November GCSPF #78 e-News!

UNU-MERIT will host the virtual launch of the “Global Solidarity Funding For Social Protection” report.
Date: 08 November 2022 - Time: 14:00 - 15:30 CEST - Registration.
During the launch event, key stakeholders from FES, ILO, World Bank and UNU-MERIT will jointly discuss topics of financing and extending social protection floors. The exchange will focus on the opportunity and cost of implementing a global mechanism for cofinancing social protection floors. Read more

There is broad consensus that expansion of social protection is a necessary response to the global food and economic crises. But an immediate reaction of countries when approached with the solution of universal social protection is “we can’t afford that!”. Today, the teams at ACT Church of Sweden, Development Pathways and Action Against Hunger show how, in actual fact, universality can be affordable.
Daisy Sibun will be launching a new paper, ‘Can a leopard change its spots? A critical analysis of the World Bank’s ‘progressive universalism’ approach to social protection’. The paper scrutinises the justification through which the World Bank continues to promote poverty targeted programmes, despite its more recent high-level support for the idea of universal social protection, and contrasts it with the human rights-based approach to social protection as promoted by the ILO. Tuesday, November 22, 2022 - 2 PM - 3 PM CET - Register - Read more

Representatives from different CSOs, unions and workers’ organisations shared their perspectives on whether, and if so, how, IFIs have changed their position on social protection in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on newly published evidence, we discussed what is new regarding IFI’s engagement on social protection, what counts as progress, and what are areas where IFIs may continue to fall short on realising the right to social protection for all. Watch the recording

The Financing Working Group of the Global Partnership on Universal Social Protection (USP 2030) realeased a joint statement on key principles for financing social protection.
Universal social protection is an essential means to prevent and reduce poverty and inequality and is at core of the social contract that connects the state with the society, contributing to more inclusive, equitable, stable, and peaceful societies. With the ongoing economic effects of COVID-19, the unfolding cost of living crisis, and the ever-growing impacts of climate breakdown the need for social protection has never been greater. And yet large and entrenched coverage gaps remain, with a lack of available and accessible financing a major bottleneck in achieving universal social protection. In light of this challenge the USP2030 working group on financing has jointly agreed the following key principles to guide the international and national financing of social protection Read more

By Francine Mestrum, Global Social Justice (Brussels)
Today, inequality is high on the international agenda. After the hype on poverty – Millennium Development Goals -, U.N. organisations and the Bretton Woods institutions play a major role in producing and distributing knowledge on the different dimensions of inequality and on how it is shaping today’s world and its perspectives on development.
In this contribution, I want to examine what knowledge these institutions create and disseminate about ‘inequality’ and how this knowledge has evolved since their inception – the end of the Second World War and the start of a decolonisation process with an associated development project. Read more

By Lena Simet
The World Bank published their new Social Protection and Jobs sector strategy, also known as the SPJ Compass. The strategy makes a strong commitment to USP. However, its guidance on how countries can get there is problematic.
Human Rights Watch and others, including a recent study by the nongovernmental organization Development Pathways, have found that poverty targeted programs fall short in protecting human rights, are prone to mismanagement and corruption, and that they can stigmatize people in poverty. Everyone has the right to social security, which is key to securing other economic and social rights, in particular the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes the rights to food and to adequate housing. Read more

Read here the October SP&PFM e-News! This newsletter communicates about ongoing activities and results from the Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management programme (SP&PFM). SP&PFM is a joint collaboration between the EU, ILO, UNICEF and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), which provides medium and shorter-term support to 24 countries aiming to strengthen their social protection systems and ensure their sustainable financing. Read more

With the aim of strengthening the political incidence of civil society in favor of social protection in South America, a cycle of conferences with the participation of various organizations of civil society (e.g. feminists, trade unions, ecumenical, etc.) and experts in the field took place. It is necessary an official care policy which contemplate supports and complements care work and defends the recognition of the "right to care", gender equality and human development. Likewise, ways of financing social protection are explored, including the creation of a global fund. The following videos (in Spanish) of the conferences are on line.
1. “Thinking about social protection from care”. Speakers: MA.(Econ) Soledad Salvador (Uruguay), Licenciada en Ciencia Política Patricia Cossani Padilla (Uruguay), PhD. Hildete Pereira de Melo (Brazil) and PhD. Corina Rodríguez Enríquez (Argentina). Moderator: BA(Econ) Alma Espino (Uruguay).
2. “Community care in times of COVID-19”. Speakers: MA.(Soc) Norma Sanchís (Argentina), Mag Ec. Natalia Moreno (Uruguay), BSc. (Psych) Alma Colin Colin (Mexico) and Mag. Florencia Cascardo (Argentina). Moderator: BA(Econ) Alma Espino (Uruguay).
3. “When the State misses the appointment: the (un)sustainability of life”. Speakers: Mag. Graciela Rodríguez (Brazil), Soc. Rosario Aguirre (Uruguay), Dra Verónica Serafini (Paraguay) and Dra. Alison Vasconez (Ecuador). Moderator: Mag Soledad Salvador (Uruguay).
4. “What the pandemic left us: necessary transformations”. Speakers: Roberto Bissio (Uruguay), PhD Lucía Pérez (Mexico) and PhD Valeria Esquivel (Argentina). Moderator: BA (Econ) Soledad Salvador (Uruguay).
These activities were organized by Ciedur, Red de Género y Comercio, Social Watch and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.

A new Human Rights Watch report on Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) in Kazakhstan finds that the country's main social assistance program has very rigid eligibility criteria and means tests that exclude many people in need of support. The report calls on the government to make changes in the program to eliminate errors in determining eligibility and arbitrary barriers that leave out qualified people and increase the benefits amount to ensure that people have adequate protection of their basic economic rights. Read more

The Third Virtual OECD Policy Dialogue on Social Protection and Development on Social protection in times of growing vulnerability and poverty crises will take place via the Zoom videoconferencing platform, on 29 & 30 November 2022 from 13:00PM to 16:30PM (Paris time).