GCSPF at the Global Social Protection Week

Members of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors participated in the Global Social Protection Week organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) which was held from 25th to 28th November 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The objective of the Global Social Protection Week was to provide a roadmap for the future of social protection within the framework of the recently adopted ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work.

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

The GCSPF delivered a statement at the Commitment session of the High-level Segment on Tuesday 26th. Read the statement here and the audio is here

The GCSPF delivered a statement at the Session Partnership for USP and SDG 1.3 at the Global Social Protection Week on Thursday 28th. Read the statement here

Cäcilie Schildberg delivered a statement on behalf of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung at the Commitment session of the High-level Segment on Tuesday 26th.
The audio is available here, and all the session is here

A meeting with the Social Protection, Freedom and Justice for Workers Network took place on Wednesday 27th. The Workers Network is an initiative by the ILO – in partnership with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) – to bring together trade unions that are active in promoting adequate, comprehensive social protection systems, to support dialogue amongst them and mutual learning. The network meeting showcased how unions are campaigning for the extension of social protection systems that are adequate, comprehensive, and based on the principles of solidarity and universality; dfending these systems against austerity and mobilising against cutbacks to the adequacy and coverage of social protection; negotiating reforms within tripartite committees or councils, as well as actively participating in the implementation, monitoring and follow-up of social protection reforms; supporting workers in the informal economy to access comprehensive social protection, while at the same time fostering the transition from the informal to formal economy; and promoting the ratification and effective implementation of international labour standards on social protection, namely ILO Convention 102 on Social Security and Recommendation 202 on Social Protection Floors. Specific country cases were presented (India, Nepal, Argentine, Kenya. Read more

Aura Sevilla and Michael Cichon participated in the panel. The session was moderated by Cäcilie Schildberg. The session was held on Wednesday 27th.
This session brought together governments, social partners, international organizations and development partners to discuss the importance of an effective and inclusive national dialogue for formulating national social protection strategies and policiesto build national social protection systems. It explored steps that countries can follow to formulate national social protection policies and strategies based on national dialogue and highlight countries’ experiences and lessons learnt in this regard. Read more

The technical session "Exploring the feasibility of International Financing for Social Protection Systems" was held on Thursday 28th. Michael Cichon and Markus Kaltenborn were in the panel.
This session brought together leading thinkers from governments, research institutions, the civil society and the private sector in order to discuss the feasibility of international financing for social protection floors. Different proposals for global solidarity mechanisms have been put forward in the past decade. Furthermore, different tax proposals have been discussed (and partly been implemented), including recent discussions on international taxation in the G7. The audio is here and the concept note is here

The side event "Launch of the publication From international ivory towers to national realities: The challenge of creating national social dialogues for social protection floors, organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung was held on Thurdsday 28th.
The importance of an effective and inclusive national dialogue for formulating national social protection strategies and policies to build national social protection systems was discussed in the session. And the experiences FES made in a three year project in nine countries where the impact that can be achieved by societal dialogues for the extension or the preservation of social protection almost everywhere.
The publication seeks to contribute to the core objectives of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors and to foster ongoing discussion at the national and international levels on how to better support the achievement of the SDGs and the practical realization of Recommendation 202, as a necessity for any kind of social-ecological transformation towards just and sustainable development.

Only with a solid floor beneath our feet, we can feel safe and start dancing! Watch the video here

On Wednesday 27th the GCSPF had a stand to present our work as well as publications of our members. The presentations included information shared by the members. The stand was focused on the cluster "Delivering on SDG 1.3: UN and partners" and the main focus was on "The role of civil society for universal social protection". José Florito (CIPECC, Argentina) coordinated our participation on this.

The strategy meeting of the Core Team of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors took place during the Global Social Protection Week.
The aim of this workshop was to bring together the members of the Core Team in order to share information among the members on activities in their working area, to discuss and develop future strategies and actions on all levels with specific focus on the regional, national and local level in developing countries, to discuss and decide respective action plans for 2020 and 2021 and to meet with international experts of the ILO and the Human Rights system during the ILO’s Social Protection Week and to strengthen their partnership.
The meeting was facilitated by the Geneva Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and Brot-für-die-Welt.