GCSPF E-Newsletter #3 - August 2017

Members of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors participated in the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, that was held from July 10 to 19 in New York.
Members of the GCSPF held an informal meeting.
GCSPF coorganized two side events: “Global Partnership on Universal Social Protection: Ending Poverty by 2030” and “Universal Social Protection: End poverty and reduce inequality”

Roberto Bissio spoke on behalf of the GCSPF during the side event “Global Partnership on Universal Social Protection: Ending Poverty by 2030” held on July 10th.
"Social Protection is a Human Right. Every right has a right holder and a duty bearer. We know who the right holders are: every human being, particularly those more in need of social protection: The right to be protected and cared is a right of children, the elderly, the sick, the people with disabilities.
But who is the duty bearer? Societies organize social protection in many different ways, but they all have in common the unwritten rule that says that caring for people is a responsibility of women. A sacred responsibility even. While no government is held liable for not providing social protection or essential services, women are judged to be sinful by omission, socially ostracized and even criminally prosecuted if they fail to properly care for family and community members.
The caring duties of women are fulfilled too often without any pay or recognition and when paid the task to care for the people we most love such as our children and parents barely deserves a minimum salary and most often than not without any form of contract or the formal protection of social security.
We need more resources, yes. We need to collect taxes and to build capacity, but we also need a change in paradigm, towards a caring system that orients and coordinates the programs of education, health and social development, starting with a recognition of the right to be cared and the duties of the state in that regard." The video is available here

Photo: Wolfgang Obenland

Gala Díaz Langou spoke on behalf of the GCSPF during the side event "Universal Social Protection: End poverty and reduce inequality". "All children have the right to achieve the full development of their capabilities and potentialities; yet in Argentina, in spite of significant progress, the rights of children are still being undermined. The current state of affairs reveals that during the last decade Argentina has experienced an ‘infantilisation’ of poverty, as in spite of a decline, over 44% of children live in poverty. In addition, malnutrition has increasingly become a concern for public health, due to unhealthy and nutrientdeficient diets, and it is more prevalent in the most vulnerable sectors of society.
Moreover, in Argentina, the State provides universal healthcare and there is a high share of the population that resorts to alternative healthcare providers. Nonetheless, maternal and infant mortality are still pending matters of attention, access to sexual and reproductive health services is not guaranteed, and the adolescent fertility rate remains high.
It is also worth noting that female poverty is the counterpart of the infantilisation of poverty. The households with more children are also proportionately more feminine. One of the reasons for this is the unequal distribution of upbringing and care between genders. This also impacts on women having fewer possibilities of accessing and staying in the labour market, which impedes poverty alleviation.
What this reveals is that social protection floors are not guaranteed for all. One of the main obstacles for this is the lack of follow-up, monitoring and evaluation in policy implementation. The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, to which Argentina subscribed in 2015, are a unique opportunity for advancement." Read more

ATD Fourth World organized a panel discussion at the UN with Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights on the subject of a universal basic income. Isabelle Doresse, the person responsible for ATD People’s Universities in the north of France, talked about the reactions of people living in extreme poverty to the idea of a universal basic income. Surprisingly, there were a number of hesitations and concerns about the idea.
Serious concerns were expressed about the idea in the People’s University discussions. People living in poverty would prefer to be able to live from their work. With a universal basic income, they are afraid of being permanently excluded from the world of work, to which they aspire. They are afraid they would be told, “Now, with the basic income, you have some money, we don’t want to hear from you anymore.” Read more

Education International and ActionAid have release a new report, Partnership Schools for Liberia: a critical review by University of Wisconsin researcher Tyler Hook. In 2016, the government of Liberia began plans to outsource administration of 94 primary and pre-primary schools, a form of public-private partnership. The study examines the first year of the effort and raises serious concerns.
The largest private operator in the Liberia project is the US-based Bridge International Academies. The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation took a $10 million equity stake in Bridge in 2013. Since then, Bridge schools were suspended in Uganda for failing to meet basic educational and sanitary conditions. The for-profit Bridge relies heavily on scripts for untrained teachers, and in Liberia has allegedly warned teachers not to speak with their union. The IFC has maintained its investment in Bridge despite criticism. Read more

Mohan Lal K. (Chairperson) will be working with us.
PRDC India focuses on youth training, women empowerment and environmental protection (against nuclear weapons project). Members of the organization are doctors, psychologist, social activists, social workers, and teachers. Please visit their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/prdcindia/ and more information is available at https://www.facebook.com/GSK2017/