruhr University Bochum) • Sulistri Afrileston (ITUC) • Michael Cichon (GCSPF) • Marcus Manuel (ODI)
Watch the video

   
   
 

The GCSPF at the Civil Society Meeting – FfD in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond

   
 

Nicola Wiebe spoke on behalf of the GCSPF at the Civil Society Meeting “Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond” held by the UN Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General with civil society on 2 November 2020. She spoke about the rationale and need for the Global Fund for Social Protection, details of the civil society call for this were shared and responded to in the meeting and the GCSPF SPF film was shown in the course of the meeting. The video of the intervention on Social Protection is here and the PDF version is available here.

The High-level Meeting provided the opportunity to comment on the menu of options, strategize on how to strengthen the role of the United Nations in economic governance and explore how to keep the momentum for FfD in the coming period. The video of the event is here. Read more

Members of the Global Coalition also participated in the meeting:

Dialogue 1 – Climate: The UN role in promoting a Just Transition
David Boys, Deputy General Secretary, Public Services International

Dialogue 2 – Fiscal Consolidation/Austerity and Privatization of Public Services
Magdalena Sepulveda, Executive Director, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)

Open Dialogue with interventions from the floor
Helen Saldanha, VIVAT International on behalf of the NGO Committee on FfD

Interlude 3 – Video on Social Protection Floors

Closing Segment
Peter Kamalingin, Pan Africa Program Director, Oxfam International

   
   
 

Universal social protection floors are a joint responsibility

   
 

By Michelle Bachelet, Olivier De Schutter and Guy Ryder
Building back better from the pandemic so that we have greater resilience against future crises’ requires international solidarity and better social protection for all, that covers the poorest and most marginalized as well as those who currently have resources to pay.
Social protection floors for all are affordable. The financing gap for all developing countries – the difference between what these countries already invest in social protection and what a full social protection floor (including health) would cost – is about $1,191 billion in the current year, including the impact of COVID-19. But the gap for the low-income countries is only some $78 billion, a negligible amount compared to the GDP of the industrialized countries. Yet the total official development assistance for social protection amounts to only 0.0047 per cent of the gross national income of donor countries. Read more

   
   
 

Call for reactions: Proposal for a Global Fund for Social Protection

   
 

The idea of a Global Fund for Social Protection starts from the finding that social protection floors are affordable, provided low-income countries receive international support in order to complement their own efforts to mobilize domestic resources.
The desirability and feasibility of a new international mechanism in support of social protection floors remains debated.
On 22-23 September 2020, Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, organized jointly with the French government a High-Level Expert Meeting on this topic, which brought together 12 governments, 18 international agencies, social partners, civil society, and academic experts. The questions listed here are informed by the views expressed during that meeting. The Special Rapporteur would be grateful for answers to be provided before 1 December 2020. On the basis of the reactions received, he intends to present the Human Rights Council with a mapping of the positions adopted, and to identify ways forward.
The GCSPF will submit its contribution which will be based on “A Global Financing Mechanism for Social Protection”.

   
   
 

Financing gaps in social protection: Global estimates and strategies for developing countries in light of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond

   
 

More than three quarters of the global population had no access to comprehensive social protection and for even more people, income losses have been only partially mitigated.
These large and persistent gaps in the coverage, comprehensiveness and adequacy of social protection are linked to significant financing gaps that have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has both increased the urgent demand for social protection and eroded government resources by diminishing tax and social insurance revenue. A range of government action is under way to cushion the most adverse health and socioeconomic effects of the pandemic, including the introduction of many (though largely temporary) social protection responses (ILO 2020).
This brief summarizes the results of the 2020 working paper entitled “Financing Gaps in Social Protection: Global Estimates and Strategies for DevelopingCountries in Light of COVID-19 and Beyond”. It provides global and regional estimates of social protection financing gaps, which indicate the order of magnitude of the financial challenge that needs to be addressed in order to realize the human right to social security and achieve SDG targets 1.3 and 3.81. Read more

   
   
 

Report A Rights-Based Economy: Putting people and planet first

   
 

Choosing between people or the economy has become a persistent theme in political debates as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. Across countries, movements and world views, people are clamoring to rethink how our economies should function and who they should serve. To advance this debate, the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) and Christian Aid are launching a new publication, A Rights-Based Economy: Putting people and planet first. It asks a radical question: what would it look like if we had an economy based on human rights? Read more

   
   
 

Jordan: Quality measures needed to halt growing unemployment rate

   
 

On the occasion of the World Day for Decent Work, celebrated on October 7, the Jordan Labour Watch (JLW) issued a new report, demanding the new government expected to be formed within a few days to take quality measures to halt the growing unemployment rate.
In the report, the JLW said that unemployment rates have reached unprecedented levels due to the coronavirus crisis and due to the “ineffective policies” each government has implemented in the past. The decent work standards in the Kingdom suffer from many gaps, which have been there before the crisis began in March, where unemployment rates were already high and only increased further in the second quarter of 2020 to 23 per cent; 21.5 per cent among males and 28.6 per cent among females, the report said. Read more

   
   
 

Welcome to new member

   
 

AbibiNsroma Foundation, Ghana

   
 

AbibiNsroma Foundation (ANF) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation established in 2020 in Ghana, and committed to identifying, promoting and empowering grassroots to develop innovative solutions for the developmental challenges in Ghana and Africa.  Through capacity building, training, research, advocacy and community development in the areas of energy, climate change and environment, natural resources, education, health and agriculture, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene to enhance Sustainable Development in Ghana and Africa as whole.
Further information can be found here.
Contact information: Robert Tettey Kwami Amiteye, Executive Director
info@abibinsromafoundation.org and abibinsromafoundation@gmail.com

   
   

JOIN US TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL

GLOBAL COALITION FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOORS - GCSPF

For comments, suggestions, collaborations contact us at:

anaclau@item.org.uy

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Nicola Wiebe spoke on behalf of the GCSPF at the Civil Society Meeting “Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond” held by the UN Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General with civil society on 2 November 2020. She spoke about the rationale and need for the Global Fund for Social Protection, details of the civil society call for this were shared and responded to in the meeting and the GCSPF SPF film was shown in the course of the meeting. The video of her intervention on Social Protection is here and below and the PDF version is available here. Members of the Global Coalition also participated at the High-level meeting.

On 28 May 2020, the Prime Ministers of Canada, Jamaica and the Secretary-General convened a High-Level Event on “Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond” to join forces with Heads of State and Government, international organizations, and other key partners to enable discussions of concrete financing solutions to the COVID-19 health and development emergency, guided by the roadmap set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Six Member States-led Discussion Groups, including civil society representatives, produced a comprehensive and bold menu of policy options to survive and build back better from this crisis, which were presented to Finance Ministers at a High-Level Meeting on 8 September and to Heads of State and Government at a Leaders’ Meeting at 29 September.

The Civil Society FfD Group actively contributed to all stages of this process and provided inputs to all six discussion groups and all High-Level meetings (find them here). In this context, the UN Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General convened a meeting with civil society to provide the opportunity to comment on the menu of options, strategize on how to strengthen the role of the United Nations in economic governance and explore how to keep the momentum for FfD in the coming period. This process was also triggered by the Open Letter that was prepared by the CS FfD Group and widely endorsed in the lead-up to the Heads of State meeting.

On 2 November 2020, the UN Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General held a meeting with civil society to provide the opportunity to comment on the menu of options, strategize on how to strengthen the role of the United Nations in economic governance and explore how to keep the momentum for FfD in the coming period. The agenda is here.

Link to video recording of the event.

Nicola Wiebe spoke on behalf of the GCSPF, her intervention on Social Protection is below, the video is here and the PDF version is available here.

Members of the Global Coalition also participated at the High-level meeting. See the information below.

Dialogue 1 – Climate: The UN role in promoting a Just Transition
David Boys, Deputy General Secretary, Public Services International

Dialogue 2 – Fiscal Consolidation/Austerity and Privatization of Public Services
Magdalena Sepulveda, Executive Director, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)

Open Dialogue with interventions from the floor
Helen Saldanha, VIVAT International on behalf of the NGO Committee on FfD

Interlude 3 – Video on Social Protection Floors

Closing Segment
Peter Kamalingin, Pan Africa Program Director, Oxfam International

Source: Civil Society Financing for Development (FfD) Group.

CIVIL SOCIETY MEETING

Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond
Monday, 2 November 2020

Dialogue 2 – Social Protection

The PDF version is available here and the video is here.

Nicola Wiebe, Social Protection Advisor
Bread for the World and Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors

Thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute on behalf of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors - a global network of civil society organizations, trade unions and think tanks.

Millions of people have fallen into poverty due to the health and socioeconomic crisis caused by COVID-19. The global pandemic illustrates more drastically than ever that there is an urgent need to set up Universal Social Protection Systems, starting from Social Protection Floors (SPFs).

SPFs guarantee access to essential health care and provide minimum income security, hence protecting the human right to social protection of each individual. At the same time, they also protect society as a whole. Among many beneficial effects, social protection reduces the duration of economic downturns by means of counter-cyclical spending. This is why governments and social partners in the aftermath of the global financial crisis unanimously adopted the ILO Social Protection Floor Recommendation 202.

In principle, States bear the overall responsibility to establish and sustain SPFs. Yet, there is an important role for the international community of nations, as backed by extraterritorial state obligations agreed upon in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

There is an international responsibility to enable countries to collect due taxes that presently escape their fiscal systems. There is also a human rights obligation to protect social protection spending from imposed austerity measures. The obligation to protect human beings from hardship has precedence over debt obligations.

Beyond this, an international, solidarity-based financing mechanism for social protection is urgently required. In most countries, it is a matter of priorities to allocate resources for SPFs. But, there is the legal and moral obligation to support the few countries that cannot finance their social protection systems yet.

A Global Fund for Social Protection should be endowed with resources according to the financial capacity of states and disbursed according to social needs. Decisions regarding design and implementation have to be taken by the government of the recipient country, based on national dialogues with social partners and civil society.

The UN and its specialised agencies need to play a leading role in setting up and governing a Global Fund for Social Protection.

Social protection floors for all are affordable now. 0.05 percent of GDP of high-income countries or 1.4 percent of illicit financial flows would suffice to close the financial gaps.

Social protection is a key instrument for the successful implementation of Agenda 2030 and for confronting this pandemic and future crises.

e-GCSPF # 45 - October 2020
 

Global e-Conference
5, 6 and 8 October 2020

Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity: What’s next for social protection

socialprotection.org organised the Global e-Conference “Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity: What’s next for social protection?”, which took place on October 5, 6 and 8.

The GCSPF promoted the Global Fund for Social Protection and had a virtual booth to interact with participants.

Members of the GCSFP participated in different activities, see the list below.

If you missed any session you would like to have joined or just want to revisit a discussion, the recordings for the event are already available.

Side event 1: A Global Fund for Social Protection

The global community of nations has long decided to ensure the Human Right of all people to social protection. Studies have shown that ensuring a basic level of social protection for all is affordable for most countries and definitely for the global community of nations. A solidarity-based Global Fund for Social Protection could support countries to design, implement and, in specific cases, co-finance national floors of social protection. This side event offers civil society and academic perspectives on the proposal of a Global Fund for Social Protection and gives room to discuss ways and means of turning this idea into reality.

Moderator: Alison Tate - Speakers: • Valérie Schmitt (ILO) • Gabriel Fernandez (APSP) • Markus Kaltenborn (Ruhr University Bochum) • Sulistri Afrileston (ITUC) • Michael Cichon (GCSPF) • Marcus Manuel (ODI)

This session recording is available here.

Tuesday, October 6

RT 2 - Older people's livelihoods and social protection during COVID-19 and beyond
Moderator: Florian Juergens - Speakers: • Rosita Lacson • Nuno Cunha • Aura Sevilla

This session recording is available here.

Virtual Booth Talks 4 - Extending social protection to workers in the informal economy in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond
Speakers: Christina Behrendt • Laura Alfers • Quynh Anh Nguyen

The presentation by WIEGO is available here.

RT 3 - Financing universal social protection during COVID-19 and beyond: A case for national and global solidarity to build social protection systems which are adequate, sustainable and adapted to developments in the world of work
Moderator: Bart Verstraeten - Speakers: • A.K.M Mizanur Rahman • Anousheh Karvar • Ugo Gentilini • Matthias Thorns • Valérie Schmitt • Nenad Rava • Alison Tate

This session recording is available here. Presentationas are available here.

RT 4 - Unemployment protection and its extension to workers in the informal economy
Moderator: Celine Peyron Bista - Speakers: • Laura Alfers • Renata Nowak-Garmer

This session recording is available here.

RT 6 -Different perspectives of the role of the ‘political economy’ in building back better social protection systems for the furthest behind in Covid-19 Times
Moderator. Michelle Winthrop - Speakers: • Patricia Conboy • Sintayehu Demissie Admasu • Stephen Devereux • Michael Samson

This session recording is available here.

Clinic 7B - Linking - and transitioning between - non-contributory (social assistance) and contributory (social insurance) social protection for informal workers and beyond
This clinic will be hosted by the ILO and WIEGO.

This session recording is available here.

Wednesday, October 7

Side event 2: Expanding Social Protection to Decrease Inequality
Moderator: Britta Olofsson - Speakers: • Carin Jämtin • Michael Samson • Joakim Palme • Winnie Fiona Mwasiaji • Ulrika Lång • Gunnel Axelsson Nycander

This session recording is available here. Presentation available here.

Thursday, October 8

Expert panel discussion 2: Implications of the COVID-19 crisis for universal social protection
Moderator: Fabio Veras Soares - Speakers: • Juan M. Villa • Rachel Moussié • Michal Rutkowski • Shahra Razavi • Natalia Winder Rossi

This session recording is available here.

   
   
   

JOIN US TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL

GLOBAL COALITION FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOORS - GCSPF

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The global community of nations has long decided to ensure the Human Right of all people to social protection. Studies have shown that ensuring a basic level of social protection for all is affordable for most countries and definitely for the global community of nations. A solidarity-based Global Fund for Social Protection could support countries to design, implement and, in specific cases, co-finance national floors of social protection. This side event offers civil society and academic perspectives on the proposal of a Global Fund for Social Protection and gives room to discuss ways and means of turning this idea into reality.

The event “A Global Fund for Social Protection” was organised by GCSPF, Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP), Brot für die Welt, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Alison Tate (ITUC) was the moderator and the speakers were: Valérie Schmitt (ILO), Gabriel Fernández (APSP), Markus Kaltenborn (Ruhr University Bochum), Sulistri Afrileston (ITUC), Michael Cichon (GCSPF) and Marcus Manuel (ODI).

The event took place in the framework of the Global e-Conference “Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity: What’s next for social protection?” organised by socialprotection.org, which took place on October 5, 6 and 8, 2020.

Further information can be found here. This session recording is available here.

e-GCSPF # 43 - October 2020
   
   
 

Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2020 - Shifting policies for systemic change

   
 

Lessons from the global COVID-19 crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the national responses to it brought the world almost to a complete lockdown. All over the world, States have intervened, to various degrees, to restrict the freedoms of their citizens in order to slow down the spread of the pandemic and prevent healthcare systems from collapsing. What makes the situation even worse is that many countries were already confronted with massive social, ecological and economic problems before the crisis. These have not now disappeared. Climate change with its devastating consequences continues at a rapid pace; systemic racial and gender discrimination perpetuate inequality and injustice and undermine social cohesion; the increasing number of authoritarian regimes is a serious setback for human rights and the urgently needed socio-ecological transformation. The Spotlight Report 2020 unpacks various features and amplifiers of the COVID-19 emergency and its inter-linkages with other crises.

The GCSPF and several members of the GCSPF participated in the 2020 Report. The article “We are only as safe as the most vulnerable among us” - Strengthening public health and social protection systems in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the GCSPF. Read the publication here and see below the contributions by members of the GCSPF.

The report was launched in a virtual event. If you missed it, you can watch the recording here.

The Spotlight Report is published by the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), Global Policy Forum (GPF), Public Services International (PSI), Social Watch, Society for International Development (SID), and Third World Network (TWN), supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

   
   
 

“We are only as safe as the most vulnerable among us”
Strengthening public health and social protection systems in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

   
 

By Mira Bierbaum, Thomas Gebauer and Nicola Wiebe
Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors

The health and socioeconomic crisis caused by COVID-19 has shown in a dramatic fashion that we are only as safe as the most vulnerable among us. Despite previous legal and policy commitments and laudable progress in many countries, only between one-third and one-half of the world’s population were covered by essential health services. More than 55 percent had no access to social protection at all, with devastating consequences for societies worldwide. Millions of people have already fallen into poverty, are suffering from hunger and destitution or have died. The crisis has put into sharp relief the large underinvestment in public health systems that struggle to detect, isolate and treat cases. It has also demonstrated the need for robust and comprehensive social protection systems that protect individuals against income losses in case of sickness or job loss and that reduce the depth and duration of economic downturns by means of counter-cyclical spending. Read more

   
   
 

Spotlights on the multiple crises: Impacts and responses on the ground

   
 

By Roberto Bissio
Social Watch

COVID-19 is a global catastrophe, but every one of the millions of infections has happened in the context of close local contact. While global mobility has spread the new coronavirus at fast speed all over the world, national capacities and policies to confront it are very different. Injustices and inequalities aggravate the impact of COVID-19 and without strong intervention from the State, the existing imbalances are reinforced. A few billionaires are getting richer while the slow-paced progress over decades to reduce global hunger and poverty is being reversed.
Civil society organizations around the world are monitoring the impact of COVID-19 and reclaiming the streets, with revitalized leadership and a rainbow of demands that combine old and new issues.
“Back to normal” is not possible nor desirable. The needed global changes are being incubated by a myriad of local hopes and actions. Read more

   
   
 

When the global housing crisis meets a global pandemic: a social tragedy

   
 

By Daria Cibrario
Public Services International (PSI)

Where they existed, public and social housing services have been scaled down or liquidated. Governments embracing neoliberal policies have encouraged housing market deregulation and the sale of public housing and land stocks of local governments by promoting - and in some cases subsidizing - their private purchase through tax breaks and low-interest loans. The generalized failure to address real estate speculation at a national and global level has further resulted in the sale of housing stock, leading to deeper urban gentrification, social segregation and inequality in many cities and metropolitan areas worldwide. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Madrid sold over 1,800 social housing units to the private equity firm Blackstone for EUR 128.5 million. As of 2018, the value of those same apartments had risen by 227 percent. Read more

   
   
 

Local government strategies to provide emergency lockdown solutions in the COVID-19 crisis

   
 

By Daria Cibrario
Public Services International (PSI)

Although the legal frameworks underpinning housing policies and allocating resources are typically set at a national level, it is often local and regional governments which are responsible for the implementation of local housing development and manage public and social housing stocks and related services. As the global trends in urbanization widening inequality and mass displacements accelerate due to war, migration and the climate crisis, the role of local governments in housing policies is more important than ever. Yet, their resources, powers and institutional capacities are often inadequate to effectively curb real estate speculation and to uphold the right to housing in their territories. Read more

   
   
 

Re-empowering public services in a time of COVID-19

   
 

By Daniel Bertossa
Public Services International (PSI)

Around the world, frontline public service workers continue to receive praise and support for their vital role in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Yet these underfunded public services and brutal working conditions are not inevitable. They are the result of decades of deliberate erosion of our public services through budget cuts, privatization and understaffing.
Undermining the quality and accessibility of public services has been part of a deliberate strategy to loosen the deep political commitment our communities have to protecting them. This has involved the creation and promotion of many myths: that public services are inefficient, wasteful, poor quality, harm economic growth and are protected by public servant elites for their own benefit. Read more

   
   
 

More than ever with COVID-19 we need strong public and social housing services

   
 

By Daria Cibrario
Public Services International (PSI)

While the promotion of market-led approaches to housing is still prevalent at a global level, some local governments are joining forces to swim against the tide.
Facing a 100 percent surge in rent prices since 2015, Berlin’s local government has frozen rent prices for the next five years at June 2019 levels and repurchased 670 apartments that were to be sold to real estate holding company Deutsche Wohnen, sparing tenants disproportionate rent rises due to superfluous renovations imposed by the company. In late 2019, the public Berlin’s Housing Association further remunicipalized 6,000 apartments in the Spandau and Reinickendorf districts. This makes sense when thinking of Vienna, one of the cities topping the world ranking for the quality of living, where 62 percent of the city’s residents live in publicly owned or subsidized housing. Surprisingly, these are not only the lowest income earners, as housing here is seen as social good, not as a market commodity. Read more

   
   
 

Redistribute economic power and resources

   
 

By Kate Donald and Ignacio Saiz
Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR)

The imperative to redistribute economic power and resources was already urgent long before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as with so much else, the pandemic has magnified existing trends, shining a harsh spotlight on how extreme and unjust the status quo has become, and also how the systems we have in place channel wealth and power upwards, even in the midst of a global health emergency.
The relief and recovery packages being put in place by governments and international institutions are a critical means for tackling the structural inequalities exposed and perpetuated by COVID-19. In designing and implementing these packages, governments have the chance to start disrupting the status quo and breaking up the concentration of corporate and elite power at the root of these inequalities. Read more

   
   
 

Redefine the measures of development and progress

   
 

By Roberto Bissio
Social Watch

Half a year after the eruption of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the comparison between the assessed “capability to prevent and mitigate epidemics and pandemics” and the actual impact of the new coronavirus, in terms of deaths per million inhabitants, is shocking: Among the fifteen countries better ranked in the GHSI we find many of those with the highest casualty rates, while among the ten deemed the worst prepared we find for example Algeria, which is one of fifteen countries considered “safe” and from which travel to Europe has been allowed since 1 July 2020.
Thousands of deaths could have been avoided if, instead of downplaying the risks, the perceived certainty of statistics had pointed to the dangers that even the richest countries were facing and thus press for earlier action. Read more

   
   

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GLOBAL COALITION FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOORS - GCSPF

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e-GCSPF # 42 - September 2020
   
   
 

Civil Society Call for a Global Fund for Social Protection

   
 

In view of the global harm from the COVID-19 pandemic, with food insecurity, poverty and loss of livelihoods rising globally, it is essential that national social protection floors are made available to all people – through nation and international solidarity. While recognising that the foremost responsibility for social protection lies at country level, the pandemic puts a spotlight on the need for international solidarity. What is needed is the creation of a solidarity based Global Fund for Social Protection to support countries design, implement and, in specific cases, finance national floors of social protection. It is the adequate multilateral initiative needed to respond to Covid-19 and to build a better future.

   
   
 

Press Release. Over 200 civil society organizations and trade unions unite to protect the most vulnerable during COVID-19 and beyond

   
 

The GCSPF is calling on the world’s governments support low-income countries to expand and improve their social protection systems through the establishment of a Global Fund for Social Protection.
This Fund will enable low-income countries to implement national social protection systems that ensure income protection for all by providing temporary co-financing and facilitating access to technical support. Read more

   
   
 

Why a Call for a Global Fund for Social Protection?

   
 

Sharan Burrow (General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC), Prof. Olivier De Schutter (UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights), Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmena (Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), Presiding Bishop Dr. Shoo (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania – ELCT), Joycia Thorat (Project Officer of the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action) and Dr. Tavengwa M Nhongo (Director of the Africa Platform for Social Protection - APSP) guide us through different aspects of this new Global Fund explaining why we need the Fund and how it would work.

   
   
 

Sharan Burrow: “Covid-19 has exposed the global scandal of a world without social protection for all”

   
 

In expressing her support for the Call, Sharan Burrow, the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) stressed the importance of social protection in protecting people from the impacts of this crisis and the next: “Covid-19 has exposed the global scandal of a world without social protection for all. 70% of the world’s people have no or inadequate social protection, no income protection, no guaranteed access to health, no child protection and many other vital areas that ensure people are resilient against global shocks. Unions and civil society groups are calling for a Global Social Protection Fund for the poorest and most vulnerable of people. Join us, make the call for a Global Social Protection Fund!” Watch the video
Sharan Burrow addressed the High-Level Event on “Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond” on May 28 and she expressed that “today 70 per cent of the world’s people cannot count on the security of social protection. We need a global mechanism – GFSP – to help countries most in need to sustain and expand protection in times of crises and to build resilience.” Watch the video

   
   
 

Olivier De Schutter: “We need to support the countries by providing them the ability to be insured in times of crisis”

   
 

Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, emphasized that “many poor countries are small and have a poorly diversified economy and they may be experiencing shocks, economic shocks, a loss of export revenues, a sudden increase of import bills, climatic shocks, droughts and floods, or indeed epidemics, as we have seen most recently. And these countries may be wary about committing to provide their populations with the support they need in the form of standing rights-based Social Protection Floors that people may claim as entitlements. So we need to support these countries by providing them the ability to be insured in times of crisis, to make sure that the Social Protection Floors they establish shall be affordable, even in times of crisis. There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come, and I strongly believe that that is the case for the Global Fund for Social Protection.” Watch the video

   
   
 

Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmena: “The Global Fund should be at the center of our call for social justice and for the pursuit of the 2030 Human Development Agenda”

   
 

Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmena, Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, reaffirms that “In 2012 we called on states to establish a Global Fund for Social Protection. Today, this goal is more important than ever. Despite being a basic human right, it is estimated that only 29 per cent of the world population enjoy access to comprehensive rights-based social security coverage. I welcome this new initiative by CSO to put the Global Fund again at the center of our call for social justice and for the pursuit of the 2030 Human Development Agenda.” Watch the video

   
   
 

Presiding Bishop Dr. Shoo: “No one is left behind”

   
 

Presiding Bishop Dr. Shoo (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania – ELCT) emphasized that this pandemic reminds us that “we have a moral obligation to ensure that during great disasters and challenges no one is left behind. It is time for the global human community to consider establishing a Global Fund for Social Security to which will ensure that even the most vulnerable, not only during pandemic like this, or natural disasters times, but even in their day-to-day lives have access to healthcare.” Watch the video

   
   
 

Joycia Thorat: “We can have another world, where everybody can live equally, safe and in dignity”

   
 

Joycia Thorat (Project Officer, Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action) tells us that “millions of people have lost their jobs and livelihood in India and around the globe due to the pandemic situation. It is very critical to have a Social Protection Fund to support the people who have lost their jobs, who are working in the unorganized sector, who are working as daily wage earners, as agricultural laborers, as housemaids. And mostly women are getting affected due to this Covid situation. It is important that we protect all of them through the Social Protection Fund, so we can have another world, where everybody can live equally, safe and in dignity.” Watch the video

   
   
 

Dr. Tavengwa M Nhongo: “We need a solidarity fund, to all citizens and for the common good of all”

   
 

Dr. Tavengwa M Nhongo, Director of the Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP), expressed that “the Global Fund for Social Protection is a solidarity fund that will ensure the development and delivery of universal social protection programmes by all nations, to all citizens and for the common good of all.” Watch the video

   
   

JOIN US TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL

GLOBAL COALITION FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOORS - GCSPF

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Civil Society Call for a Global Fund for Social Protection

Over 200 civil society organizations and trade unions unite to call for a Global Fund for Social Protection to protect the most vulnerable during COVID-19 and beyond.

Read the Call

SP&PFM Programme

The programme Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management provides medium-term support to multiple countries aiming to strengthen their social protection systems at a national level and ensure sustainable financing. The programme aims to support countries in their efforts towards achieving universal social protection coverage.

This initiative is implemented jointly by the ILO, Unicef, and the GCSPF.

Read more

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