e-GCSPF #81 - February 2023 - CSocD61

There is broad consensus that expansion of social protection is a necessary response to the global food and economic crises. But an immediate reaction of countries when approached with the solution of universal social protection is “we can’t afford that!”. The teams at ACT Church of Sweden, Development Pathways and Action Against Hunger showed how, in actual fact, universality can be affordable.
Daisy Sibun launched the new paper, ‘Can a leopard change its spots? A critical analysis of the World Bank’s ‘progressive universalism’ approach to social protection’. The paper scrutinises the justification through which the World Bank continues to promote poverty targeted programmes, despite its more recent high-level support for the idea of universal social protection, and contrasts it with the human rights-based approach to social protection as promoted by the ILO. Watch the video

With this statement, the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), representing more than 120 civil society organisations and trade unions from all over the world, intends to react to the World Bank’s new strategy for social protection, published under the title “Charting a Course Towards Universal Social Protection: Resilience, Equity, and Opportunity for all”.
Recognising the human right to social security, as well as the central role that social protection plays in ensuring adequate standards of living, promoting inclusive and sustainable growth, enhancing resilience, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), the GCSPF promotes the right of all people to social security and universal Social Protection Floors (SPF). Read more

The Covid-19 pandemic and its related shocks have revealed the value of public services and social protection floors. Institutions tasked with ending poverty like the World Bank are increasingly under pressure to support vital public services and play a key role in wider universal social protection (USP) discussions.
The World Bank recently released its latest commitment to social protection: A Social Protection and Jobs Compass to “chart a course towards USP,” which provides guidance to Bank staff on jobs and social protection issues.
Following a limited consultation process, civil society were eager to respond to the Compass. Read more

A brief for the case of Nepal and Uganda
To support the global debate on the Global Fund and extend its factual base, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) commissioned this study, by Zina Nimeh, Giulio Bordon, Mitja Del Bono and Guido Heins, whose objective is to support global discussions on the feasibility and necessity of a Global Fund for Social Protection through providing two country-based analyses that demonstrate the potential effects of a global social protection funding mechanism.
The study established (i) the cost of the Global Fund; (ii) the redistributive impact of the supported SPF benefits in terms of poverty reduction and the reduction of inequality; (iii) the effects of fund support on the achievability of the social protection-related SDG targets by the sample countries; and (iv) the effects of Global Fund support on countries’ resilience in the event of future crises. Read more

By ECLAC and UN-Women.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, care has gradually been placed at the centre of public agendas, as a result of growing political commitments, as well as the work of women’s movements and feminist economic studies.
These contributions have focused on the need to reorganize and redistribute care work as a key factor in more egalitarian and inclusive societies. The right to care is among the human rights already recognized in international covenants and treaties, to be enjoyed by all human beings, regardless of their situation of vulnerability, fragility or dependence.
English and Spanish

This ILO flagship report examines the evolution of real wages, giving a unique picture of wage trends globally and by region. The 2022-23 edition also includes evidence on how wages have evolved through the COVID-19 crisis as well as how the current inflationary context is biting into real wage growth in most regions in the world. The report shows that for the first time in the twenty-first century real wage growth has fallen to negative values while, at the same time, the gap between real productivity growth and real wage growth continues to widen.
The report analysis the evolution of the real total wage bill from 2019 to 2022 to show how its different components – employment, nominal wages and inflation – have changed during the COVID-19 crisis and, more recently, during the cost-of-living crisis.
The report also looks at changes in wage inequality and the gender pay gap to reveal how COVID-19 may have contributed to increasing income inequality in different regions of the world. Together, the empirical evidence in the report becomes the backbone of a policy discussion that could play a key role in a human-centred recovery from the different ongoing crises. Read more

People in poverty contribute least to climate change yet also benefit least from policies that either try to mitigate climate change or help people adapt to it. It’s a double injustice that needs fixing. Social protection, and cash transfers in particular, can help people to adopt strategies that help them withstand the consequences of severe weather events, such as floods or droughts. With COP27 to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt next week, it’s an issue of utmost importance.
In this episode, Keetie Roelen is joined by two colleagues from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Nicholas Sitko is Senior Economist and Marco Knowles is Senior Social Protection Officer, both at FAO’s the Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division. In their work, they especially focus on reducing poverty and vulnerability of rural populations, including small-scale producers such as farmers. Together we discuss why people in poverty are more vulnerable to climate change, and how they can be supported to be better able to withstand negative effects of climate shocks. Listen here

Read here the November SP&PFM e-News! This newsletter communicates about ongoing activities and results from the Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management programme (SP&PFM). SP&PFM is a joint collaboration between the EU, ILO, UNICEF and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), which provides medium and shorter-term support to 24 countries aiming to strengthen their social protection systems and ensure their sustainable financing. Read more

UNU-MERIT will host the virtual launch of the “Global Solidarity Funding For Social Protection” report.
Date: 08 November 2022 - Time: 14:00 - 15:30 CEST - Registration.
During the launch event, key stakeholders from FES, ILO, World Bank and UNU-MERIT will jointly discuss topics of financing and extending social protection floors. The exchange will focus on the opportunity and cost of implementing a global mechanism for cofinancing social protection floors. Read more

There is broad consensus that expansion of social protection is a necessary response to the global food and economic crises. But an immediate reaction of countries when approached with the solution of universal social protection is “we can’t afford that!”. Today, the teams at ACT Church of Sweden, Development Pathways and Action Against Hunger show how, in actual fact, universality can be affordable.
Daisy Sibun will be launching a new paper, ‘Can a leopard change its spots? A critical analysis of the World Bank’s ‘progressive universalism’ approach to social protection’. The paper scrutinises the justification through which the World Bank continues to promote poverty targeted programmes, despite its more recent high-level support for the idea of universal social protection, and contrasts it with the human rights-based approach to social protection as promoted by the ILO. Tuesday, November 22, 2022 - 2 PM - 3 PM CET - Register - Read more

Representatives from different CSOs, unions and workers’ organisations shared their perspectives on whether, and if so, how, IFIs have changed their position on social protection in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on newly published evidence, we discussed what is new regarding IFI’s engagement on social protection, what counts as progress, and what are areas where IFIs may continue to fall short on realising the right to social protection for all. Watch the recording

The Financing Working Group of the Global Partnership on Universal Social Protection (USP 2030) realeased a joint statement on key principles for financing social protection.
Universal social protection is an essential means to prevent and reduce poverty and inequality and is at core of the social contract that connects the state with the society, contributing to more inclusive, equitable, stable, and peaceful societies. With the ongoing economic effects of COVID-19, the unfolding cost of living crisis, and the ever-growing impacts of climate breakdown the need for social protection has never been greater. And yet large and entrenched coverage gaps remain, with a lack of available and accessible financing a major bottleneck in achieving universal social protection. In light of this challenge the USP2030 working group on financing has jointly agreed the following key principles to guide the international and national financing of social protection Read more

By Francine Mestrum, Global Social Justice (Brussels)
Today, inequality is high on the international agenda. After the hype on poverty – Millennium Development Goals -, U.N. organisations and the Bretton Woods institutions play a major role in producing and distributing knowledge on the different dimensions of inequality and on how it is shaping today’s world and its perspectives on development.
In this contribution, I want to examine what knowledge these institutions create and disseminate about ‘inequality’ and how this knowledge has evolved since their inception – the end of the Second World War and the start of a decolonisation process with an associated development project. Read more

By Lena Simet
The World Bank published their new Social Protection and Jobs sector strategy, also known as the SPJ Compass. The strategy makes a strong commitment to USP. However, its guidance on how countries can get there is problematic.
Human Rights Watch and others, including a recent study by the nongovernmental organization Development Pathways, have found that poverty targeted programs fall short in protecting human rights, are prone to mismanagement and corruption, and that they can stigmatize people in poverty. Everyone has the right to social security, which is key to securing other economic and social rights, in particular the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes the rights to food and to adequate housing. Read more

Read here the October SP&PFM e-News! This newsletter communicates about ongoing activities and results from the Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management programme (SP&PFM). SP&PFM is a joint collaboration between the EU, ILO, UNICEF and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), which provides medium and shorter-term support to 24 countries aiming to strengthen their social protection systems and ensure their sustainable financing. Read more

With the aim of strengthening the political incidence of civil society in favor of social protection in South America, a cycle of conferences with the participation of various organizations of civil society (e.g. feminists, trade unions, ecumenical, etc.) and experts in the field took place. It is necessary an official care policy which contemplate supports and complements care work and defends the recognition of the "right to care", gender equality and human development. Likewise, ways of financing social protection are explored, including the creation of a global fund. The following videos (in Spanish) of the conferences are on line.
1. “Thinking about social protection from care”. Speakers: MA.(Econ) Soledad Salvador (Uruguay), Licenciada en Ciencia Política Patricia Cossani Padilla (Uruguay), PhD. Hildete Pereira de Melo (Brazil) and PhD. Corina Rodríguez Enríquez (Argentina). Moderator: BA(Econ) Alma Espino (Uruguay).
2. “Community care in times of COVID-19”. Speakers: MA.(Soc) Norma Sanchís (Argentina), Mag Ec. Natalia Moreno (Uruguay), BSc. (Psych) Alma Colin Colin (Mexico) and Mag. Florencia Cascardo (Argentina). Moderator: BA(Econ) Alma Espino (Uruguay).
3. “When the State misses the appointment: the (un)sustainability of life”. Speakers: Mag. Graciela Rodríguez (Brazil), Soc. Rosario Aguirre (Uruguay), Dra Verónica Serafini (Paraguay) and Dra. Alison Vasconez (Ecuador). Moderator: Mag Soledad Salvador (Uruguay).
4. “What the pandemic left us: necessary transformations”. Speakers: Roberto Bissio (Uruguay), PhD Lucía Pérez (Mexico) and PhD Valeria Esquivel (Argentina). Moderator: BA (Econ) Soledad Salvador (Uruguay).
These activities were organized by Ciedur, Red de Género y Comercio, Social Watch and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.

A new Human Rights Watch report on Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) in Kazakhstan finds that the country's main social assistance program has very rigid eligibility criteria and means tests that exclude many people in need of support. The report calls on the government to make changes in the program to eliminate errors in determining eligibility and arbitrary barriers that leave out qualified people and increase the benefits amount to ensure that people have adequate protection of their basic economic rights. Read more

The Third Virtual OECD Policy Dialogue on Social Protection and Development on Social protection in times of growing vulnerability and poverty crises will take place via the Zoom videoconferencing platform, on 29 & 30 November 2022 from 13:00PM to 16:30PM (Paris time).

With the aim of strengthening the political incidence of civil society in favor of social protection in South America, a cycle of conferences with the participation of various organizations of civil society (e.g. feminists, trade unions, ecumenical, etc.) and experts in the field is taking place online. It is necessary an official care policy which contemplate supports and complements care work and defends the recognition of the "right to care", gender equality and human development. Likewise, ways of financing social protection are explored, including the creation of a global fund.
The videoconference “What the pandemic left us: necessary transformations” will take place online on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. GMT-3. This conference will be in Spanish.
These activities are organized by Ciedur, Red de Género y Comercio, Social Watch and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.

Representatives from different CSOs, unions and workers’ organisations will share their perspectives on whether, and if so, how, IFIs have changed their position on social protection in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on newly published evidence, we will discuss what is new regarding IFI’s engagement on social protection, what counts as progress, and what are areas where IFIs may continue to fall short on realising the right to social protection for all.
Thursday, October 20, 2022 2 PM GMT+1
Register - Read more

The Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development 2022, under the theme “Redefining Social Policy and Social Work Practice in A Post-Pandemic Society: Social Welfare Programs and Social Work Education at A Crossroads” will be held from October 26 (Wed) to October 28 (Fri), 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. Hosted internationally by International Council on Social Welfare, and International Association of Schools of Social Work and hosted locally by Korea National Council on Social Welfare, Korean Council on Social Welfare Education, Korea Association of Social Workers, and Seoul Welfare Foundation. Read more
Event “Delivering on the commitment to universal social protection: the quest for innovative solutions” co-organized by the Global Coalition. Date and time to be confirmed.

Apologies, this webinar has been postponed. We will reschedule this event to a later date, and we will be in touch soon with more details.
There is broad consensus that expansion of social protection is a necessary response to the global food and economic crises. But an immediate reaction of countries when approached with the solution of universal social protection is “we can’t afford that!”. Today, the teams at ACT Church of Sweden, Development Pathways and Action Against Hunger show how, in actual fact, universality can be affordable.
Daisy Sibun will be launching a new paper, ‘Can a leopard change its spots? A critical analysis of the World Bank’s ‘progressive universalism’ approach to social protection’. The paper scrutinises the justification through which the World Bank continues to promote poverty targeted programmes, despite its more recent high-level support for the idea of universal social protection, and contrasts it with the human rights-based approach to social protection as promoted by the ILO. Friday, October 7, 2022 - 2 PM - 3 PM CEST - Register - Read more

The Global People's Assembly is a self organised space during the United Nations General Assembly high level wee with the aim of bringing the voices of the people to the forefront, at a time where decision makers engage in high level debate without people's involvement.
This year's Global People's Assembly took place online from Tuesday 20th September - Thursday 22nd September 2022. Read the Declaration and the recordings of the sessions
The Global Coalition is co-organizer of the Global People’s Assembly and several members participated in the sessions.
Isabel Ortiz (Global Social Justice Switzerland) participated in the opening session.
Sylvia Beales Gelber (APSP and member of the coalition core group) participated in the African Assembly and spoke on the right to universal social protection in Africa and the call for the global fund.
Florian Juergens-Grant (WIEGO) participated on behalf of the GCSPF at the session Leave No Woman Behind on Wednesday 21st September.

A new report titled “End Austerity: A global report on budget cuts and harmful social reforms”, shows that 85 percent of the world’s population will live in the grip of austerity measures by 2023. This trend is likely to continue until at least 2025, when 75 percent of the global population (129 countries) could still be living under these conditions.
Austerity measures include scaling down social protection programs for women, children, the elderly and other vulnerable people, leaving only a small safety net for a fraction of the poorest. They also include cutting or capping the wages and number of teachers and healthcare workers, eliminating subsidies, privatizing or commercializing public services such as energy, water and public transportation, and reducing pensions and workers’ rights.
The report is co-authored by Isabel Ortiz and Matthew Cummins and co-published by ActionAid, Arab Watch Coalition (AWC), Eurodad, Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC), Global Social Justice, Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Latindadd, Public Services International (PSI), The Bretton Woods Project, Third World Network (TWN) and Wemos. Read more

The ITUC has welcomed a much-anticipated publication by the World Bank “Charting a Course Towards Universal Social Protection : Resilience, Equity, and Opportunity for All” but has a number of considerable reservations to some of the policy messages, as well as the rigor of the analysis underpinning some of the policies proposed. Read more

Meryame Kitir, Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation; Jutta Urpilainen, European commissioner for international partnerships ; Shahra Razavi Director of the Social Protection Department of the International Labour Organisation (ILO); Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Sharon Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and many other partners in international cooperation participated in the Conference “Universal Social Protection, How to make it happen?”. The report of the Belgian dialogue USP2030 is now available in French. Read more

The Global People's Assembly is a self organised space during the United Nations General Assembly high level week. Our aim is to bring the voices of the people to the forefront, at a time where decision makers engage in high level debate without people's involvement.
This year's Global People's Assembly will take place online from Tuesday 20th September - Thursday 22nd September 2022. Read more
Tavengwa Nhongo (APSP and member of the coalition core group) will participate in the African Assembly on Tuesday 20th September, 2 pm EDT, to speak on the right to universal social protection in Africa and the call for the global fund.
Florian Juergens-Grant (WIEGO) will participate on behalf of the GCSPF at the session Leave No Woman Behind on Wednesday 21st September - 9 to 10 am EDT.

With the aim of strengthening the political incidence of civil society in favor of social protection in South America, a cycle of conferences with the participation of various organizations of civil society (e.g. feminists, trade unions, ecumenical, etc.) and experts in the field. It is necessary an official care policy which contemplate supports and complements care work and defends the recognition of the "right to care", gender equality and human development. Likewise, ways of financing social protection are explored, including the creation of a global fund. These activities are in Spanish.
The videoconference “When the state misses the appointment: the (un)sustainability of life” will take place online on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. GMT-3.
The videoconference “What the pandemic left us: necessary transformations” will take place online on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. GMT-3.
These activities are organized by Ciedur, Red de Género y Comercio, Social Watch and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.

The End Austerity Activism Festival is a 3-day virtual event that will take place from Wednesday 28th of September through Friday 30th of September 2022.
It will officially launch the End Austerity Campaign, calling on activists and organisations from all around the world to denounce the new wave of austerity spreading across the world, amid the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the food and energy crisis brought about by the Ukraine war.
The Campaign will call for more ambitious recovery packages to focus on a feminist, green and care-led recovery rather than corporate hand-outs and social protection cuts, resisting an economic model that puts profit before people and the planet. Read more
The session End Austerity now! will take place on Wednesday 28 September 2022 / 13 - 15 hs
Organised by FTC and Global Social Justice
The session Can the Leopard change its spots will take place on Wednesday 28 September 2022 / 16:30 - 18 hs
Organised by Act Church of Sweden, Development Pathways and Action Against Hunger France

2022 International Day of Older Persons Celebration
The United Nations International Day of Older Persons aims to enshrine and promote the rights of older persons, and to engage and mobilize advocates to protect those rights.
Monday, October 3, 2022 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
ECOSOC Chamber (OR LIVE on webtv.un.org) Read more

There is broad consensus that expansion of social protection is a necessary response to the global food and economic crises. But an immediate reaction of countries when approached with the solution of universal social protection is “we can’t afford that!”. Today, the teams at ACT Church of Sweden, Development Pathways and Action Against Hunger show how, in actual fact, universality can be affordable.
Daisy Sibun will be launching a new paper, ‘Can a leopard change its spots? A critical analysis of the World Bank’s ‘progressive universalism’ approach to social protection’. The paper scrutinises the justification through which the World Bank continues to promote poverty targeted programmes, despite its more recent high-level support for the idea of universal social protection, and contrasts it with the human rights-based approach to social protection as promoted by the ILO.
Friday, October 7, 2022 - 2 PM - 3 PM CEST, Confirm local time here Read more

This new series will communicate the ongoing activities and results of the Programme Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management (SP&PFM). SP&PFM is a joint collaboration between the EU, ILO, UNICEF and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors. It provides medium and shorter-term support to 24 countries aiming to strengthen their social protection systems and ensure their sustainable financing. Read more

Targeting is one of the most widely debated topics in social protection. Who should receive support from social protection systems? How do we identify the ‘right’ people, and reach them?
In this episode we talk about some of the key trade-offs most frequently invoked when making decisions about targeting social protection and ask our guests about the latest thinking on how to reconcile these challenges and dilemmas.
Guests for this episode are: Rachel Sabates-Wheeler (Research Fellow, IDS) and Matthew Wai-Poi (Senior Economist, World Bank) Listen here

The GCSPF working group on a new international financing mechanism for social protection invites you to an exchange on how to widen the support for a global fund for social protection in the global south.
The zoom meeting will be held on Wednesday September 14th, 2022 from 12 to 1:30 pm UTC. Local times here
The working group would like to learn from the GCSPF members and their partners and networks how we can address the concerns raised in low- and middle income countries. Concept note Registration

The Government of Jordan's Public Sector Modernization Committee announced its plans restructuring several ministries, including the abolishment of the Ministry of Labor (MoL), transferring its functions and roles to a number of ministries. Several civil society organizations published a public statement to express that abolishing the MoL is contrary to the approach of social dialogue and partnership between workers and employers with the government. It furthermore reflects a change in economic policy directions and options towards marginalizing and weakening the social protection system.
A letter, signed by 56 Jordanian civil society organizations, was sent to the Prime Minister, calling to reject the recommendation to abolish the MoL and instead strengthen the role of the MoL within the recognized frameworks, standards, and experiences of the international community, to remain at the center of the broader economic and social decision circles. Read more

By Barry Herman
The United Nations developed over twenty years ago an effective approach to intergovernmental and multistakeholder discussions about economic and financial policies of Member States, international institutions and other stakeholders in the financing of development. In light of the serious challenges to global economic cooperation for development at the present time, this paper argues for taking up this approach again in order to work toward consensus around a set of policy measures that could be politically endorsed at an appropriately scheduled fourth international intergovernmental conference on Financing for Development. Read more

The Conference Our Future is Public will gather social movements and civil society organisations from all over the world in Santiago, Chile for a 4-day (29 November - 2 December 2022) Conference aiming at developing strategies and narratives to strengthen public services for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights and tackle the effects of climate change. The first two days will be devoted to sectoral meetings on health, education, economic justice and social protection, energy, food systems and agriculture, care, housing, transportation, waste and water; while the final two days will bring together all movements and organisations participating in the conference for a collective discussion on cross-cutting themes including the climate emergency, gender equality, economic and tax justice, and democratic ownership.
The Conference will be hybrid (online and in-person) event, with open public events inviting both international and local participants.
Pre-registration is open here. Read more

Trade unions have called for social protection coverage to be extended to all workers, including those in the informal economy, in order to build resilience and mitigate the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants at the Fifth meeting of the “Social Protection, Freedom and Justice for Workers Network,” held virtually on 5 July 2022, stressed the importance of achieving universal social protection in line with the priorities set out in the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, the ILO Global Call to Action for a Human-Centred Recovery, the Resolution and conclusions concerning the second recurrent discussion on social protection adopted by the International Labour Conference in June (2021), as well as in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They also discussed trade union advocacy strategies to advance social protection at the international, regional and national levels. Read more

The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation (Sweden) promotes women’s rights in over 20 conflict-affected countries in the MENA region, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the South Caucasus. We do so by supporting 140 local partner organisations across the world.
Their four focus issues are: Gender-based violence, Equal participation, Women, peace and security and Economic empowerment.
Their long-term vision: A world of sustainable peace based on democracy and gender equality, where conflicts are solved without violence. A world in which human rights are respected and everyone can feel safe and secure. A world in which women have influence over decision-making and participate fully and effectively in society’s development.
Contact information: Monica Erwér, Advisor Women’s Economic Empowerment monica.erwer@kvinnatillkvinna.se
Further information can be found here and at Facebook: kvinnatkvinnafoundation/

Established on 16 February 2012, Social Protection Civil Society Network (SPCSN) has been active in raising the voice of right holders, promoting interfaces among right holders, experts and duty bearers, making duty bearers more accountable on various social protection issues.
Their objectives are: to conduct research on the social protection system, to lobby with and support the government agencies on their plans and policies, to ensure collective dialogues to promote its’ issues, to campaign and lobby for transparency and accountability of the plans and policies, and to ensure social awareness, skill development, and dissemination in local units on social protection programs.
The strengths of GCAP are: Strong political leadership from the Global South, A focus on the structural aspects of inequalities, Proven ability to mobilise millions of people in support of rights-based advocacy, A solid grassroots foundation, consisting of thousands of small & mid-sized civil society organisations and, A real bottom-up process led by marginalized groups and women’s organisations.
Contact information: Saroj Acharya, Program Focal Point - sarozach@gmail.com
Further information can be found here.

The HLPF virtual side event: How to achieve the SDGs despite the worsening hunger and poverty crisis? took place on Wednesday, 6 July, during the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) 2022.
The side event was focused on the discussion on “Building forward better” around four interlinked themes – vaccines, hunger, debt and social protection, and livelihood while discussing it in context of the achievement of the SDGs, especially SDG 5 using the gender lens. This event is considered as a part of the series of actions and discussions hosted by GCAP and the wider civil society coalitions in the build-up to the Global Week of Action (GWA) culminating in September 25, the day of adoption of the Agenda 2030. One flagship programme of GCAP is the People’s Assemblies – done during the Global Week of Action – at the national, regional and global levels with people from the marginalized groups coming together to discuss their issues and preparing a charter of demands for advocacy.
Gunnel Axelsson Nycander participated on behalf of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF). Download here her presentation. Watch the video

This toolkit, by the Asian Roundtable on Social Protection (AROSP), focuses on best practices for social protection advocacy. Its fundamental starting point is the assertion that social protection is a human right. Social protection is defined as a set of policies to help women, men and children reach or maintain an adequate standard of living and good health. Building social protection systems (including social protection floors) is at the forefront of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, because these systems reduce and prevent poverty while also levelling out inequalities. Read more

The International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) is pleased to announce that our book Digital Transformation and Social Well-Being: Promoting an Inclusive Society has just been sent to press with a projected print date of 16 September 2022. It is published by Routledge Publishers and edited by Antonio López Peláez, Sang-Mok Suh and Sergei Zelenev.
With this book, ICSW contributes to one of its founding objectives: to put the basic features affecting social welfare on the current public agendas. The authors of this book have made an effort to explore how social inclusion could be promoted in a better way, how people could move rapidly along the road towards the cherished goal of creating a “society for all”, using the new tools offered by digitalisation.
Highlighting the complexities of digitalization, the book provides theoretical and practical insights, including case-studies from several countries aimed at demonstrating how overcoming disparities across social groups using contemporary digitalisation models will have lasting consequences on social well-being and human welfare.
This book can also be seen as an awareness-raising effort with regard to numerous sensitive, or potentially sensitive points, and a plea for the reconsideration of some policies or even policy priorities that are seen as detrimental nationally or globally. Many of the authors make quite concrete proposals for improving the policies and practice of social work, and social policy seen large. Read more

This ILO flagship report examines the role of collective bargaining in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on employment and earnings, helping to cushion inequality while reinforcing the resilience of enterprises and labour markets. The tailoring of public health measures and strengthening of occupational safety and health at the workplace, together with the paid sick leave and healthcare benefits provided for in many collective agreements, protected workers and supported the continuity of economic activity.
Looking to the future, the report considers the contribution of collective bargaining to a human-centred recovery. It highlights the need for democratic principles and rights that give employers and all workers a voice in the governance of work ‒ freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining ‒ essential for strong and representative workers’ and employers’ organizations, and a recovery that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient. Read more

Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) defends and promotes human rights, gender justice, social justice, climate justice and the security needed for the dignity and peace of all.

GCAP is a network of over 11,000 civil society organisations (CSOs) organized in 58 National Coalitions and in constituency groups of women, youth and socially-excluded people, among others.

The strengths of GCAP are: Strong political leadership from the Global South, A focus on the structural aspects of inequalities, Proven ability to mobilise millions of people in support of rights-based advocacy, A solid grassroots foundation, consisting of thousands of small & mid-sized civil society organisations and, A real bottom-up process led by marginalized groups and women’s organisations.

Contact information: Ingo Ritz (Director - ingo.ritz@gcap.global)
Further information can be found here. Facebook: GlobalCalltoActionAgainstPoverty / Twitter: @whiteband

Global Social Justice (Switzerland) was established in 2016 and is a civil society assocation registered under Swiss law.
The mission of Global Social Justice is to advance human rights and equality, generate debate on the distributional impacts of public policy support policy alternatives based on the rights of all peoples to benefit from economic, environmental and social progress.

Contact information
Odile Frank (Executive Director, odile.mc.frank@gmail.com), Isabel Ortiz (President, iortiz@globalsocialjustice.org)

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