social protection floor initiative_onu

8/8/2019 Social Protection Floor Initiative_ONU

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a social protection floor initiative


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The human right to social securitySufcient income or adequate ood, housing, water and sanitation, education, good health,

as well as taking part in cultural lie, expressing onesel reely and sharing knowledge and

ideas these are all human rights, rights that should be enjoyed by everyone, all o the time.

Rights that create stronger, airer and more cohesive societies, providing in turn the ounda-

tions or longer-term peace and prosperity.

At present our out o fve people worldwide do not beneft rom a level o social protection

that allows them to realize these human rights. Ensuring a basic level o social protection and

a decent lie or these people many o whom are struggling just to survive, is a necessity

and an obligation under the Human Rights Instruments. Such is the objective o the joint UN

Social Protection Floor Initiative (SPF-I).

ConceptRecognizing the strategic importance and necessity o ensuring universal social protection,

the United Nations System Chie Executives Board adopted in April 2009 the Global Initia-

tive or a Universal Social Protection Floor (SPF-I) as one o nine initiatives in response to

the current crisis.

Several international and national documents and organisms have subsequently en-

dorsed the SPF-I, among them the UN Resolution on Social Integration adopted during the

orty-eighth session o the Commission or Social Development, the recommendations o the

G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, the ILOs Global Jobs Pact, OECD-Povnet, the Fo-

rum o Ministers or Ministries responsible or Social Development, the International Council

on Social Welare etc.

SPF

country-levelactorS:

government institutions: ministries olabour, health, fnance, education,

etc., social security institutions, social

protection sector groups and other

stakeholders

non-governmental actors: socialpartners, national NGOs, etc.

UN country teams


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The constitution o a Global SPF Advisory Network, the SPF manual providing guidance or

joint SPF country operations, and the SPF website or sharing knowledge and experiences

are key elements to oster and ensure efcient and productive cooperation between the

relevant organizations under the umbrella o the joint UN initiative.

Rationale and FeasibilityThe SPF is a social and economic necessity. Investing in an SPF means investing in both

social justice and economic development. Social protection contributes to economic growth

by raising labour productivity and enhancing social stability as well as reducing poverty.

In times o crisis, an SPF will act as an automatic counter-cyclical stabilizer or the economy

by alleviating the all in aggregate demand. An ILO analysis o the 2008 crisis, or example,

ound that the employment eects o social security schemes were just as important as those

o the stimulus packages.

Some 30 developing countries have already taken measures to introduce elements o a

Social Protection Floor. Their experiences have shown that social security schemes are a

vital and exible policy tool to counteract and soten the social and economic consequences

o fnancial shocks and crises. They have also demonstrated the easibility o building the

social protection oors, showing that with the necessary political will, adequate resources orcapacity-building and sound implementation process, a strong national consensus in avour

o SPF policies can be created and developed.

Ensuring an SPF or the entire world population represents a considerable chal lenge, but

calculations by various UN agencies show that a basic oor o social transers is globally a-

ordable at virtually any stage o economic development.

The world does not lack the resources to abolish poverty,

it only lacks the right prioritiesILO Director-General, Juan Somavia

SPF

country-leveloPeration

Each country is acing dierent

circumstances, social needs and fscal

constraints and will choose a distinct set

o policies to achieve its development

objectives.

The SPF-Initiative does not create

additional parallel processes at country

level but rather establishes SPF policies as

an integral part o existing regional, national

and UN planning processes.

National SPF processes are consultative,

inclusive and participatory in nature,

involving all stakeholders including

government representatives rom the

relevant ministries, social partners,parliamentarians and civil society through

social dialogue.


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Furthermore the SPF has a strong impact on the globally agreed development goals relating

to poverty reduction, education and health (Millennium Development Goals 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6).

Sharing experience,

knowledge and toolsThe Social Protection Floor Initiative is supporting a growing number o countries in their

endeavours to build social protection systems at any stage o the process. To this end, SPF-

Initiative actors have collected evidence, documented experiences and developed tools like

Social Protection Expenditure Reviews (SPER), social budgeting, actuarial models, tools or

needs assessments, costing assessments, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation to

support countries in their endeavours to build their own social protection oor. Technical

assistance requests can be directed to any o the participating UN agencies. The ollowingtable presents an overview o activities or which support is oered.

overviewoFkeyactivitieSintheimPlementingProceSSoFthe SPF- initiative

Raising awareness Identifykeystakeholdersandrelevantactorsatthe

national and international level

National SPF task force EstablishanationalSPFtaskforcecomposedofkeyexperts and decision-makers and supported by

UN SPF country teams

Social protection stocktaking Maptheactualsocialprotectionsituationandcompile

available data

Collectkeydatathatislacking

Elaboration of measures Identifyviablepolicyoptionsandalternatives

Elaboratecountry-specicSPFpoliciesthrough

national dialogue

Analysis Evaluatethecostofpolicyoptions

Evaluatethelong-termnancialsustainability

Reconsidermeasuresinlightofcosting,reconsider

costs in light o needs

Implementation Buildnationalconsensusonaspecic

SPF ramework

Buildupnationaldeliverycapacities

Supportthenationalbudgetavailablefor

sustainable fnancing

Monitoring Implementamonitoring,evaluationand

reporting mechanism


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Activities at global level

Global advocacyThe Social Protection Floor Initiative has been met with great enthusiasm and support romgovernments, social partners, civil society and UN agencies. The concept is widely endorsed

and is developing into an accepted component o the overall social development strategy in

the UN system. Sustained advocacy eorts will ensure the oor remains on the agenda and

moves orward.

South-South dialogue on the SPF-InitiativeIt is well recognized that the knowledge, skills, and technical expertise which can be ex-

changed through South-South co-operation are in many cases those most suited to meetingthe development challenges aced by others in the South.

Considering the technical knowledge o the countries that have already successully taken

measures to introduce elements o national social protection oors, these countries can

support others in their eorts in building, expanding, extending or reorienting their social

protection systems. The SPF-Initiative is thereore supporting South-South exchange on SPF

experiences to acilitate an exchange o knowledge, best practice, lessons learned, existing

opportunities and obstacles.


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I the crisis brings with it a broad international consensus on the

act that there will be no sustainable and equitable globalization

unless every human being, starting with the most vulnerable, is

entitled to a basic level o social protection and that this is now

both technically easible and fnancially possible, then the crisiswill not have occurred in vain.

Assane Diop, Executive Director, ILO Social Protection Sector

For more inFormation andto share your views and

experiences :

The ILO platorm on the Global

Extension o Social Security - GESS -

provides urther inormation as well as

an opportunity to discuss and share

your views on the SPF, including :

SPFcountrypages

alibrarywithsocialprotectionpublications, links, reports, etc.

statisticaldatabasesonsocial

security systems

adiscussionforum

aworkspaceenvironmentforjoint

work on projects, documents, etc.

latestnewsonsocialprotection

matters

www.socialsecurityextension.org

TrainingThe Initiative seeks to build technical capacities or the management, administration and

implementation o the elements o the SPF. To this end, it oers training programmes or

national social policy planners and decision-makers, as well as technical ofcers and thoseimplementing schemes. Training courses are oered together with partner universities or

with the International Training Centre in Turin.


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lead agencies

ILO, WHO

cooperating agencies

FAO, IMF, OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNDESA, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UN

Regional Commissions, UNRWA, WFP, WMO, World Bank

and development partners

web platform

www.socialsecurityextension.org

www.socialprotectionoor.org

contact : [email protected]

Photos ILO: K. Cassidy, M. Crozet, P. Deloche, A. Fiorente, S. Legoupi J.Maillard, K. Sovannara, L. Uhlenhaut

June 2010

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