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 | Markus Kaltenborn delivered the statement (listen to the audio and/or download pdf version) of the GCSPF to the Informal consultations with stakeholders on the Summit of the Future that took place on December 13, 2023. |
The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) welcomes the initiative to convene a Summit of the Future. The agenda of the Summit will focus on those topics that are of crucial importance for the future of the global community.
There are three chapters of special relevance to our Coalition: Chapter I. Sustainable development and financing for development, Chapter IV. Youth and Future Generations and Chapter V. Transforming global governance.
The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) represents more than 120 CSOs worldwide that are committed to realising the right to social security for all which we believe to be a core enabler of SDG achievement.
The right to social security is contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in several international human rights conventions. However, four billion people worldwide still live without adequate social protection. Those denied social protection lack important means of escaping extreme poverty, ensuring sufficient food security for themselves and their families and access to essential health and other services. Without effective social protection, inequalities within societies and between countries are increased – in particular, women and girls, people with disabilities and older persons are severely disadvantaged.
Therefore, it is right that target 3 of SDG 1 calls for social protection and social protection floors and that they are recognised as essential for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda – above all for the "leave no one behind" principle on which the entire Agenda is based.
Social protection floors, which should guarantee basic income and health protection over the life course, must be designed for the long term, as they must cover childhood and youth, working life and old age. Social protection must be in place for future generations as those born today will not be able to lead a dignified life without it. All of this requires a solid financial basis.
Some countries do not yet have sufficient financial resources to fully guarantee their population this protection, some may still lack political will. It is therefore essential and urgent that the international community supports the rollout and the financing of social protection floors. With the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection proposed by the UN Secretary-General and other multilateral initiatives, global solutions to these problems are currently being sought. These are important elements of global governance and the social contract, that must be consistently shaped in line with the vision of the 2030 Agenda and the protection of future generations.
We therefore urge, that the Pact for the Future will include a specific commitment to universal social protection and tangible progress on social protection floors by 2030.
Read here the contribution of the International Movement ATD Fourth World.
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.
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.
