The virtual side event “Decade of Action to achieve Universal Social Protection by 2030” took place on 12 July 2021 during the High-level Political Forum 2021.
The virtual side event was co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations; Ministry of National Development Planning, Indonesia; Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection - USP2030; Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors; Global Call to Action Against Poverty; International Labour Organization; The World Bank; International Network for Social Protection Rights (INSP!R West-Africa); United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD); Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; Protestant Agency for Diakonie und Development; Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd; Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC).
Read more: the concept note, the invitation, the speakers bios, further information.
AGENDA
Moderator: Dr. Katja Hujo, Senior Research Coordinator, Transformative Social Policy Programme, UNRISD
Session 1: The Contribution of Universal Social Protection to Agenda 2030
Session 2: Partnership for Joint Action
The virtual side event “Decade of Action to achieve Universal Social Protection by 2030” will take place in the framework of the High-level Political Forum.
Date: Monday 12th July 2021, Time: 7:30 – 9am New York, EDT
Please register here: https://socialprotectionorg.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K0jIjxvgTC2pDQqYRiMhgQ
The event will be in English. Live Spanish and French translation will be offered.
The virtual side event is co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations; Ministry of National Development Planning, Indonesia; Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection - USP2030; Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors; Global Call to Action Against Poverty; International Labour Organization; The World Bank; International Network for Social Protection Rights (INSP!R West-Africa); United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD); Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; Protestant Agency for Diakonie und Development; Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd; Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC).
Download the concept note and the invitation (flyer). The speakers bios are here.
AGENDA
Moderator: Dr. Katja Hujo, Senior Research Coordinator, Transformative Social Policy Programme, UNRISD
Session 1: The Contribution of Universal Social Protection to Agenda 2030
Q&A / Discussion
Session 2: Partnership for Joint Action
Q&A / Discussion
Wrap up and Conclusion: Towards universal social protection by 2030
Social protection is essential to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Social protection is not only a universal human right, investing in social protection also brings high social and economic returns. However, half the world’s population currently does not have access to any social protection, with coverage remaining particularly limited in most low-income countries. Those who tend to lack access to essential services and basic income guarantees, according to ILO Recommendation 202 on Social Protection Floors, include workers in the informal economy, marginalized children, people with disabilities, older women and men, refugees and migrants, and homeless persons.
We are entering the decade of action to achieve Agenda 2030 under extremely difficult circumstances. Global commitment to SDG 1 “to achieve substantial (social protection) coverage of the poor and the vulnerable by 2030” (Target 1.3) has become the highest priority to end poverty in all its forms, everywhere. Without concomitant commitment to joint action SDG 1 target 1.3 will fail.
The HLPF 2021 reviews global and national progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also considers the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already exposed the depth and breadth of social and economic inequalities and is set to push up to 150 million people into extreme poverty1, and 150 million children into multidimensional poverty2. Governments have responded to Covid-19 by introducing or scaling up social protection measures to ameliorate the impact of job losses, impoverishment and the increase of inequalities in their countries. Countries with established social protection systems have shown themselves to be in a much better position to cope with the social and economic fallout of Covid-19, to respond faster, more effectively and more efficiently than countries who have had to introduce new schemes on an ad hoc emergency basis.
Covid-19 has focussed minds on the importance of social protection guarantees to health and income, enabling access to education, food and housing. The positive impact of social protection on long-term poverty and inequality has been demonstrated. Many countries are realizing the need for and the long-term benefits of universal, comprehensive and adequate social protection, based on sustainable and equitable financing, tripartite administration and anchored in law.
We invite you to a 90-minute side event at the HLPF 2021 with speakers from governments, the United Nations, the World Bank and civil society. We will discuss why universal social protection is critical to the success of the 2030 Agenda, how social protection can prevent long-term poverty traps as a result of the ongoing crisis, how it will underpin resilient recovery and contribute to future crisis preparedness and how it will reduce inequalities. The event will explore the role of national social dialogue and the global partnership for universal social protection and propose a global mechanism to support countries to create comprehensive systems, to collect necessary data and to mobilize finance to ensure universal coverage of the social protection floor.
Conclusions and recommendations will feed into the ongoing work of the High-level Political Forum 2021 and the work of the sponsoring partners.
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HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM 2021 The theme of the High-level Political Forum 2021 is "Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development". Each HLPF considers the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the Sustainable Development Goals. Those under specific review in 2021 are Goal 1; no poverty, Goal 2; zero hunger, Goal 3; good health and well-being, Goal 8; decent work and economic growth, Goal 10; reduced inequalities, Goal 12; responsible consumption and production, Goal 13: climate action, Goal 16; peace, justice and strong institutions, Goal 17; partnerships and data. The meeting of the HLPF in 2021 will be held from Tuesday, 6 July, to Thursday, 15 July 2021, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial meeting of the forum from Tuesday, 13 July, to Thursday, 15 July 2021. |
Notes:
Human Rights Council 47th session 21 June to 9 July 2021
Agenda item 3
“The Global Fund for Social Protection: International Solidarity in the Service of Poverty Eradication”
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Written statement submitted by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (A/HRC/47/NGO/168) https://undocs.org/A/HRC/47/NGO/168
Download pdf version here.
At its 47th regular session, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) will consider the report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on “The Global Fund for Social Protection: International Solidarity in the Service of Poverty Eradication”. The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, an international alliance of more than 110 civil society organisations, concurs with the findings of the Special Rapporteur and expressly welcomes his proposal to establish a Global Fund for Social Protection.
The proposal was developed almost a decade ago1, but now – at a time when the COVID-19 outbreak has exposed the vulnerability of our societies in a particularly dramatic way – its urgency has become even more evident. A key lesson that can be drawn from the crisis is that states with adequate and functional social protection systems were much better prepared to respond appropriately to the severe social problems that suddenly arose as a result of the pandemic. The current crisis, as the Special Rapporteur points out in his report, has pushed many millions of people below the poverty line. The suffering caused by this and the manifold subsequent problems could have been avoided if better social protection had been provided worldwide.
Human rights deficits in relation to the financing of global social protection
It is important for the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors to emphasize that the initiative to establish a Global Fund appears particularly necessary from a human rights perspective. The right to social security is a human right that is far too rarely in the focus of global public interest – and this despite the fact that it is violated millions of times every day. According to estimates by the International Labor Organization (ILO), 71 percent of the world's population (about 5.2 billion people) have only limited access to basic social protection or even none at all.2
If at least the core elements of the right to social security – that is, what roughly corresponds to the "social protection floor" according to ILO recommendation 202 (2012) – were guaranteed worldwide, this would represent a major step forward in the fight against poverty and global inequality. Philip Alston, the former UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, has quite rightly pointed out that the “(i)mplementation of the right to social protection through the adoption by all States of social protection floors is by far the most promising human rights‐inspired approach to the global elimination of extreme poverty. … No other operational concept has anything like the same potential to ensure that the poorest 15 to 20 % of the world’s people enjoy at least minimum levels of economic, social and cultural rights.”3
The discussion initiated by his successor, Olivier de Schutter, together with former Special Rapporteur Magdalena Sepúlveda, on the establishment of a new international financing mechanism is now an opportunity for the international community to finally give this human right, which has been neglected for a long time, the status it deserves on the international agenda.
The need for a new global financing mechanism
Social protection is primarily a responsibility of national governments as set out both in the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, Arts. 2, 9) and in ILO recommendation 202 (Art. 12). Nevertheless, significant gaps in social protection remain in many low income countries (LICs), mainly due to the lack of corresponding financial resources. In addition to leveraging domestic resources (especially improving taxation and budget prioritization as well as fighting illicit financial flows), international cooperation is therefore an important tool to address these financing deficits. Multilateral and bilateral programs are already helping some LICs to build up their social protection systems. In doing so, those states that provide funds for this purpose indicate that they are willing to fulfill their extraterritorial obligations with regard to the right to social security.4 However, the support measures are often inadequately coordinated. Above all, they are far from sufficient to guarantee the basic funding of essential social security services in the poorest countries and in exceptional crisis situations.
A Global Fund – building on existing institutions such as the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection (USP 2030) and the Social Protection Inter Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) – would not only leverage coordination of national actors, as well as the consistency and synergies of international cooperation. Its main task would in particular be to support countries to design and implement crisis resilient national social protection floors and, in specific cases, provide temporary co-financing for low-income countries where such transfers would otherwise require a prohibitively high share of the country’s total tax revenue. Moreover, the Fund could help strengthening the mobilization of domestic resources to underpin the future sustainability of national social protection systems. Its mandate would also include to offer additional support for specific shock-responsive social protection interventions in countries where floors have not yet been established.5
The globally recognized, overarching legal standards of the human rights approach and the aid effectiveness principles should be the authoritative guidelines for the design of the Fund's operational processes. Two aspects therefore appear to be particularly worth emphasizing:
Recommendation
Social protection systems that work to combat poverty and inequality are an essential element of human rights protection. Developing these systems is a task that each country must first perform for itself. But from a global perspective, the economically stronger countries also have a responsibility toward the weaker members of the international community. This responsibility exists not only in political terms (based on the principle of global solidarity), but it is also a consequence of the extraterritorial obligations that states have entered into under international law. The ICESCR also requires them to engage, within their financial means, in protecting the social rights of people who do not live on their territory.7
This is why the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors respectfully requests that this Council should take the opportunity to lead in developing and implementing a rights-based approach to global social protection. It should encourage global leaders, as well as international organizations and financial institutions, to give careful consideration to the proposals put forward by the Special Rapporteur for the establishment of a Global Fund and to make it one of the main priorities of the meetings to be held in the near future both at UN level and in the context of the G7 and G20 consultations.
Notes:
2 ILO, World Social Protection Report 2017‐2019 (2017), p. xxvii.
3 Report of 11 August 2014, UN Doc. A/69/297, para. 2.
4 See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 19 of 4 February 2008, UN Doc. E/C.12/GC/19, para. 55.
5 Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (2020), Civil Society Call for a Global Fund for Social Protection to respond to the COVID‐19 crisis and to build a better future.
6 For the details see also General Comment No. 19 (supra note 4).
7 See supra note 4.
Civil 20 (C20) and Oxfam organised the event “Ahead of the G20 Foreign and Development Joint Ministerial Session. “Policy Dialogue on G20 response to adequately tackle the impact of COVID-19 on hunger and food insecurity” held on 15th of June 2021. The agenda of the webinar is here.
Johanna Wagman participated on behalf of the Global Coalition. Her notes are here.
Concept Note
‘This virus will starve us before it makes us sick.’ these words are from Micah Olywangu, a taxi driver in Nairobi, father of three children, the youngest one born in December 2019. The closure of the airport and collapse in tourism have hit his business hard. Micah’s experience is that of millions of people around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has added fuel to the fire of an already growing hunger crisis.
Hunger was already on the rise prior to COVID-19: FAO estimates that the number of undernourished (including those with chronic and acute hunger) increased from 624 million people in 2014 to 688 million in 2019. The drivers underlying this trend include extreme climate events, conflict, and other shocks to economic opportunities. COVID-19 is estimated to have dramatically increased the number of people facing acute food insecurity in 2020-2021, with impacts expected to continue through 2021 and into 2022. According to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 report, the pandemic may have added between 83 and 132 million people to the total number of undernourished in the world in 2020.
The current pandemic creates a vicious cycle that affects the food security of the poorest people more heavily than that of people who are better off or live in wealthier countries: people living on low incomes often rely on work in the informal sector, day-labour, or remittances. They spend a greater proportion of their income on food, and are less likely to have access to formal safety nets.
The dramatic slowdown in the global economy, coupled with severe restrictions on movement, has resulted in mass job losses over the last year. Governments have responded to the unprecedented disruption in economic activity by instituting ad hoc social protection policies that vary considerably in terms of their reach and scale. Many wealthy nations have introduced multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus packages to support business and workers, but most lower-income nations lack the financial firepower to follow suit.
Worsening hunger levels and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic require a strong coordinated global response. In this challenging context what role should the G20 play under the leadership of the Italian Presidency? This question will be addressed at the first session which will also offer opportunity to get an overview of the Food Coalition, a global alliance established by FAO in November 2020 on the proposal of the Italian Government in response to the pandemic. The second session will stimulate the debate around two main topics that are pivotal in setting up an effective and sustainable policy response to such a dramatic food crisis. The first one is the need to support robust and inclusive social protection systems in low and middle income countries as a key requirement to ensure food security for chronically food-insecure. The second one is to recognize the key role of women and young small scale farmers, to address their specific needs, to counter discriminations they suffer and to promote, instead, the transformative role they can play in reducing poverty and hunger.
Statement to the International Labor Conference
Recurrent Item Discussion on Social Security
4 June, 2021
Download pdf version here.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to this discussion. My name is Johanna Wagman, I am speaking on behalf of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, a global network of civil society organizations, trade unions and think tanks committed to the realization of ILO 202 Recommendation on social protection floors.
We recognize the foremost responsibility of governments in establishing and scaling-up national social protections floors, as they committed to do so in 2012 in this exact same conference.
However, we also recognize that this cannot be achieved without the international community’s support. Firstly, through the promotion of fairer and more redistributive macro-economic policies, enabling low and middle income States to make fiscal space for social protection.
Secondly, through international solidarity.
Yet, international funding for social protection is still extremely low (1,4% of total ODA in 2019), despite the universal right to social protection and the vast scientific evidence on the effectiveness of investing in social protection to prevent and reduce poverty and inequality.
This is why the creation of a solidarity based Global Fund for Social Protection is needed; to pool funds while supporting countries design and implement national social protection floors. A Global Fund for Social Protection is the adequate multilateral initiative needed to respond to the consequences of Covid-19 and to build a better future.
As an institution of global governance, the Fund would help pull together efforts and decrease the fragmentation of aid, leading to a consolidation of existing financing mechanisms and enabling domestic financing over the long term.
Based on its strong normative framework and technical knowledge, the ILO should take a lead role in the establishment and the governance of such a fund, providing effective participation of social partners and other relevant and representative civil society organizations. We call on this conference to give the International Labor Office a mandate to start participate talks with other international organizations.
Thank you very much.
Contribution by Johanna Wagman, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.
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June 2021
CONTENT
Social protection consists of public policies and programmes that provide financial and in-kind support to individuals or households – including through the provision of income support and essential services. Social protection aims to help people cope with shocks, reduce and prevent poverty and vulnerability throughout people’s life-course and ensure income security to people who are facing contingencies such as unemployment, sickness, unpaid care work, maternity, widowhood and old age.
Social protection is a right enshrined in several international legal instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on the Rights of the Child. The documents adopted by regional organisations also attach great importance to this human right.1 International labour standards set out a number of basic principles for the design of social protection systems.
What is a social protection floor?
Social Protection Floors are a set of minimum guarantees, endorsed in ILO recommendation 202 (2012) which provide for
(a) access to a nationally defined set of goods and services, constituting essential health care, including maternity care, that meets the criteria of availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality;
(b) basic income security for children, at least at a nationally defined minimum level, providing access to nutrition, education, care and any other necessary goods and services;
(c) basic income security, at least at a nationally defined minimum level, for persons in active age who are unable to earn sufficient income, in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity and disability; and
(d) basic income security, at least at a nationally defined minimum level, for older persons.
Goal 1 target 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals contains a specific commitment to universal social protection floors. SDG 1.3 provides for all countries to “implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.” Regional instruments also reflect the concept of social protection floors.2
What would a Global Social Protection Fund do?
A Global Social Protection Fund would ensure the necessary technical and financial support to enable all countries to put in place national social protection floors for all residents (including the undocumented, stateless, migrants and refugees), and develop the capacity of their national social protection systems to be resilient to and to respond to crises.
The key principle of the Global Social Protection Fund is that of solidarity between all countries both in the provision of funding and that of advisory and technical support. The Fund will enable and catalyze from global inputs the requirements for social protection system development. It will leverage coordination of national actors and bring about consistency and synergies of international support from all regions.
Any financial support would be accompanied by technical and advisory support for social protection system development. This can include putting in place accountable, transparent and participative public finance management modalities which are a key dimension of a sustainably financed social protection policy.
It will also include engaging with and providing financial, advisory and technical support to civil society to bridge knowledge gaps and to help them perform their multiple roles in the planning, implementation and monitoring of social protection systems and thus support inclusive system building and enable universal implementation of social protection in their country.
The current pandemic and economic crises have both spotlighted the urgency for and put to test social protection structures and systems around the world. Governments have scrambled to ramp up and respond to the dynamic expansion of the virus, putting in place social and economic measures to meet the health, economic, educational, and social needs that have resulted from the crisis. Those with systems in place have done best in their response to Covid 19.
This crisis has illustrated the relatively limited capacity for some countries – particularly low-income countries – to respond to the social and economic consequences of COVID-19, despite the proven impact of the extension of social protection responses to the crisis. Countries with underdeveloped social protection systems may have limited fiscal space to expand social spending. Financing constraints have meant they have not developed social protection systems enough to support social and economic development and create resilient systems to protect against future crises.
Astonishingly, international funding for social protection is still extremely low, despite the universal right to social protection and the vast scientific evidence on the effectiveness of investing in social protection to prevent and reduce poverty.3
The ILO has estimated that the amount needed to finance social protection floors in the world’s lowest income countries would amount to around 78 billion USD. While this is just a fraction of a percent (0,25%) of global GDP, it represents around 15% of those countries’ collective GDP, which is an unsurmountable burden without support.
International solidarity, global cooperation, peer learning and pooled expertise and funding is urgently required to bridge the gaps in social protection systems to realize their universal guarantees for all.
Why support this proposal at this moment?
The pandemic has brutally revealed the case for expanding social protection. Indeed, social protection has been identified by many international organisations, governments and stakeholders as a key element of “building back better” from this pandemic. The importance of income support and essential services including healthcare were highlighted alongside the massive job loss and health demands of this crisis. The crisis has also demonstrated the uneven capacity of governments to enact and finance emergency measures to deliver income and health support to vulnerable people, as well as to continue to stimulate aggregate demand.
While the proposal for a Global Fund has existed for nearly a decade, there is renewed political momentum due to the crisis. A number of governments, including France, social partners and civil society organisations accross the world4 have signaled their support for the Global Fund. The French government convened an experts’ conference in 2020 to discuss the potential of the fund, and stakeholders have raised the Fund on the agenda of a number of international fora, including the World Economic Forum, the World Social Forum, the UN Commission for Social Development, the High-level Policitcal Forum (HLPF) and the G20. The UN Special rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Olivier De Schutter will present a report to the UN Human Rights Council on the possible governance and funding modalities of the Fund in June 2021.
Despite the increase and scale of social protection responses taken since the pandemic, the measures taken are uneven between countries and in many cases, merely temporary. Temporary measures are insufficient in creating the kind of resilience needed to embed social protection systems and to protect different population groups in future crises. In a study of emergency responses between April and September 2020 in 126 low- and middle-income countries it was found that:
Overall, performance of emergency programmes varied strongly, depending on the pre-existence of social protection systems, institutions and procedures. Building sustainable and rights-based social protection system worldwide is a high priority for crisis preparedness.
How can we know that the money will be used for the intended purpose?
The Fund will support the building of national social protection systems, in line with the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as well as international labour standards including ILO Convention 102 and Recommendation 202. The GFSP’s expenditure will be publicly accountable and subject to regular external audits and evaluations.
The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors is fully supportive of sound financial management, transparency and accountability and recommends full and effective engagement of social partners, civil society organisations and other relevant organisations in all phases, including planning of social protection reforms, implementation and monitoring.
Social protection is a responsibility of national governments. Is a Global Fund needed?
Indeed, social protection is primarily a responsibility of national governments as set out in ILO recommendation 202. Accordingly, governments can expand the fiscal space for social protection through various methods such as domestic resource mobilization, budget reprioritization and fighting illicit financial flows.
However, major financing gaps for social protection persist with challenges for some governments to invest in adequate national social protection systems. And alongside the national responsibility, there is also a need for and duty of international solidarity. Through the Fund, this solidarity will take the form of sharing of financial resources as well as knowledge and experiences, to the mutual benefit of the participating countries.
The fund will have a catalytic role in kick starting financing of social protection systems. This kick-starting role will take the form of technical and advisory assistance and co-financing of social protection systems: i.e. joint financial contribution of governments and the fund.
Additionally, to ensure governments’ commitment to domestic resource mobilization and investment in social protection, necessary for sustainable social protection systems, the fund will work in a coordinated manner with international fora, including the Addis Tax Initiative and the Platform for Collaboration on Tax.
2. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR DECISION MAKERS
Why is it important that political leaders support this proposal?
Social Protection is a human right. The gap is still large between those that can claim this right and those that are denied it. Decisive action is required by national governments and the international community.
Political will is needed to implement the universal right to social protection. The Global Fund is an expression of that will. The finance and all the evidence needed is in the hands of decision makers. It is time to give social protection a high-profile, political forum where all stakeholders can be involved.
International aid only covers about 3% of the social protection sector financing gap in low-income countries (Manuel et al., 2020) and social protection currently makes uponly a small portion of Official Development Assistance.
Social protection gaps leave 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 be a key element in a global effort to “build back better” and strengthen crisis resilience.
As a mechanism of global governance, the Fund would transcend national politics and the geopolitical interests tied to bilateral aid and decrease the fragmentation of aid.
The international financial architecture does not provide global support for social protection. Key agencies are required to work according to their mandates: The ILO is setting standards and provides advisory support and technical advice but lacks a large scale funding mechanism. The World Food Programme mandate is on humanitarian contexts and short-term funding cycles. UNICEF’s mandate is to focus mainly on children. UNDP supports development and the WHO is focused on health, etc. Nevertheless, external and donor government institutions fund many types of social protection programmes, often without coordination, reinforcing fragmentation and partial coverage. Despite knowledge that the right to social protection is being denied to billions, building systems to ensure statutory mechanisms are in place for the right to social protection for all is under-developed and underfunded.
Given the cross-cutting nature of social protection, the Global Fund will support existing forms of cooperation between donors and partner countries. The Global Fund for Social Protection will lead to a consolidation of existing financing mechanisms and enable domestic financing over the long term.
What lessons can be drawn from other Global Funds?
Many times, pooling funds globally for high priority issues has been the instrument of choice to engage for common goals and coordinated progress in various specific sectors. Examples include health (the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), education (Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait), and climate (Green Climate Fund) as well as the cross-sectoral Agenda 2030 (Joint SDG Fund).
There are important lessons to learn from the earlier experiences of global funds. Among them is the observation that global funds were able to mobilize 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.5
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).6
Earlier experiences of global funds also have been subject to strong criticism relating to donor dominance and additional bureaucracy. Therefore, specific design features – mandate, governance structure and procedures – are extremely important. See question on governance below.
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Source: Marcus Manuel, webinar 7 October 2020.
Please don’t create a new vertical fund!
Some global funds have been criticized for having a narrow, “vertical” focus on interventions that operate in silos rather than being integrated in national systems. That is particularly the case with the Global Fund against HIV-AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, which, as its name indicates, targets specific diseases instead of supporting health systems holistically.
However, as social protection is by definition a horizontal set of policies to address a broad range of rights and needs, it is a good basis for creating a global fund that will adopt a holistic approach to each country’s national plans for right based social protection to deliver universal social security guarantees, including floors, that all countries are signed up to.
(Existing initiatives are in particular the coordination made through SPIAC-B (Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board), USP2030 (Universal Social Protection 2030 Partnership), and the ILO Flagship Programme on “Building Social Protection for All”)
A number of initiatives at the international level to support the expansion of social protection are already in place, including USP 2030 and SPIAC-B. However, these initiatives mainly seek to ensure the coordination of policy positions and activities between different international institutions, rather than coordinating advisory and technicola support and financing. The Global Fund for Social Protection would thus be distinctly different from existing international initiatives as it would allow for joining up financial, advisory and technical resources from different international-level institutions with the aim of supporting joined up and universal social protection expansion.
As a global fund would support better coordination of support towards social protection, it would be more efficient than existing bilateral ODA, as the risk of duplication will be minimised, and standards and requirements will be coordinated/unified. Harmonization is a core principle of aid effectiveness. A global fund would also be able to make long term commitments in a way that bilateral agencies may not be able to. The pooling of several, therefore bigger, sources of funding can be expected to result in greater impact that countries can show for in their ODA’s effectiveness.
3. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS AND ORGANISATIONS
Social protection is a human right currently denied to billions. Its purpose is to prevent and reduce poverty throughout the life course and it is key to health, food security, and reducing inequality.
Social protection has been proven to be a very effective means of combating hunger and poverty, supporting skills development, education and employment, resilience and overall economic performance. Secure income protects against life-course risks as well as exogenous shocks, gives autonomy and dignity and promotes inclusive economic development. Secure income enables access to essential services, such as health care, education, water and housing.
Social protection for all distributes wealth and supports gender equality for all age groups as well as inclusive and socially cohesive societies.
Governments are the duty bearers for delivering on the right to social protection, in line with international human rights instruments and ILO standards. The Global Fund should focus support on building national systems. However, there might be situations of failing states, where local non-governmental and even external actors might have to take an important role. The end objective of the fund should however always remain to build national social protection systems embedded in law. It is also possible that governments choose to involve local civil society organisations for the provision of social protection services, within their national systems.
How should the Global Fund be governed?
The governance must be based on the principles of the relevant ILO labour standards and recommendations, in particular Convention 102 on Social Security, Recommendation R202 on Social Protection Floors and R204 on Formalising the Informal Economy, as well as on the principles of development effectiveness (Paris Declaration, Busan Partnership agreement, Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation).
1. Democratic country ownership: Social protection floors are specific. The decision as to how their universal reach is to be accomplished is the responsibility of the governments who must answer to their rights holders, their inhabitants. Building on existing structures in each country is best for the administrative implementation of these programmes as it will contribute to strengthening domestic structures.
2. Representation and inclusivity: All stakeholders, including donors, governments and civil society need to be adequately represented in the highest decision-making body of the organisation. Civil society represents rights holders, to include trade unions and informal workers organisations, women, people with disabilities, minorities, older persons, refugees and displaced persons, migrants and those living in poverty.
3. Accountability and transparency: Accountability extends to all people who are to be covered by social protection. This must be ensured by representation, as well as effective control and monitoring procedures, including internal and external audits, evaluation and complaint & redress mechanisms. Public oversight of the management of funds will be achieved through multi-stakeholder bodies and accountable reporting. Transparency is the key to realise effective and participatory monitoring and accountability.
What is the role of the Global Fund for Social Protection in the face of humanitarian crises?
As it is a human right, social protection must be available to all people at all times. This means also during all shocks, whether household level shocks or large scale. The Global Fund must aspire to this if it is to realise people’s right to social protection. Public social protection systems must be able to flex in and out to meet additional caseloads in response to widespread shocks.
This means fundamentally, that delivering social protection, even during humanitarian shocks must be part of the basic social protection floor and so the Global Fund must help countries build in shock responsiveness as part of all social protection systems.
We recognise that not all countries have the capacity for this at this time, and we recognise too, that particularly in cases of conflict or state fragility, this will be difficult. The Global Fund will contribute to this in the following ways:
The funding for this shock responsiveness needs to be established through a separate allocation of the Global Fund for Social Protection which will provide for scaling up social protection during crises.
Notes:
2 See e.g. the African Union, Agenda 2063 “The Africa We Want” (2015), p. 55; see also Art. 3 c) and e) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security (2021).
3 In 2019 total ODA (all donors) amounted to 192,15 billion USD. Of this only 2,26 billion was spent on Social protection (OECD-DAC, CRS code 16010)
5 Manuel and Manuel, 2018, https://odi.org/en/publications/achieving-equal-access-to-justice-for-all-by-2030-lessons-from-global-funds/
6 Michael Cichon, ‘Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity: What’s next for social protection, side event on A Global Fund for Social Protection’, October 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxxL10lMy6Q
The US Coalition of the GCSPF sent a letter and a briefing on “Expanding social protection: benefits for workers, businesses, and communities” to the US government to support the global fund at both the G7 and G20.
LETTER
May 7, 2021
Mr. Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. Sullivan:
We, the undersigned organizations, urge the United States government to endorse the establishment of a Global Social Protection Fund during the next G7 and G20 summits. Both provide a critical opportunity for the world’s largest economies to come together and coordinate a response to the pandemic and to meet future challenges.
Less than a third of the global population has access to comprehensive social protection systems. This leaves two-thirds of the world’s population unprotected in times of need, and from national or global economic shocks, such as that caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The current pandemic has demonstrated the value of policies such as income or unemployment support, allowing companies to retain workers and provide income for workers. Social protection systems also safeguard worker health and safety. Essentially, social protection systems offer flexibility and adaptability, allowing for workers and businesses to better withstand disruptions and changes to the economy.
The value of social protection systems, however, goes beyond times of crisis, providing broader economic benefits such as enabling greater workforce participation and allowing for entrepreneurial risk.
We believe that the United States government has a key role to play in promoting social protection systems – actively contributing to, exercising critical oversight of, and ensuring transparency with their development. We urge the U.S. government to join the French government in championing a Global Social Protection Fund based in multilateral and regional development banks. The U.S. government should also direct its own development assistance towards the creation of social protection programs in key developing countries.
The attached briefer provides a summary of our recommendations for creating social protection programs in the world’s poorest countries and certain priority middle income countries.
The U.S. government, supported by business, civil society and the labor community, can expand social protection to the world’s most vulnerable at a reasonable cost.
We hope to meet with an interagency team from the National Security Council (NSC), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department and the Department of Labor (DOL) to discuss how to build greater support for social protection programs.
Sincerely,
AFL-CIO
American Apparel and Footwear Association
Fair Labor Association
Fontheim International, LLC
HelpAge USA
Human Rights Watch
Oxfam America
Solidarity Center
Expanding social protection: benefits for workers, businesses, and communities
May 7, 2021
Why support a global fund for social protection and increased funding for social protection programs?
Despite the benefits of social protection, less than a third of the world’s population are covered by comprehensive social protection systems and less than half have access to at least one social protection benefit. This leaves the vast majority of the world’s people unprotected in times of need, or from national or global economic shocks.
Expanding social protection is economically feasible for the vast majority of countries, and so governments need to work to ensure adequate social spending[iv]. However major financing gaps exist for the world’s poorest countries[v], inhibiting the extension of social protection systems. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has estimated that the amount needed to finance social protection floors in the world’s lowest income countries would amount to around 78 billion USD[vi]. This amount represents around 16% of the collective GDP of the world’s lowest income countries, yet at the global level it represents less than 0.25% of the world’s GDP –highlighting the potential of global cooperation to support the financing of social protection.
What is the role of business?
While governments have the primary responsibility in setting up social protection systems, businesses also play an important role. Businesses already play a significant role by ensuring key social protections for workers in their supply chains. Businesses, along with governments and others, have provided ad hoc assistance to their workers in response to the pandemic. In addition, businesses significantly contribute to social protection financing, as social protection systems tend to be funded through a combination of social security contributions (generally funded through a mix of employer and worker contributions) and through taxation – which together can ensure a solid financing base for social protection.
Experience also shows that in countries with weak systems of social protection, businesses can also play a crucial and catalytic role by speaking up for the business case for setting up social protection and providing a positive signal to governments to set up social protection. Finally, businesses can raise public awareness on the importance of social protection and help generate broad public and political support for social protection reforms.
At the global level:
In the US government:
What is social protection?
Social protection is an internationally recognized human right. It provides critical support to people who are facing situations such as unemployment, sickness, maternity, widowhood or old age. Social protection policies include income support and essential services. In the US, social safety net programs is another term used to describe these same social protection programs that provide a “net” or protection for vulnerable and poor families.
What are the benefits?
Social protection has broad benefits for people and their communities. It supports and raises people’s incomes and living standards and prevents poverty, social insecurity and social exclusion. It has also been shown to reduce inequalities and promote social cohesion.
Social protection moreover has broad benefits for businesses and the wider economy. Investment in social protection and essential services – such as health, education and care services – has been shown to have positive effects on skills, employability, productivity and overall firm-level performance[i]. Formal childcare and elder care arrangements also remove barriers for women to enter and remain in the labor market. In countries where adequate social protection systems exist, enterprises are more resilient to shocks, and this in turn reduces reputational and other risks. Setting up publicly organized social protection systems helps to ensure a fair floor of competition between companies, since social protection is afforded to all workers and not only to those in businesses with privately organized insurance schemes and benefits. Expanding social protection to all, including income support to small businesses owners and the self-employed, can also support entrepreneurship by reducing personal financial risks associated with setting up a business. Expanding social protection can moreover support the transition from the informal to formal economy by reducing the financial desperation that forces people to enter into informal, unregulated work arrangements.
During crises, social protection can also play a critical role in maintaining jobs, ensuring occupational health and safety protections and supporting workers’ incomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated how a number of countries have successfully managed to put in place temporary unemployment schemes and other income support measures that allowed companies to retain their workers and provided job and income security to the workers themselves. The current health pandemic underscores the importance of building and maintaining strong social protection systems that can provide the health care needs for families in the home and protections like personal protective equipment to keep workers safe in their workplaces.
There are also wider macroeconomic benefits to social protection, including increased overall employment and tax revenue, as well as strengthened aggregate demand. Studies have also shown that during the 2008 financial crisis, countries that had effective social protection systems were able to respond to the crisis better because such benefits cushioned consumption and prevented crises from getting worse; the cost of spending on social protection was typically half the economic cost of rising unemployment that could have happened[ii]. In short, ensuring access to social protection is an investment that empowers people to adjust to changes and disruptions in the economy and in the labor market, and social protection systems act as automatic social and economic stabilizers. They help stimulate the economy in times of crisis and beyond and help support a transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
Social protection is fundamental to mitigating the impact of climate change on working families. Climate change and the policies intended to mitigate it have a significant impact on people’s direct environments, lives, jobs, incomes and communities all across the globe. Estimates show that over 100 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty as a result of climate change by 2030. Investments in a strong social protection program could reduce this number drastically to 20 million. The phase-out of high-carbon industries requires a just transition1 process where workers at risk of losing their jobs receive social protection as well as other support to maintain their income and access to other well-paying jobs. Environmental and socio-economic risks are strongly interconnected and ensuring adequate universal social protection is an essential component of the just transition to a sustainable, zero-carbon economy.
Because of the numerous benefits of social protection, there is broad international consensus on the need to extend it, as underlined by international labor standards[iii], UN Sustainable Development Goals Target 1.3, the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection, and the International Labor Organization’s Centenary Declaration. The 2020 ITUC Global Poll of the general public in 16 countries shows near universal public support for social protection.
Notes:
[i] European Commission (2013) Evidence on Demographic and Social Trends, Social Policies’ Contribution to Inclusion, Employment and the Economy; ILO (2019) To what extent is social protection associated with better firm level performance?
[ii] Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2014) Social protection and growth: Research synthesis. Social protection and growth: Research synthesis.
[iii] There are a number of international labor standards in the area of social protection, which set out key design principles: most notably ILO Convention 102 on Social Security and ILO Recommendation 202 on Social Protection Floors.
[iv] ILO, UN Women and UNICEF (2017) Working Paper: Fiscal Space for Social Protection and the SDGs
[vi] ILO (2020) Financing gaps in social protection.
People living in the world’s poorest countries, who are particularly at risk of poverty, cannot wait until it becomes possible to provide stable financing for social protection programmes from domestic resources alone. They need such protection right now, especially in light of the devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As is well documented, the Covid-19 outbreak has sparked fears of an impending economic crisis and recession of unprecedented proportions.
The rippling effects are already being felt across various spheres, as restrictions such as physical distancing, self-isolation and travel bans have led to a reduced workforce across economic sectors and job losses. No sector has been left unscathed, and countries across the world are grappling with ways to respond to the scourge.
Wherever lockdown measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus, people are no longer able to work, or not work at full capacity.
The crisis has not only posed huge challenges to health and economic systems around the world. It has also led to a renewed risk of millions of people falling below the poverty line. In the midst of this, well-functioning social protection systems are needed to provide at least partial compensation for the associated loss of income.
Across the globe, governments have made efforts to provide additional social benefits to those parts of their populations most affected by the pandemic. Numerous such measures have also been taken on the African continent. But for some countries, it is extremely difficult to mobilise sufficient domestic resources to help people cope with economic and social hardship, for example through additional or expanded cash transfer and cash-for-work programmes, or the restructuring of school feeding programmes.
For some time now, there has been the idea of setting up an international fund to provide low-income countries with financial assistance that they need in times of crisis, such as the current pandemic, to keep their social protection systems functioning.
The proposal to set up such a fund, put forward by UN Special Rapporteurs Olivier de Schutter and Magdalena Sepulveda almost 10 years ago, has now been taken up by the French government. It will be the subject of this year’s discussions at the G20, the group of major industrialised and emerging economies, and the UN Human Rights Council. The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, an international civil society alliance that includes many African organisations, recently issued an appeal supporting this initiative.
What exactly does the idea of such a new Global Fund stand for? Its main task would be to temporarily contribute to the financing of basic social protection systems (“social protection floors”) if low-income countries do not have sufficient financial resources of their own (especially tax revenues) for such systems.
According to the Social Protection Floor Index, it is currently mainly some African countries that would have to devote a particularly large proportion of their GDP to this if they wanted to ensure essential healthcare and basic income security for all their inhabitants.
The fund would also help in special crises (e.g. natural disasters, pandemics or economic crises) in those countries that would otherwise be forced to scale back their social protection programmes due to financial constraints.
It goes without saying that social protection is a task that must, in principle, be funded from the state’s resources. Therefore, international support – regardless of whether it would be provided through bilateral or multilateral programmes such as a Global Fund – can only ever be a transitional solution. Insofar, it would also be important that intensive efforts continue to be made to improve domestic resource mobilisation.
But people living in the world’s poorest countries, who are particularly at risk of poverty, cannot wait until it becomes possible to provide stable financing for social protection programmes from domestic resources alone. They need such protection right now.
It is therefore crucial that the international community supports these economically weaker countries in their efforts to achieve these objectives. Otherwise, Sustainable Development Goal 1.3 (implement social security systems for all and ensure broad coverage of the poor and vulnerable) can hardly be achieved within the targeted time frame of 2030.
Now, of course, one may well ask: is this yet another attempt by the North to impose its sociopolitical ideas on the Global South? This critical objection comes to mind when one considers that many social protection programmes, especially on the African continent, have come into being in recent years with the help of Western or Western-dominated development organisations.
But international support need not be tantamount to foreign domination. It depends entirely on the design of the new financing institution whether African governments will be able to implement their own ideas on the conception of social protection programmes in cooperation with the fund.
In this context, the principle of country ownership will be of great importance: if this principle becomes a key element of the fund’s governance structure and is indeed taken seriously in the practical implementation of its policies, there is a chance of setting up an institution that does not run the risk of perpetuating or even reinforcing neocolonial patterns through external dominance in the allocation of funds and programme design.
Instead, it could then succeed in financially strengthening social protection systems that countries have developed based on their social policy ideas and on the priorities in their national social protection action plans.
Within the African Union, a whole series of concepts and instruments has been developed in recent years that formulate important guidelines in this regard: the Social Policy Framework for Africa published in 2008; the Yaoundé Tripartite Declaration on the implementation of a Social Protection Floor from 2010; the Social Protection Plan for the Informal Economy and Rural Workers adopted the following year; the Agenda 2063 (whose statements on social protection largely correspond to the global consensus, found in the 2012 ILO Social Protection Floor Recommendation); the 2015 Addis Ababa Declaration on Social Protection for Inclusive Development; and last, but not least, the Protocol on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection, an additional protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which is likely to be adopted soon.
All these documents make it clear how much importance African governments attach to the issue and that they are also working intensively on their concepts. Thus, a strong emphasis on the principle of country ownership in the fund’s governance structure would be a prerequisite for actually implementing the ideas of social protection that have been developed on the continent.
South Africa is the only African country in the G20, so it has the honourable – but also challenging – role of representing the interests of all Africans.
The South African government should seize the opportunity to support the establishment of a Global Fund that will enable the economically weaker countries of the continent to pursue ambitious goals concerning the social protection coverage of their population. Effective poverty reduction through social protection can only be achieved through solidarity – through global solidarity, but also regional solidarity among African countries.
Prior to the writing of this article, we exchanged views on the topic with the Alliance of NPO Networks. The Alliance explicitly supports the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors’ call for the establishment of a new Global Fund. The fact that this initiative is strongly backed by civil society should certainly be an important signal to South African political leaders.
19 April 2021
By Markus Kaltenborn and Letlhokwa George Mpedi.
Professor Markus Kaltenborn teaches Public Law at the Faculty of Law of Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. He is Director of the Institute of Development Research and Development Politics at the university.
Professor Letlhokwa George Mpedi is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic (Designate) and former Executive Dean: Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg.
They write in their personal capacities.
Source: Daily Maverick, (PDF Format)
The video of the virtual event “International Solidarity to Support a Robust and Inclusive Recovery - A Global Social Protection Fund” is now online.
The virtual event, co-organized by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), was held in the framework of the Spring Civil Society Policy Forum of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The event took place on Thursday 25 March 2021.
International solidarity to support a robust and inclusive global economic recovery: the case for a global social protection fund
Languages: English| Spanish | French.
Speakers
Cathy Feingold, International Director of the AFL-CIO and Deputy President of the International Trade Union Confederation
Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
Omar Faruk Osman, Secretary General of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions
Yolande Wright, Head of Child Poverty at Save the Children
Didier Jacobs, Senior Advisor at Oxfam. His presentation is available here.
Michal Rutkowski, Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs at the World Bank
The devastating loss of jobs and livelihoods during COVID-19 has reaffirmed the importance of universal social protection, an agreed objective before the crisis. There is limited capacity for low income countries to respond to the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 because of underdeveloped social protection systems and limited revenue. Greater international solidarity in the financing of social protection could support low-income countries to close the gaps. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights is calling for the establishment of a global social protection fund. This panel discusses the proposal and the potential role for the IMF and World Bank.
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“Solidaridad internacional en apoyo a una recuperación robusta e inclusivaEl video del evento virtual “Solidaridad internacional en apoyo a una recuperación robusta e inclusiva Un Fondo Mundial para la Protección Social” se encuentra ahora disponible aquí.
El evento, coorganizado por la Coalición Global por los Pisos de Protección Social y la Confederación Sindical Internacional, se realizó en el Foro de Políticas Relativas a la Sociedad Civil, en el marco de las Reuniones de Primavera del Banco Mundial y el Fondo Monetario Internacional. El evento se realizó el Jueves 25 de marzo de 2021.
Participaron:
Cathy Feingold, Directora Internacional de la AFL-CIO y Presidenta Adjunta de la Confederación Sindical Internacional
Olivier de Schutter, Relator Especial de la ONU sobre la extrema pobreza y los derechos humanos
Omar Faruk Osman, Secretario General de la Federation of Somali Trade Unions
Yolande Wright, Directora sobre reducción de la pobreza infantil en Save the Children
Didier Jacobs, Asesor Senior de Oxfam. Su presentación se encuentra disponible aquí.
Michal Rutkowski, Director del Departamento de Prácticas Mundiales de Protección Social y Trabajo del Banco Mundial
La devastadora pérdida de empleos y medios de subsistencia durante la COVID-19 ha reafirmado la importancia de una protección social universal, objetivo ya acordado antes de la crisis. Los países de ingresos bajos cuentan con una capacidad limitada para responder a las consecuencias sociales y económicas de la COVID-19, al disponer de sistemas de protección social poco desarrollados e ingresos limitados. Una mayor solidaridad internacional en la financiación de la protección social podría contribuir a ayudar a estos países a cerrar la brecha. El Relator Especial de la ONU sobre la extrema pobreza y los derechos humanos ha pedido el establecimiento de un fondo mundial para la protección social. Esta mesa redonda discutirá las propuestas y el posible papel del FMI y el Banco Mundial.
The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), in partnership with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), is pleased to invite you to the event “International Solidarity to Support a Robust and Inclusive Recovery - A Global Social Protection Fund” that will be held in the framework of the Spring Civil Society Policy Forum of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The event will take place on Thursday 25 March 2021, 10:00 – 11:30 hs (Washington D.C. time).
Featuring
Cathy Feingold, International Director of the AFL-CIO and Deputy President of the International Trade Union Confederation
Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
Omar Faruk Osman, Secretary General of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions
Yolande Wright, Head of Child Poverty at Save the Children
Didier Jacobs, Senior Advisor at Oxfam
Michal Rutkowski, Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs at the World Bank
The devastating loss of jobs and livelihoods during COVID-19 has reaffirmed the importance of universal social protection, an agreed objective before the crisis. There is limited capacity for low income countries to respond to the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 because of underdeveloped social protection systems and limited revenue. Greater international solidarity in the financing of social protection could support low-income countries to close the gaps. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights is calling for the establishment of a global social protection fund. This panel discusses the proposal and the potential role for the IMF and World Bank.
You may livestream the event here.
Interpretation in Spanish and French is accessible via the Civil Society Policy Forum livestream here.
To register for the Civil Society Policy Forum so you can ask questions during the panel, please click here by 22 March.
The full schedule of the Policy Forum is available here.
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“Solidaridad internacional en apoyo a una recuperación robusta e inclusivaLa Coalición Global por los Pisos de Protección Social, en asociación con la Confederación Sindical Internacional, se complace en invitarles al evento “Solidaridad internacional en apoyo a una recuperación robusta e inclusiva Un Fondo Mundial para la Protección Social” que tendrá lugar durante el Foro de Políticas Relativas a la Sociedad Civil, en el marco de las Reuniones de Primavera del Banco Mundial y el Fondo Monetario Internacional
El evento tendrá lugar el Jueves 25 de marzo de 2021 de 10:00 a 11:30 AM (hora de Washington D.C.).
Puede acceder al evento mediante streaming en directo aquí. El evento se desarrollará en inglés y se facilitará interpretación en francés y español aquí.
Participarán:
Cathy Feingold, Directora Internacional de la AFL-CIO y Presidenta Adjunta de la Confederación Sindical Internacional
Olivier de Schutter, Relator Especial de la ONU sobre la extrema pobreza y los derechos humanos
Omar Faruk Osman, Secretario General de la Federation of Somali Trade Unions
Yolande Wright, Directora sobre reducción de la pobreza infantil en Save the Children
Didier Jacobs, Asesor Senior de Oxfam
Michal Rutkowski, Director del Departamento de Prácticas Mundiales de Protección Social y Trabajo del Banco Mundial
La devastadora pérdida de empleos y medios de subsistencia durante la COVID-19 ha reafirmado la importancia de una protección social universal, objetivo ya acordado antes de la crisis. Los países de ingresos bajos cuentan con una capacidad limitada para responder a las consecuencias sociales y económicas de la COVID-19, al disponer de sistemas de protección social poco desarrollados e ingresos limitados. Una mayor solidaridad internacional en la financiación de la protección social podría contribuir a ayudar a estos países a cerrar la brecha. El Relator Especial de la ONU sobre la extrema pobreza y los derechos humanos ha pedido el establecimiento de un fondo mundial para la protección social. Esta mesa redonda discutirá las propuestas y el posible papel del FMI y el Banco Mundial.
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.
