GCSPF @ HLPF 2020

The 2020 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) will take place from 7 to 16 July. The three-day ministerial meeting of the forum will take place from 14 to 16 July 2020.
The theme will be "Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development".
The programme is here. 47 countries will carry out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic virtual sessions will take place. You will find below a list of events by members of the Global Coalition.

Lessons from the global COVID-19 crisis and its impact on the SDGs

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a massive impact on the implementation of the SDGs and the fulfilment of human rights. The looming global recession will dramatically increase unemployment, poverty and hunger worldwide. Moreover, the crisis threatens to further deepen discrimination and inequalities. In many countries the macroeconomic situation had already deteriorated before the outbreak of the virus. A vicious circle of debt and austerity policies undermined socio-economic development in many countries.

Monday, 6 July 2020, 8:30-10:00am EDT - Read more and register here

Stakeholder Group on Ageing with Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities and UN DESA
COVID-19 has exposed and deepened inequalities, discrimination, ageism and shown the inadequacy of systems, programmes and policy actions to safeguard the wellbeing and dignity of older persons and persons with disabilities. The pandemic has increased the visibility of those most at risk and reinforced the need for inclusive public policies that address the rights of people of all ages, in line with the SDGs commitment to ‘leave no one behind’. This event will look at the COVID-19 experience to identify learnings and opportunities to build a more inclusive world and accelerate action for achieving the SDG for all.
7 July 2020, 12-1:30 EDT / 6-7:30PM CET Read more and register here.

Building on the UN Secretary-General's call to Prioritize Children’s Education, Food, Health and Safety amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Group of Friends on Children and the SDGs acknowledgement that “children and young people are positive change agents with whom all stakeholders should partner to ease the lasting impact of COVID-19 and to achieve the 2030 Agenda,” the co-organizers will host an intergenerational dialogue between children and Member States to address: 1) Investing in and empowering children and youth as agents of change both in COVID-19 response and in the Decade of Action for the SDGs. 2) Strengthening inclusive, gender-responsive and child sensitive social and child protection policies and programmes to implement Agenda 2030 in light of COVID-19 realities.
This intergenerational dialogue is co-organized by UNICEF and the Child Focused Agencies which include Save the Children, ChildFund Alliance, Plan International, SOS Children’s Villages, and World Vision, in addition to the co-chairs of the Group of Friends of Children and the SDGs (Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Jamaica).
Wednesday 8 July 2020, 7:30 - 9 AM New York Read more and register here.

The COVID 19 pandemic rapidly escalated into a multidimensional crisis impacting the lives and minds of millions of people worldwide, reinforcing pre-existing systemic set of inequities and injustices, and resulting in increased levels of poverty, vulnerability and isolation for the most disadvantaged segments of the population.
For the Global North and South, today’s crisis represents an opportunity to rethink the world we want to see post Covid-19. How do we redefine - together with those directly impacted by poverty - what resilience means for societies in a changing climate? How can strong social protection systems guarantee that the poorest communities’ fundamental rights are realized? How can we ensure that new systems of solidarity and governance allow each member of society equal recognition and responsibility?
How do we achieve an equitable and just transition towards sustainable economies? By giving the floor to a variety of UN experts, researchers, and practitioners working in partnership with families living in poverty, this webinar aims at highlighting the urgency of the situation and proposing people-centred solutions favoring participation, solidarity, dignity and respect for the planet.
Wednesday 8 July 2020, 8 - 9 AM New York / 2-3 PM Geneva Read more and register here.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a crisis of unprecedented significance to people’s health, jobs and lives globally. Governments must take extraordinary and radical measures to overcome the emergency and to lay the groundwork for the recovery. A piecemeal approach clearly does not fit the purpose. On the contrary, systemic change based on interlinked and complementary policies at social, economic and environmental level is the way forward.
Covid-19 pandemic recovery requires that governments respond with specific measures for decent work and inclusive growth. These measures cannot happen without workers’ and employers’ organisations involvement and support. Resilience can only be built on social dialogue, which goes a long way in crafting equitable policies and to rebuilding a new social contract between governments, employers and workers.
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Monday 13 July 2020, 8 - 9 AM New York Time Read more and register here.

Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, member states and civil society have reported on the progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
In National Reports on the 2030 Agenda: What do they (not) reveal? The event will present the key findings of an overview content analysis of 2019 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP).
This event is co-hosted by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP), Social Watch International, Global Policy Forum and the Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs.
Monday, July 13, 2020, 8:00 am to 9:00 am (EDT). Read more and register here.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented public health crisis, which has touched all countries In the world, regardless of their development status.
However, the pandemic has also revealed the widening inequalities in society: people living in poverty are not only exposed to a much greater risk of infection, but also bear the disproportionate brunt of the negative economic and social consequences of the pandemic.
This event is organized by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Franciscans International, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the International Movement ATD Fourth World, with the support of the Permanent Missions of Belgium, Costa Rica, France, and Peru.
Monday, July 13th, 2020 - 15:00-16:30 CET Read more and register here.

WIEGO will host the Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC): Informal Workers & COVID-19: Impact and Vision for the Future. During this virtual event experts from WIEGO's Urban Policies Programme will provide detailed insights on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on urban informal workers while exploring creative policy and planning responses. The Urban Thinkers Campus is an initiative under the World Urban Campaign of UN-HABITAT.
The webinar will be in English with French and Spanish interpretation provided.

14 July 2020, 9 am - 11 am EDT (GMT-4) - Read more and register here

This brief sets out to provide a concise analysis of the state of Lebanon’s social protection system in the context of the ongoing economic and social crisis, with a particular focus on the ability of the country’s social protection system to ensure income security in old age for all Lebanese. This is followed by an assessment whether a tax-funded non-contributory social pension could be a feasible action towards ensuring at least basic income security for all older Lebanese, as well as the development of a more effective, inclusive, and rights-based social protection system for the country as whole. Complementing the discussion of an older age social pension, this brief explores opportunities to provide additional support to persons with disabilities, including older people with disabilities. Read more

This paper aims to present a concise yet comprehensive argument for the importance of old age social pensions as an effective, efficient and affordable policy to achieve income security, and reduce poverty and inequality in older age.
It makes the case for social pensions by drawing on international human rights principles and standards, decades of global experience in the design and implementation of pension systems, as well as evidence emerging from a wide range of lower and middle-income countries implementing social pensions. The paper concludes with considerations on financing and affordability of social pensions. Read more

A global jobs crisis is sweeping across the world with trade unions in eighty-seven percent of countries surveyed reporting that companies have announced they are laying off workers as a result of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The findings in the fourth ITUC Global Covid-19 Survey of 130 trade unions from 100 countries, including 16 G20 countries and 32 OECD countries, carried out between 25 - 28th May 2020, shows the world on the brink of a global jobs and income crisis not seen in decades while support for government and employer actions falls. Read more

This is an episode on social protection for informal workers in the context of the Covid-19 global pandemic that looks more closely on how governments around the world are responding to the global crisis in order to address to the urgent social protection needs of vulnerable people, in particular, informal workers. To help us understand the main challenges and concrete issues policy makers are facing as the first government responses are being implemented, Valentina Barca who is an independent consultant. Valentina is a specialist in social protection delivery systems. She is part of a multi-disciplinary research team, called SPACE, that is working to provide policy analysis to the responses on social protection during this global pandemic, in order to support countries to think about how to better address to the current crisis. Valentina analyses issues related to the targeting of informal workers, patterns in government responses, implementation problems that emerge; why some countries are responding quicker and more effectively than others, and which are the challenges and lessons to reach informal workers, that we can take from the policies that are being implemented. Hear more

The Informal Workers and Social Protection background note outlines the options for providing social protection to informal workers, with a particular focus on the implications for COVID-19 response and urban settings. In order to do so, it provides information on the impacts of COVID-19 on earnings and wellbeing among informal economy workers, considering the opportunities the crisis presents for reform to more efficiently link informal workers with social protection systems. Given the extent to which COVID-19 has affected urban livelihoods, this analysis focuses primarily on challenges faced by urban informal workers. Of course, much of it also applies to informal workers in rural areas, particularly those who are not involved in agriculture (e.g. household enterprises). Read more

The ILO’s latest analysis of the labour market impact of COVID-19 exposes the devastating and disproportionate effect on young workers, and analyses measures being taken to create a safe return to work environment.
More than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while those who remain employed have seen their working hours cut by 23 per cent, says the International Labour Organization (ILO). Read more

The SARS-COV-2 pandemic has rapidly transformed our societies. Experts from different backgrounds are analyzing its consequences on the short and long term and, in terms of social protection, one conclusion is unavoidable: in a deeply unequal world, the crisis is increasing the gaps. As in every major international event, the impact varies between countries according to their preexisting conditions and the policies implemented. In Argentina, the context is quite daunting in both aspects.
The difficult economic and social context aforementioned adds to the crisis imposed by the SARSCOV-2 pandemic. The government’s response focused on limiting the spread of the disease and expanding and introducing additional policies that would strengthen Argentina’s social protection floor. Read more

COVID-19 presents specific dangers for older people, as the risk of serious illness and death from the disease increases with age. Governments should therefore guarantee older people’s continued and safe access to pensions and other forms of social protection in the context of widespread self-isolation, reduced access to income and curtailed access to support services. Accordingly, improvements to the coverage and benefits of pension systems have amongst the most common social protection responses to the crisis, following heath, unemployment and general social assistance.
This publication aims to capture new or increased pensions or cash transfers specifically targeting older people in response to the COVID19 pandemic. It focuses on interventions directly targeting older people and excludes new cash transfers, or adjustments to existing ones, that are being provided to entire populations or target on the basis criteria other than age, although these general cash transfers are also very important for the wellbeing of older people. Read more

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, Global Policy Watch (GPW) has published a series of COVID-19 Round-Ups. These publications monitor developments and decisions undertaken related to addressing the global pandemic at the United Nations and multinational level. Global Policy Watch is a joint initiative of Global Policy Forum and Social Watch. Read more

To cope with the socioeconomic effects of the crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) proposes that governments ensure immediate temporary cash transfers to meet basic needs and sustain household consumption, which will be crucial for achieving a solid and relatively quick reactivation. In addition, in the long term, the organization reiterates that these transfers should be made permanent, extending beyond people in situations of poverty and reaching the broad social strata of the population that are very vulnerable to becoming poor, which would enable moving towards a universal basic income to guarantee the basic right to survival, according to a new report unveiled today by the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena.
The organization presented a new report on the social challenges of the crisis stemming from COVID-19. In a context of low growth, a significant increase in poverty, extreme poverty and inequality is foreseen in Latin America and the Caribbean. Read more

The event “We the peoples” sent a strong message to the UN and Member States that a stronger multilateral system is needed as a matter of urgency, and that the UN75 High Level Event on 21 September needs to be the catalyst for the transformative changes urgently needed to successfully address 21st century global challenges. Members of the GCSPF participated in the event and contributed suggestions including that of universal basic income and a global fund for social Protection. Read more

Drawing upon their deep expertise and influential network, the Coalition will consider how to prioritise reforms and policy innovations on tax and transparency that can secure greater revenue and ensure that less is lost to secrecy and abuse. This an important opportunity to understand the contributions needed for systemic change that can point us “in the direction of equality.”
Speakers including world leading economist Professor Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Logan Wort, executive director of the African Tax Administrators Forum; Alex Cobham, chief executive of the Tax Justice Network; Professor Emmanuel Saez, director of the Center for Equitable Growth at at the University of California Berkeley (invited).
28 May from 13:00 to 15:30 CUT Read more

The Oxfam-initiated report examines the two key ISP mechanisms of mutual assistance groups and remittances in the context of two protracted crises: Somalia and the Kivu provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This study tries to understand the significance and relevance of the contributions of informal safety nets to formal crisis response programming and also to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of these informal community strategies. Read more
For further information contact Natalie Schwarz and/or Chiara Jachia

By Shahra Razavi
The idea that societies can be secure by relying on individualised market-based provision for those who can afford it, and porous “safety nets” for the poor, has proven to be illusionary. If the COVID-19 pandemic has sent the world one message, it is that we are only as safe as the most vulnerable among us. If people are unable to access quality health care and quarantine themselves, they face serious health risks and may transmit the virus to others, and if one country cannot contain the virus, others are bound to be (re-)infected. And yet, with the exception of those countries with robust and comprehensive social protection systems, many are struggling to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of all those affected. Read more

Human Dignity promotes and defends economic, social and cultural rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. It aims to advance ESCR and reduce inequalities through capacity building, advocacy, documentation, research and litigation. Human Dignity is federating the first ever francophone African platform on ESCR.
Human Dignity is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organisation created in January 2014 and based in Paris. Since 2017, we hold the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Special Consultative Status.
Contact information: Mrs Seynabou Benga, Director
www.hdignity.org / Twitter:@HumanDty / Facebook : @ForHumanDignity

A proposal for the decade of action on the Sustainable Development Goals 2020-2030
More than two thirds of the world’s population are still denied a life in dignity and social security: the GCSPF calls for action on social protection financing to deliver on the human right to social protection and the international commitment to guarantee social protection floors for all (SDG 1.3) at a time when the world is richer than ever before.
The central idea of this proposal is to create a solidarity based Global Financing Mechanism for Social Protection to support countries design, implement and, in specific cases, finance national floors of social protection. Social Protection Floors (SPFs) are a direct and fast-acting mechanism to reduce poverty that can save millions of lives and alleviate misery in further millions of cases. Read more

In the face of the unprecedented spread of COVID-19, we strongly support the appeal by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for countries to promote responses to the pandemic based on the respect of the rights and dignity of older people as well as global solidarity. In this regard, we welcome the release of the Policy Brief of the United Nations Secretary-General on the impact of COVID-19 on older people. Read the Statement in English, Spanish or French

Coronavirus has caused a crisis unseen in modern times. Across the globe the virus is devastating, with overwhelming human and economic cost. Roughly one-third of patients who are hospitalised due to coronavirus require intensive care; in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa existing healthcare systems will find this impossible to respond to. For example, in South Sudan, a country with 11 million people, there are only 24 intensive care beds and 4 ventilators. Somalia, home to 15.8 million people, only has 15 intensive care beds. And Sierra Leone only has 13 intensive care beds for a population of 7.9 million. Read more

Between 23 March and 8 April 2020, WIEGO conducted a rapid assessment to understand how COVID-19 and the related public health measures are impacting informal workers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The rapid assessment included interviews with 21 national or local member-based organizations (MBOs), five regional and global networks of informal workers organizations, as well as a research institute and an NGO that work closely with informal workers. Read more

If countries in Latin America and the Caribbean do not undertake an unprecedented redistributive effort to respond to COVID-19, they may face a profound human rights crisis, says the Initiative for Human Rights Principles in Fiscal Policy (comprised of six human rights organizations and the regional fiscal justice network).
Fiscal policy is a key tool to strengthen healthcare systems and tackle COVID-19, after years of deterioration due to austerity measures. Fiscal policy is also essential to provide economic and social safeguards to make social distancing and quarantine measures viable and humane, and to prevent a deep economic recession. Read more

COVID-19 continues to spread across the world with a trajectory difficult to predict. The health, humanitarian and socio-economic policies we implement will determine how quickly and strongly we recover. Regularly updated assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on economies and labour markets, together with policy recommendations for lessening its effects and aiding a fast recovery. Read more

Join the Webinar on the "Impact of COVID-19 on child poverty in Africa and beyond". COVID-19 pandemic is causing a socio-economic crisis of unprecedented scale. At the global level, the outbreak might push up to 66 million additional children into extreme poverty. How is the crisis unfolding in the African continent and how is it impacting the poorest children and their families?
Bringing the lived experiences of children in Africa, this webinar will highlight how these experiences can inform policy responses and propose actions to mitigate the impacts of this disaster on children living in poverty. The webinar is organized by three member organizations of the Global Coalition to End Child Poverty - ATD Fourth World, the African Child Policy Forum and UNICEF.
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2020 - Time: 9-10:30 AM New York / 4-5:30 PM Nairobi Time
Please register by May 13th here

The current Covid-19 crisis is having and will continue to have clear impacts on care work, in both the private and the public domain. A number of questions arise:
* What are the impacts of the current Covid-19 on the care system and care workers?
* How can and are social protection systems responding to the impacts of the pandemic on care work, in both the private and the public sphere?
* What do experiences from other health crises, such as Zika in Latin America, tell us about care work, gender and social protection?
* To which extent can the crisis and policy responses be gender-transformative? Can they change for example traditional divisions of labour or how we value care work?
Date: 19 May, 2020 - 9:00 (EDT/GMT-4) Read more

How to administer pension payments during the COVID-19 pandemic available now in English, Spanish and Russian

How older people can safely collect pension payments during the COVID-19 pandemic available now in English, Spanish and Russian

Whilst the coronavirus has so far resulted in less severe cases among children, it can decimate their lives in a different way. The ‘physical distancing’ measures increasingly required to contain the virus mean parents are unable to work, as ‘business as usual’ is rapidly grinding to a halt across the world. Meanwhile traditional care providers – schools and nurseries – have had to close. Millions of children living in vulnerable communities in countries all around the world will suffer from the far reaching economic and social impacts of the measures needed to contain the pandemic. To avoid lasting damage to their future, we must act now – rapidly scaling up support for children whose families income is insecure and provide the social protection they urgently need. Read more

We, representatives of UN system agencies, other multilateral and bilateral development agencies, donor governments, and civil society observers that make up the Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B), committed to the realization of SDGs 1.3 and 3.8, call for urgent social protection measures to respond to the rapidly evolving COVID19 pandemic. COVID-19 is a global health emergency with significant immediate as well as longer-term social and economic implications. It exposes some of the problems caused by inadequate social protection coverage, that prevent people from: Read more

The message could not have been clearer: “There is a very real threat of a rapidly moving, highly lethal pandemic of a respiratory pathogen killing 50 to 80 million people and wiping out nearly 5% of the world’s economy. A global pandemic on that scale would be catastrophic, creating widespread havoc, instability and insecurity.”
This prediction was published in September 2019, several months before the identification of the first Covid-19 patient, by Gro Harlem Bruntland, former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and by Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, as co-chairs of the the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. The Board’s report entitled A World at Risk was conclusive: “The world is not prepared.” Read more

As the world is swept by the COVID19 global health crisis, millions of public service workers - mostly local and regional government employees– are on the front line of the emergency, putting their lives at risk to ensure our safety.
PSI urges national, local and regional government authorities to listen to public service workers and their unions as they express their legitimate needs to guarantee continued, effective, and safe services for all at a time of unprecedented crisis.
PSI calls on them to refer to the comprehensive PSI Concept note on the COVID 19 response. Read more

If the COVID-19 pandemic has sent the world one message, it is that we are only as safe as the most vulnerable among us. Those who are unable to quarantine themselves or to get treatment endanger their own lives and the lives of others, and if one country cannot contain the virus, others are bound to be infected, or even re-infected. And yet, around the world, social-protection systems are failing miserably at safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable groups.
Nearly 40% of the world’s population has no health insurance or access to national health services. Governments must use the momentum created by the COVID-19 pandemic to make rapid progress toward collectively financed, comprehensive, and permanent social-protection systems. Read more

New ITUC analysis of government responses from 69 countries to the COVID-19 pandemic has identified 12 governments which are putting people first as they tackle the economic fallout from lockdown measures to stem the spread of the virus.
Argentina, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and the UK are the first 12 governments that have put in place policies to protect lives, jobs and incomes.
These 12 countries set a standard on what governments could provide for workers that need to be emulated by many more governments around the world. There are still significant gaps in some of the countries, and the unions are pressing for these gaps to be filled,” said Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary. Read more

A total of 84 countries have introduced or adapted social protection and jobs programs in response to COVID-19. This is an 87% increase since last week (when countries were just 45), with a total of 283 programs currently in place – a fitting testament to the dynamism of pandemic-related responses in the sector!
Among classes of interventions, social assistance (non-contributory transfers) is the most widely used (including a total of 150 programs), followed by actions in social insurance (91) and supply-side labor market interventions (42). Within social assistance, cash transfer programs are clearly the most widely used intervention by governments (over one-third of total programs, and 65% of social assistance schemes). A total of 58 countries have those programs in place, with 35 of them representing new initiatives introduced specifically as COVID-19 response. Read more

In addition to the health aspects of the virus, the global coronavirus crisis also has financial, socio-economic and developmental consequences. For this reason, a large number of policy measures have been announced by governments and international organizations, on the one hand to contain the pandemic, on the other to mitigate the economic consequences.
These measures contain for example fiscal stimulus and aid packages of various shapes and sizes, intended to cushion the serious economic and social consequences of the coronavirus outbreak worldwide. The main target groups of planned loans and cash injections are the healthcare system, as well as larger banks and companies. However, some strategies are also aimed at small and medium-sized companies as well as groups of individuals, their savings, private pensions and other private assets. Read more

An initial assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the global world of work says the effects will be far-reaching, pushing millions of people into unemployment, underemployment and working poverty, and proposes measures for a decisive, co-ordinated and immediate response.
The economic and labour crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic could increase global unemployment by almost 25 million, according to a new assessment by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Read more

While the COVID-19 virus can be dangerous for everyone, initial evidence shows that older people, and those with underlying health conditions, are at a heightened risk of getting seriously ill or dying from the virus.
HelpAge International has worked with health and ageing experts from the University of East Anglia and South Africa’s Samson Institute for Ageing Research (SIFAR) to develop two resources to be shared with governments, network members, partners and anyone working with older people, pensions or social protection in general:
1. Guidelines on administering pension payments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Key messages for older people on the collection of pensions payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 60 civil society organisations, including members of the Global Coalition, have written a letter to IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva. The letter calls on the IMF to focus on the harmful aspects of its own policy advice on women's rights and gender equality. Read more

In the Arab region, social protection systems have for many years suffered from a number of severe shortcomings. Contributory social and health insurance regimes tend to be undermined by low coverage, a high degree of fragmentation and financial unsustainability. Non-contributory social protection has for a long time predominantly consisted of universal subsidies, whereas other forms of social assistance have been marginal. Overall, a lack of coherence and coordination has undermined the effectiveness and efficiency of social protection systems.
The 2019 report illustrates the considerable reforms underway in the region to overcome those problems. Throughout, it considers social protection reform from a ‘systems perspective’, addressing, for example, the prevalence of pluralistic financing arrangements which in practice often blur the traditional distinction between contributory and non-contributory mechanisms. Read more

This issue of Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) Informs presents a discussion on the state of social protection in the Global South and the new (and not so new) challenges to overcoming its gender gaps.
Recognizing that in the countries of the Global South, the development of social protection systems has presented features of segmentation, insufficiency, exclusion, and inequality, the articles gathered here review the situation in the various regions (Asia, Pacific, Africa, and Latin America), taking into consideration their nuances and differences.
The authors discuss central problematic nodes such as the social protection situation of migrant populations, female rural workers and those engaged in platform jobs. They also review experiences of resistance against the increase in precariousness in various workspaces. Read more

High individual and household debt, which accounts for a significant portion of private debt in most countries, has been associated with inequality, macroeconomic instability, unsustainable sovereign debt and financial crises.
This is one of the main conclusions highlighted by Mr Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, in his report to the UN Human Rights Council, that is holding its forty-third regular session from 24 February to 20 March 2020. Read more

Event Private Debt and Human Rights. The Report will be presented to the Human Rights Council on March 2 in Geneva, Swizerland. Download the flyer here.

The Uganda Reach the Aged Association (URAA) is a national voluntary not-for-profit, non-government organization whose vision is a dignified, self-fulfilled poverty free ageing Uganda and a mission is to champion the realization and preservation of a dignified quality of life for older persons in Uganda. URAA was founded in 1991 by a group of older persons (OP) themselves and is affiliated to HelpAge International. URAA has a membership of over 480,000 older persons in the 80 district associations (230,000 Male and 250,000 Female) were it operates.
The aim of URAA is to provide a platform for fellowship, mutual support, hope and a voice to Ops. Specifically, the organization focuses on advocacy to raise awareness on Op’s issues and fight stigma to Ops through the rights-based approach aimed at promoting dignified living by advocating and promoting equitable access economic empowerment, social welfare, treatment, care and support, and wellbeing of OPs. Read more

Members of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors will participate in the fifty-eighth session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD58). The CSocD58 will take place from 10 to 19 February 2020 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Commission is the advisory body responsible for the social development pillar of global development.

In 2020, the Commission is celebrating its 75th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development. 2020 is a crucial year for the accelerated realization of inclusive societies and reducing inequalities everywhere for people of all ages.

Priority Theme: Affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness.

Side Events: For the draft list of side events please visit here. Side events organized by members of the GCSPF are listed below.

The Civil Society Forum will take place on Friday 14 February 2020 at UNHQ, in conference room 4 from 10am-1pm and 3-6pm. The theme is “Affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness”. The Civil Society Declaration is here. For more information, please visit here.

Deeply encouraged by the ways in which Pope Francis has drawn the attention of the Church and the world to the situation of homeless people, DePaul International and IGH (Institute of Global Homelessness) have worked to provide foundations for a renewal and extension of Catholic social teaching in this area. In the series Catholic Theological Ethics for a World Church, this book was edited by Fr James Keenan SJ and Mark McGreevy. It contains contributions from around 30 theologians and Catholic practitioners from 15 countries, exploring the resources of Catholic tradition in the light of contemporary realities. Read more
Monday, February 10th - 1:15 - 2:45 pm - 777 United Nations Plz, Church Center 2nd Floor

The Quest for Policy Solutions. Homelessness, one of the most visible signs of human deprivation and social exclusion, exists in all regions of the world and is a major affront to human dignity. This side event will explore policy solutions to address growing inequality and social exclusion in access to housing, with emphasis on urban areas. Read more
Monday, February 10th - 1:15 - 2:30 pm - Conference Room C, United Nations Building

From the Perspective of Women and Children/Girls
While the experience of homelessness has distinct characteristics for all irrespective of an individual’s economic, cultural, racial or geographic context, homelessness is often experienced by women and children/girls in a way that is dissimilar to that of their single or male counterparts. This side event will enable an open dialogue to discuss the drivers, good practices from various state and non-state stakeholders, policy recommendations, and to give a voice to women and children/ girls who have experienced Homelessness/ Displacement. Read the concept note here. Read more
Tuesday, February 11th - 1:15- 2:30pm - Conference Room 12, United Nations Building

The global crisis related to housing and homelessness from the perspective of inequalities and human rights violations, highlight the data from our 2019 grassroots survey, and discuss potential solutions will be discussed in this event.
The objectives of the session are: To present Grass Roots survey results related to homelessness; To examine the links between access to housing, homelessness, and inequalities, and the fulfillment of human rights obligations; To discuss how persons in various locations are experiencing inadequate housing or homelessness, as well as good practices in addressing it; To discuss the connections between land access (or lack thereof) and inadequate housing/homelessness, and the impact of climate change upon housing and homelessness. Read more
Tuesday, February 11th - 3:00 pm - 4: 15 pm - Conference Room E, United Nations Building

An interactive, evidence-based panel of experts to explore interlinkages between the implementation of social protection systems, including floors in line with SDG 1.3 to combat and ultimately do away with homelessness and ensure adequate housing, and simultaneously address inequality.
The panel of experts will examine latest evidence on the extent of and experience of homelessness and the data, including fiscal space, to implement social protection for all, as envisaged by USP 2030. The discussion will be interactive, focus on human rights, will show the nexus between homelessness and multidimensional poverty and the effectiveness of strong social protection systems including floors coupled with political will to be transformational.
Evidence from Finland will demonstrate the interlinkages and what can be done to eradicate homelessness with political will and social policy innovation. Practical and clear recommendations will be made and results written up for media and website use.
Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN, UNDESA, Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd/Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors. Read more
Wednesday, February 12 - 10:00 - 11:15 am - Conference Room 12, United Nations Building

Organized by Worldwide Network Nigeria, UNDESA and NGO Working Group to End Homelessness Read more
Wednesday, February 12 - 10:00 am - 11:15 am - Conference Room E, United Nations Building

Our event offers the opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders to engage in robust learning, discussion, and dialogue on the causes and solutions to global homelessness, and how homelessness indeed connects to social protection floors. Speakers, moderators, and facilitators represent NGOs working in the global North and global South, academia, faith communities and government perspectives.
Featured speakers include Dame Louise Casey, former UK Homelessness Tsar and chair of the Institute of Global Homelessness; and Dr. Ify Ofong, from WorldWIDE Network Nigeria.
Joining Dame Casey and Dr. Ofong are other international experts on homelessness and social protection floors. for a series of inspiring and diverse discussions. Causes and solutions to global homelessness will be explored, and clear connection to social protection floors will be made. Speakers, moderators, and facilitators represent NGOs from the global North and global South, academia, faith communities, and government perspectives. Read more
Thursday, February 13 - 10:00 am - 11:15 am - Conference Room E, United Nations Building

Family homelessness is a serious and often hidden developmental challenge in need of greater recognition and attention. Although research is scarce, family homelessness appears to be rising. Its causes range from fractured family relations, fleeing domestic violence, loss of employment to internal migration and unsustainably rapid urbanization and scarcity of affordable housing.
The event "Family homelessness: prevention and solutions" organised by DISD/UNDESA in cooperation with civil society, including UNANIMA International, International Federation for Family Development , NGO Committee on the Family (and possibly other stakeholders) will explore the following questions: Should the family unit be the starting point for strategies to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty and homelessness? How can we prevent and solve the challenge of family homelessness? What obstacles must be overcome? What good practices can be replicated? How do we ensure that no family is left behind.
Organized by UNDESA, UNANIMA International, International Federation for Family Development, the NY NGO Committee on the Family, UN Women Read more
Thursday, February 13, 11:30 am - 12:45 pm - Conference Room 12, United Nations Building

Organized by NGO Committee on Social Development, Worldwide Network Nigeria, WADAH Foundation Read more
Thursday, February 13, 1:15 pm - 2:30 pm - Conference Room C, United Nations Building

Homelessness is one of the most visible manifestations of inequality. The event will engage various stakeholders, including the philanthropical community, the private sector, local governments/communities, persons experiencing homelessness, and other relevant actors to identify common challenges, and exchange good practices and way forward to end homelessness. Read more
Thursday, February 13, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Conference Room 12, United Nations Building

There is an estimated 100 million people in the world who are homeless, 15 million people are evicted annually, 1.6 billion people live in inadequate conditions and 883 million live in slums, although International Human Rights law includes the right to adequate housing. The Housing First Approach is intrinsically peoplecentered and human rights oriented. It provides housing and supportive services for people living on the streets without any preconditions. This side event will highlight the creation of the Housing First approach and its successful adoption into national policy in Finland, the current state of affordable housing, domestically and abroad, and showcase current successful grassroots work while offering venues for action. Read more
Friday, February 14th - 1:15 to 2:30 pm - Conference Room 12, United Nations Building

This event will offer awareness of the importance of legal mechanism (international treaties and domestic laws) and policies that are applicable to advancing social protection systems including those that address homelessness. The variety of speakers represent a multi-disciplinary approach to how these tools are used and in what context varying from the international arena to the local. A human rights based approach which includes all members of society underpins the worth of every member of society. It fosters human dignity, social inclusion, sustainable development and the peaceful c0-existence of everyone. Read more
Friday, February 14th - 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm - Conference Room C, United Nations Building

A call for integrated solutions built on the lived experience of homelessness and poverty
By looking at the issue in the United States and in high income countries, this side-event will explore how homelessness contributes to deep poverty, discrimination and social exclusion. Ending homelessness calls for integrated solutions where housing rights are inseparable from access to decent work and quality healthcare for all. A comprehensive approach to eradicating poverty and ending homelessness that is conceived with those experiencing it first-hand is needed to understand the complexity of the dynamics at play. Read more
Friday, February 14th - 3 to 4:15 pm - Conference Room E, United Nations Building

The side event will focus on the issues of migrants and homelessness and highlight the stories of hope and resilience as they live through the reality and make way for a better life. Within the countries rural-urban migration pushes people to the squatters and slums as they keep searching for a better standard of living in the cities. Affordable Housing, health services, education, jobs are major needs that will require collaboration between governments and civil society. Two faces of our cities and urban centers glaringly manifest the shocking reality of inequalities among the populations and their living conditions. The side event will look at rural and urban dimensions as well as national and international scenario through the lens of poverty eradication (SDG1), reducing inequalities (SDG10), and gender equality (SDG 5).
Tuesday, February 18th - 10:30 am - 12:45 pm - Church Center, Second Floor Read more

Panelists, drawn from experts and practitioners from across the globe critically analyze policies and legislations that address the incidence of Youth homelessness globally. They explore if the present policies, laws and programs are enough to address the issue of homelessness of young people leaving care institutions set up in compliance with CRC. We will listen to experiences of young people who have been in state institutions and foster homes and had to experience homelessness when leaving such institutions. Also listen to their stories of how they overcome those hurdles.
The side event will then high light Good Practices from different countries that have effectively addressed this critical issue. Inter-active dialogue that follows will come up with plans to address both the lack of adequate data on youth homelessness resulting from lack of policy and legislative support and for advocacy and lobbying to plug policy gaps and legislative vacuum. Read more
Wednesday, February 19th - 1:15 - 2:30 pm - CR. E, United Nations Building

The outcome document of the Global Social Protection Week is now available in English, French and Spanish. The event was held under the auspices of the International Labour Organization (ILO) from 25th to 28th November 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Video recordings of the high-level segment, selected interviews and photos are posted here.

Read here about the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors activities during the event.

WIEGO participated at the side event "Covering the missing middle: Informal economy workers" on 27 November. Read more

AROSP published an article on the activities carried out by the GCSPF during the ILO Social Protectoin Week. Read more

In its General Comments No. 14 and 19, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has specified the contents of the right to health and the right to social security. The main challenges associated with the implementation of these two human rights have been addressed in several major international policy initiatives and global partnerships: The 2030 Agenda now makes an important contribution to the concretization of the rights to health and social security, because it expressly obliges the international community both to implement the concept of social protection floors and to ensure universal health protection. The extra-territorial obligations deriving from the two human rights are also taken up by the 2030 Agenda. The article by Markus Kaltenborn is available here

More than half the global population is living in abject poverty and severe social insecurity. We have known for decades that well-run national social protection systems can solve most of the problem.
But how do we fund it?
The article by Michael Cichon is available here

HelpAge International recently launched new SDG advocacy resources for ageing and older people inclusion in SDG implementation. The guide "Ageing and the SDGs - Six steps to older people’s inclusion" supports HelpAge network members and other CSOs in using Agenda 2030 to advance older people’s rights and inclusion. It sets out six key steps for integrating ageing and age-inclusive policies into national implementation of Agenda 2030, including mapping key advocacy stakeholders and identifying the main influencing opportunities in the SDG process. There is also a messaging guide and a flyer with some short advocacy asks. Read more

Odile Frank represented several organizations that are members of the GCSPF, now she has joined the GCSPF as individual member.