The FfD4 Side event "Financing Social Protection and Health: Domestic Resources and Global Justice" will take place on Tuesday, 1 July 2025; from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm CEST at Room: Side Event 14.
Furhter information here. Download flyer.
Investment in social protection and health not only provide significant social and fiscal returns; it can also feed into a virtuous cycle of inclusive economic development and stability. This side event will centre on the question how global factors, namely the international tax system, debt architecture and trade regimes influence the human right to social protection and health and what needs to be done to make social protection and access to health a reality for all.
This session brings together representatives from governments, research institutions, multilateral organizations and civil society to discuss necessary steps towards increasing investments in social protection and social services based on sustainable and fair financing policies and a reformed multilateral financial and trade architecture. The objective is to formulate an evidence-based call for action for international governance reforms that would remove obstacles and provide an enabling environment for financing social protection and provision of essential public services in fair and sustainable ways.
Moderator: Katja Hujo, Head of Bonn Office, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
Speakers:
Social Protection for all: The why and the how
Shahra Razavi, Director, Universal Social Protection Department, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Mobilizing resources for global health: Why tax matters
David McCoy, Professor, Research Lead, International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIHG)
International tax justice as a condition for financing global health and social protection
Liz Nelson, Director Advocacy and Research, Tax Justice Network (TJN)
The social cost of inaction: The challenge of unsustainable debt for social protection
Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Amherst; ICRICT
Impact of international trade regimes on social protection and health: Change course now!
Jane Nalunga, Executive Director, Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI)
The side event is co-organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), Social Service Agency of the Protestant Church in Germany (EWDE/BfdW), Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), Tax Justice Network (TJN), the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIHG).
Related Publications
Brot für die Welt. 2025: „Change Course now! Only International Justice can Create Social Security.” Analysis No. 111. Berlin.
Cobham, Alex, Katja Hujo, Bernadette O’Hare, Liz Nelson, and David McCoy. 2025: “Tax systems and policy: Crucial for good health and good governance.” Power & Accountability Briefing Paper, UNU-IIGH, March 2025. Kuala Lumpur: UNU-IIGH, UNRISD, TJN.
International Labour Organization. 2025: “Scaling up the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions”. Financing Policy Brief Series. Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development.
