GCSPF e-Newsletter # 73 – July 2022

The Social Protection Podcast “A Global Fund for Social Protection” contributes to the ongoing debates around universal approaches to social protection: financing.
The guests in this episode are Charles Lwanga-Ntale (Independent Consultant); Helmut Schwarzer (Head of Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics Unit of the Social Protection Department at the International Labour Organization) and Marcus Manuel (Independent Consultant). The guests will contribute to the discussions around what shape should such a fund take? What are the lessons available to date? How to address the coverage gaps in social protection given differences in fiscal space? And finally, how did the COVID-19 pandemic influence those trends in social protection financing? Listen to podcast

For the past several years, the Asian Roundtable on Social Protection (AROSP) members have contributed to many achievements on the way toward transformative social protection. This grassroots modalities collection is drawn from their stories: construction workers gaining occupational health and safety compensation in India, garment workers winning a higher minimum wage in Cambodia, informal workers getting access to maternity leave in the Philippines, or informal migrant workers obtaining access to health insurance in Vietnam. Several member organizations have also gained seats in their countries’ social protection decision making mechanisms: CCADWU has a seat on the committee of the social security fund in Cambodia and HomeNet SEA maintains a presence in the ASEAN social protection working group. Members have also successfully engaged in and contributed to policy changes: HomeNet Thailand advocated for universal health care and the Philippines Social Protection group advocated for informal workers’ ability to access maternity leave. This is the first collection of our grassroots modalities stories, focusing on the success that organizations have had in advocating for social protection policy in Asia. Read more

Universal access to essential health care: propositions from public international law to implement essential health care in conjunction with universal social protection”; by Odile Frank. Background paper prepared on behalf of Global Social Justice for the Working Group on the Role of Universal Health Coverage, now the Working Group on Health. March 2022. Read more

With the World Bank’s current gender strategy set to expire next year, hints of the focus of the new strategy are keenly anticipated. While the Bank has confirmed that development of the strategy is yet to begin, a focus on care and social protection has emerged in its gender work. One challenge for the Bank will be to stop undermining the targeted work of the gender team with fiscal consolidation and regressive tax-focused loan conditions in its Development Policy Financing. Civil society have criticised the strategy’s instrumentalist approach to women’s empowerment, the lack of a system of accountability, and the absence of a macroeconomic lens. Read more

This Global Policy Watch (GPW) Round Up #2, Ensuring Social Protection for All, highlights the critical importance of universal social protection not only in recovering from the pandemic, but also its vital role to address pre-existing deep-seated inequalities between and within countries. It details gaps in social protection coverage and financing, especially in poor countries, and failures of the targeted, or means-tested approach, often promoted by IMF and World Bank. Read more

Human Action for Integrated Development in Senegal (AHDIS) is a mixed and democratic Association whose members have decided to associate freely to pool their visions, ambitions and resources with the aim of actively participating in the emergence of an organization capable of taking charge of its own economic and social development in Senegal.
AHDIS is independent of any political power and intervenes in the rural world without discrimination of race, ethnicity or religion. It is a full member of civil society whose interests and aspirations it defends.
AHDIS has developed expertise in the areas of: The promotion of development financing activities for the strengthening of public programs and projects as well as the national private sector, through national and foreign investment funds; The promotion of microfinance as a support mechanism for community development activities in all regions of the country; Promotion of the right for health and support for activities to combat food insecurity and malnutrition, Social Protection For All (SPFA); Publication of sectoral policy reports on the national economic and social development strategy as well as studies on global issues of public governance; The promotion of a decentralized mechanism for the review and monitoring and evaluation of public policies at the local level by supporting the Regional Committees for the Study and Monitoring of Economic and Social Policy (CRESPES) in the fourteen (14) regions from the country; and Capacity building of economic and social development actors at regional and sub-regional level.
AHDIS is ruling ad regional president of International Council of Social Welfare (ICSW) in West and Central Africa.
Contact information: Amacodou DIOUF, President
http://ahdis.org/ Facebook: OngAHDIS

Members of the Global Coalition participated in the 110th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) that was held in June.

The international networks of workers in the informal economy and WIEGO welcome the ILO Report on Decent Work and the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) prepared for the ILO’s 110th Session and believe that the conclusions of the general discussion on the SSE must be built on the foundation of international instruments referring to SSE units and the ILO decent work agenda. Watch the interventions
This year’s general discussion at the 110th ILC on Decent Work and the Social and Solidarity Economy should build on the principles for an inclusive definition that recognizes the crucial role of workers in informal employment, with an emphasis on supporting diverse social and solidarity economy models as key drivers of economic and social development. Read the global position paper

At the International Labour Conference, PSI has underlined that corporates that made huge profits at the expense of workers and people’s rights are to be held accountable for the multi-layer crisis we are facing.
Make-up solutions to the current economic system will be insulting for billions of working people. It is time to act decisively for a change of paradigm.
The new Director-General has a titanic task to rethink and reposition the role of the Organization and make sure it fulfils the premise that reads “Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice”. Read more

Key outcomes of ILO Conference. Working people around the world are set to benefit directly from the decision at the International Labour Conference (ILC) to recognise occupational health and safety as the fifth fundamental principle and right at work.
Over 3 million workers a year die because of their work and tens of millions more suffer injuries and ill health. This victory, from a sustained three-year campaign by trade unions, professionals and practitioners and victims’ families, will begin to turn that deadly tide.
It adds the right to a healthy and safe working environment to the four rights adopted in 1998 by the International Labour Organization (ILO): 1. Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. 2. The elimination of forced or compulsory labour. 3. The abolition of child labour. 4. The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. Read more

The Director-General told delegates that the 110th International Labour Conference had made history with its work on safety and health, apprenticeships, and labour standards, among other areas.
Describing this ILC as “important, harmonious and productive” he highlighted the decision to “lift a safe and healthy working environment to the status of a fundamental principle and right at work” as “making history”. Read more

A selection of country case studies: Bangladesh, Gabon, Honduras, Mongolia, Senegal and Somalia
This report contributes to the ongoing debates on the establishment of universal social protection through an analysis of eight specific country cases where trade unions are actively campaigning for extending social protection as part of national development strategies. This report showcases the national social protection needs of these countries, existing social protection coverage and financing gaps, as well as the existing contribution of official development assistance (ODA) towards social protection in the different countries concerned.
The cases showcase the potential for mobilising greater domestic resources for social protection as well as the importance of greater international financial support towards social protection, including strengthening the share of development assistance towards social protection to at least 7% of existing ODA allocations in the short term, as well as the potential for a Global Social Protection Fund in mobilizing and coordinating international financing to make social protection a reality for all.
The report is available in English, French and Spanish. This study was prepared by the ITUC, with financial support from WSM. Read more

By Temilade Sesan
The Nigerian government’s response to the vulnerabilities of workers in the informal sector has been slow. While progress has been made in the laying of institutional frameworks and the introduction of social protection programmes over the past decade, with coverage at just six per cent of workers in the country, these fall far short of the need.
The low levels of public investment in social protection in Nigeria reflect a general crisis of governance, one in which government priorities are informed largely by political considerations that do not align with the interests of informal workers.
The FIWON cooperative, a wholly informal worker-driven collective with chapters in Lagos and Osun, facilitates access to insurance for its members. The findings from the case study could be useful to others in contexts where public trust has been significantly eroded and government investment in social protection is low. Read more

CESR’s launched a new digital space in which they offer a powerful way for activists, campaigners, and communities around the world to use research to advance economic, environmental, and social justice.
Injustices like gender inequality, the climate crisis, racial discrimination, labor abuse, are enabled and exacerbated by economic policies. CESR’s Tools Hub offers the essentials for creating evidence that shows to what extent and by what means rights are being violated. By shedding new light on how economic policies harm people’s human rights, Decoding Injustice supports our demands for those in power to live up to their promises and right the wrongs of historic oppression. Read more

Public services as a tool to promote gender equality. 23 June 2022, 1:30 pm UTC
The escalating global environmental and inequalities crises, compounded by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, have further exposed and exacerbated the existing gender inequalities and have added to the factors that put women’s human rights at risk.
In the face of these structural and emerging challenges, public services can play a decisive role in the transformation of the asymmetrical and unjust power relations between women and men.
Panel 1: Challenges and risks: what are the key barriers to the development of gender- transformative public services?
Panel 2: Solutions and opportunities: how would gender-transformative public services look like in practice? What are the key components of a gender-transformative agenda for public services?
The side event is co-organized by Public Services International (PSI), Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Global Alliance for Tax Justice during the 50th session of the Human Rights Council. Registrations

A position paper issued by the Jordan Labour Watch - JLW (affiliated with Phenix Center for Economic and Informatics Studies) has illustrated that there are still many gaps in occupational health and safety in Jordan.
The paper called for conducting a review of all policies regulating the occupational safety and health in the Kingdom, according to a Phenix Centre statement. The paper also emphasized the importance of occupational safety with regards to mental health for workers, and the need to guarantee minimum standards for mental health within labor laws.
The paper showed that many women in Jordan work for jobs that might jeopardise their safety, such as working in factories and the agricultural sectors, which do not provide all types of social protection to women and men. Read more

There is growing evidence that social protection is a powerful tool to promote women’s economic empowerment and that it reduces gender based violence. Depending on the design, social protection programs can either reinforce or transform stereotypical gender norms. Today, there are still far too many social protection programmes that do not take gender into account. The policy brief “Social Protection and Gender Equality” introduces social protection, describes why it is important for women and girls, refers to the Global Fund for Social Protection, and summarises the main evidence of the impact of social protection on gender equality. It ends with recommendations on how to develop gender responsive social protection systems. The policy brief was published by Act Church of Sweden and The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation in May 2022. Read more

The report - “A Glimmer of Hope amidst the Pain” - draws on the testimonials of older women and men sharing the severe hardships they face because of the lack of an adequate social protection system in Lebanon.
HelpAge International and the International Labor Organization (ILO) partnered to feature the voices of Lebanon’s older people as they are often left without income security.
Lebanon is the fastest ageing country in the Arab region and has the highest proportion of older people. Yet, there is no inclusive social protection for older people to guarantee a dignified life in older age. The report is available in Arabic and English. Read more

The Conference “Towards Universal Social Protecton by 2030 in Eastern Africa” sets the scene by highlighting the criticality of universal social protection as an end in itself – recognized as a human right – as well as a means to unleash the social and economic prosperity of nations, as also implicit in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
We will then explore the link between the global agenda and national efforts, discussing questions such as: What are common challenges to extending universal social protection in countries in Eastern Africa? To what extent can countries, within and beyond the region, learn from each other? And what is the role of an international partnership such as USP2030 in this respect?
14 JUNE 2022 from 14:00 to 16.00 EAT (UTC +3) - You can register here. Read more

By Shahra Razavi, Christina Behrendt, Valeria Nesterenko, Ian Orton, Celine Peyron Bista, Alvaro Ramos Chavez, Helmut Schwarzer, Maya Stern-Plaza and Veronika Wodsak | International Labour Organization (ILO)
The recently released World Bank publication, Revisiting Targeting, provides an excellent opportunity to explore some of the key policy issues. This comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic and other unfolding crises have made the case for universal social protection more compelling than ever before, putting the spotlight on the need to identify financing options for extending social protection, and in so doing help re-build the social contract. Read more

Amman-Jordan, Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) is a Jordanian NGO founded in 2008. Our programs aim to mobilize the untapped potential of our societies in the Arab region and outside to contribute positively to their journey towards the renaissance, by encouraging dialogue, research, education, training, youth empowerment, gender justice, social and economic development, in addition to the provision of relief, social protection services and direct legal assistance.
Working towards a renewed Renaissance in the Arab world finds its foundation in the values of AlNahda. Since appearing during AlNahda, the legacy of pluralism, intellectual curiosity, and humanism has been overshadowed by regional conflict, yet ARDD prioritizes these trends as the roots of democracy and development. These values are the building stone in all our programs: Gender Justice; Youth Enablemente and Education; Social Peace and Cohesion; Governance; Legal Aid and Justice Sector Development; Right to Information and Freedom of Speech; Forced Migration, Refugees & Shataat; Human & Economic Development; Relief and Recovery.
Contact: Mar Logrono, Ph.D., Senior Advisor Access to Justice and Inclusive Social Protection Read more

Veille Citoyenne Togo is an association created in September 2019, and declared and registered in Togo since 2020 and intervenes in the field of citizen control of public action through: the citizen watch by promoting transparency of the budgetary process both at the national and local levels; citizen control of the transparency of public contracts and delegations of public services; citizen control of the efficiency of public spending; the fight against corruption and impunity; the denunciation of cases of misappropriation and mismanagement of public resources; the constitution of a file to be a civil party in economic crimes; monitoring the implementation of the Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation Policy (PISE); and advocacy and lobbying for Togo's membership in the Open Government Partnership and the promotion of Open Data and Open Contracts.
Contact: Pidenam SAMA, President/Executive Director Read more

Progress towards an equitable world – must be more than a promise! May 2022
This C7 Communiqué reflects the policy positions and priorities of Civil7 2022 along the Working Groups and in the section entitled “Actively promote transformative development finance” calls for setting up a Global Fund on Social Protection.
Actively promote transformative development finance. Recommit to the 0.7% ODA target and agree on a clear timeline to reach this target with new and additional resources; mobilize new and innovative sources, including a financial transaction tax, e.g. to finance a new Global Fund for Social Protection.Recommit to the 0.7% ODA target and agree on a clear timeline to reach this target with new and additional resources; mobilize new and innovative sources, including a financial transaction tax, e.g. to finance a new Global Fund for Social Protection. Read more

Statement by Global Unions to the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, April 2022
Developing countries face a fiscal stimulus gap and workers everywhere are suffering from insecure work, violations of labour rights, and a lack of social protection. Collective bargaining and worker protections are therefore central to an inclusive recovery by helping reduce inequality and create quality jobs. Global Unions1 call for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to promote universal social protection and decent work, including the fundamental right to organise and collectively bargain. Strategies and operations should be designed accordingly, including the new IMF trust fund for resilience and sustainability. Debt relief and a permanent multilateral restructuring framework are part of the enabling environment for jobs and recovery. Read more

Spring Meetings Opportunity to Reset Approach for Universal Social Protection
Human Rights Watch released a report ahead of the 2022 Spring Meetings on the limited success of means-tested, targeted social protection programs in protecting human rights. The report draws on findings from 16 countries and calls on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to adopt a different approach that facilitates universal social protection. During the Covid-19 pandemic, targeted programs excluded millions of people who needed social security to protect their rights, leaving them without adequate food and with other problems. Social protection programs seek to reduce or cushion people from poverty, particularly in situations that affect their ability to earn an adequate income such as sickness, disability, old age, unemployment, and childrearing. Social protection programs can be universal, designed to benefit everyone in a certain group. Or they can be means-tested, targeted to those who meet certain criteria, often based on income. IMF loans and World Bank projects have largely promoted means-tested programs, though the Bank acknowledged universal social protection to be key to combat poverty and inequality. Read more

Financing for Development in the era of COVID-19 and beyond. Report of the Inter-agency Working Group on Cluster 2. Socioeconomic response: Social Protection, Gender, Children, Youth, Health, Education and Human Rights.
At the request of the UN Secretary-General, a working group of 16 UN agencies, programs and offices, coordinated by the ILO, produced a comprehensive report in 2021 for the Secretary-General on lessons from the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic for future policies on social protection, gender, children, youth, health, education and human rights. To help prepare its report, the working group organized a series of consultations with civil society organizations, trade unions, youth, and employer organizations. The Office of the Secretary-General has recently posted the report here and ILO posted reports of the individual consultations here

Social protection is one of the key demands of working people for a new social contract and has been at the forefront of government responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
But social protection is facing huge financing gaps that will require the mobilisation of domestic resources coupled with support from development cooperation funds, which are still too low at only 2.7% of all aid funds in 2020.
During a high-level panel debate, ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow highlighted the cost effectiveness of social protection: “If you invest in social protection, you will have more than double the amount of the investment back in the mid-term and huge social returns.
“Although ODA alone cannot do everything, it should be a confidence boost for developing countries to commit to more social protection funding and ensure statutory-based, comprehensive social protection around the world. We want seven per cent of ODA to go to social protection by 2030 and an increase to 14 per cent after that.” Read more

UN collaboration on social protection: Reaching consensus on how to accelerate social protection systems-building
FAO, ILO and UNICEF, in conjunction with many other UN agencies and development partners, convened a taking stock exercise to reflect on UN collaboration on social protection. This has resulted in the launch of this review paper that outlines how efforts can be systematically developed to further advance UN collaboration and coordination on social protection. It is hoped the recommendations in this review paper will better support the design and implementation of adequate and comprehensive national social protection systems. Simultaneously this can support the ongoing post-COVID-19 socioeconomic recovery and the achievement of the SDGs on social protection by 2030.
The objective of this publication is to work towards a consensus among UN agencies on how best to support countries to achieve progress towards universal social protection in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To this end the publication investigates (1) lessons learnt from past joint UN work on social protection; (2) priority areas for social protection engagement; (3) recommendations for improving UN collaboration; and (4) next steps for the way forward. The publication is available here and the webinar's recording is available here

Redefining Social Policy and Social Work Practice in A Post-Pandemic Society: Social Welfare Programs and Social Work Education at A Crossroads
Both the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), have played a vital role in promoting social welfare over the past 93 years as international organizations in the field of social welfare and social work. The priority areas of IASSW are social work education, research and scholarship, and various activities have been carried out at the regional, national and international levels to strengthen social work education, promote skills and strategies, strengthen exchanges and cooperation among social work educators, as well as to create a just society. ICSW mainly focuses on social development, social welfare and sodial justice advocacy, knowledge-building and empowerment to help vulnerable groups cope with risks and challenges, and to advocate for policies and programs to balance social and economic goals. The current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic leaves us with the responsibility as international organizations to address and advocate around emerging social problems.
The COVID-19 pandemic period last longer than anticipated, and the longer it remains amongst us, the more we need to prepare for the post-COVID19 society. Through this event, various fields of social policy, social work education and social welfare practice will be dealt with. We also intend to provide a discussion forum for policy makers, social work educators, sodal workers and scholars all around the world to examine the elements necessary to prepare for a post-pandemic society and to discuss strategies and capabilities to achieve a well-prepared post-pandemic society.
Call for Abstracts closes on 30 June 2022. Read more.

High income inequality can engender a wide range of negative impacts. It can harm child development, increase ill-health and mortality, limit the status of women, generate distrust in government, exacerbate levels of violence and social unrest, slow the pace of poverty reduction and hinder economic growth. The Asia-Pacific region is characterised by high levels of income inequality, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, it is imperative that countries in the region take action to tackle high inequality and create fairer and more decent societies. This report provides analysis and recommendations on how to reduce inequality in the region.
Investments in social security are one of the most effective means of tackling inequality. This includes schemes such as child, unemployment, sickness, maternity, disability and old age benefits, funded from general government revenues as well as by social insurance. Currently, across most countries in the Asia-Pacific region, investments in tax-financed social security are minimal. Nonetheless, the report demonstrates that, both globally and in the Asia-Pacific region, universal social security systems are much more effective than poverty-targeted systems in reducing inequality.
Nonetheless, countries need to do more than rely only on social security to tackle inequality. They should take forward other policy measures that are effective in reducing inequality, such as investments in other public services and labour market interventions to deliver decent work and fair wages. Read more