e-Newsletter # 65 - February - March 2022

By Michael Cichon and Hajo Lanz
The authors suggest a simple, feasible, pragmatic and affordable global strategy to support the attainment of social protection for all as a central means to combat poverty, inequality, insecurity and ill health; the strategy involves: Establishing a new international standard of universal social protection or universal social protection floors to extend the policy space for social protection on the national level; and Pivotal, targeted support for the temporary extension of national fiscal space for social protection in the poorest countries through a Global Fund for Social Protection or a similar financing facility. Read more

Human rights provide standards for the material conditions a society should guarantee to everyone. These standards, and the commitments that flow from them, can be leveraged to shift narratives about the economy and shift power in political debates. To help build a new story about what our economies are for and how they can be remade, CESR created Key Concepts, a new series made for anyone fighting for economic and social justice and in need of new inspiration and tools to catalyze change.
The first primer in the series, Human Rights & Economic Recovery from COVID (Spanish, Arabic), shines a light on the structural injustices exposed by the pandemic, what we gain from looking at recovery efforts through a human rights lens, and how we can hold governments and private actors to account. The next Key Concepts primer - on debt justice - will be launched next week ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers' meeting. Read more

There are 2 billion informal workers, representing social protection’s missing majority. This session will provide a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity of the informal economy and the different social protection instruments targeted at informal workers during COVID-19. The 5th webinar of the ‘ASPects series’ is related to the Building Block ‘Programmes and Delivery Systems’ of the World Bank’s Adaptive Social Protection framework.
17 February - 14:00 - GMT+2
Participants: Laura Alfers (Director of Social Protection Programme, WIEGO); Melis U. Guven (Senior Social Protection Economist, The World Bank) and Regis Hitimana (Deputy Director General, Rwanda Social Security Board, Government of Rwanda). Read more

PSI brought the voice of frontline workers to the debate at the World Health Organization (WHO)’s latest Executive Board meeting in January. Members of PSI's delegation raised deep concerns on the need for a covid recovery which prioritises strong public health institutions over market provision.
At the core of PSI’s arguments was the assertion that public health must be put before the commercial interests of corporations. Once again, PSI called for the suspension of patents on COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and medicines as a pivotal step towards ensuring equitable access. Read more

From 7 to 16 February 2022, the 60th Session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development (CSocD60) was held under the title: “Inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19 for sustainable livelihoods, well-being, and dignity for all: eradicating poverty and hunger in all its forms and dimensions to achieve the 2030 Agenda.”
During the UN Commission, the NGO Committee for Social Development held a Virtual Civil Society Forum (CSF 2022) featuring two plenary sessions and an NGO Collaboration session. The first plenary session, Setting the Stage: A global overview on poverty, human dignity and well-being, addressed how poverty, social exclusion and the lack of wellbeing impacts the dignity of individuals, showing the importance of including those directly impacted, and also presenting the case for measuring and understanding poverty differently, beyond a monetary lens. Session 2, Transitioning from Talk to Action: Towards a Hunger-Free, Green and Just Society included concrete examples of policy implementation at regional and national levels, highlighting the situation of children in conflicts and emphasizing the importance of using a rights-based approach to food. Click here to read the Civil Society Declaration endorsed by over 900 organizations and individuals.

Social protection schemes have played a key role in helping the world’s poor recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and should be expanded, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, told the 60th Session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development in New York.
Experience from more than 200 countries has shown that countries with strong social protection systems were better able to respond to the burgeoning demands for immediate assistance.
Examples of social protection schemes that have worked include cash transfers, school and child feeding programmes, the sale of basic food baskets at discounted prices, as well as tax and debt relief for vulnerable businesses and households. Read more

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is to host the Global Forum for a Human-centred Recovery from 22-24 February. The virtual Forum aims to increase the level and coherence of the international response to the profound and unequal impact of the COVID-19 crisis on people globally. It will bring together heads of State and Government, heads of international organizations and multilateral development banks, and employers’ and workers’ leaders from around the world to propose concrete actions and strengthen the international community’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Forum will examine in particular the actions and investments needed to promote: Decent jobs and inclusive economic growth; Universal Social Protection; Workers' protection and enterprises' sustainability and Just transition towards a carbon-neutral global economy. Read more