e-GCSPF #41 – August 2020

In view of the global harm from the COVID-19 pandemic, with food insecurity, poverty and loss of livelihoods rising globally, it is essential that national social protection floors are made available to all people – through nation and international solidarity. While recognising that the foremost responsibility for social protection lies at country level, the pandemic puts a spotlight on the need for international solidarity. What is needed is the creation of a solidarity based Global Fund for Social Protection to support countries design, implement and, in specific cases, finance national floors of social protection. It is the adequate multilateral initiative needed to respond to Covid-19 and to build a better future. Read more

The Decade of Action and Delivery to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, launched by world leaders in 2019, mobilizes stakeholders to tackle both emerging and existing gaps in the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
The objective of the multi-stakeholder hearing was to take stock of the outcomes and recommendations of the 25-year review processes, including the sixty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The multi-stakeholder hearing provided an opportunity to exchange experiences, lessons learned and good practices among different stakeholders, through inter-active dialogues, to advance the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Rachel Moussié (WIEGO) participated in this event. Video recording

The pandemic and the measures taken to contain it have deprived millions of their livelihoods. In most cases, existing social protection systems have proved unable to secure the basic needs of those who cannot work, due to circumstances out of their control. Workers in certain sectors–especially informal workers without social and labor protections –are bearing the brunt. Globally, there are 2 billion such workers, some 60% of the global workforce. WIEGO and the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) present a briefing paper to show how we can leverage the commitments governments have made to guarantee human rights to steer us towards a just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

The Stakeholder Group on Ageing (SGA) Africa is inviting you to the Webinar “United and Coordinated Africa for the Inclusion of older persons in COVID-19 policy response and development agendas” that will take place on Thursday August 20th at 1:00PM West Central Africa. The 2nd SGA Africa Pan African Webinar is being organized in collaboration with the African Union Commission and UN DESA.
Read here the e-flyer with a link to REGISTER for the webinar online (FREE) and a link to check your local time schedule for the webinar.

As we are now in the midst of the devastating COVID-19 Pandemic, more political attention is being paid to strengthening social protection cash transfers and public health systems as necessary priorities.
The GCSPF Core Team is interested in gathering information on the experiences of our members regarding improvements (or not) in civil society engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) thus far on boosting social protection expenditures, especially floors, in current national anti-crisis programs, as well as with the World Bank and other international agencies.
Please respond to the questions below to send us information on your national experiences thus far. Please respond as fully as you can. We think that your experiences will be valuable to the GCSPF community. Your answers could facilitate comparison of national-level activities that may be particularly useful for advocacy work by members, and for follow-up with IMF and other institutions. We will compile the responses into a report back to members. Read more

As the rate of new COVID-19 cases accelerates across the developing world, it exposes the potentially devastating costs of job losses and income reversals. Unconditional emergency cash transfers can mitigate the worst immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis on poor and near-poor households that do not currently have access to social assistance or insurance protection. This report provides estimates for a Temporary Basic Income (TBI), a minimum guaranteed income above the poverty line, for vulnerable people in 132 developing countries.
A TBI amounts to between 0.27 and 0.63 per cent of their combined GDPs, depending on the policy choice: top-ups on existing average incomes in each country up to a vulnerability threshold; lump-sum transfers that are sensitive to cross-country differences in the median standard of living; or, lump-sum transfers that are uniform regardless of the country where people live.
A temporary basic income is within reach and can inform a larger conversation about how to build comprehensive social protection systems that make the poor and near-poor more resilient to economic downturns in the future. Read more

The disproportionate effect of the pandemic on young people has exacerbated inequalities and risks reducing the productive potential of an entire generation, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Since the outset of the pandemic more than 70 per cent of youth who study or combine study with work have been adversely affected by the closing of schools, universities and training centres, according to an analysis by the ILO.
According to the report, Youth and COVID-19: impacts on jobs, education, rights and mental well-being, 65 per cent of young people reported having learned less since the beginning of the pandemic because of the transition from classroom to online and distance learning during lockdown. Despite their efforts to continue studying and training, half of them believed their studies would be delayed and nine per cent thought that they might fail. Read more

Jubilee Debt Campaign has launched a new Debt Data Portal – an online resource bringing together the most important, up–to-date information on international debt levels and risks. This portal compiles key statistics and analysis on the debts of countries and governments.
One of the best guides to a government debt burden is the value of debt payments which leave the country each year compared to the government’s revenue. Countries in the global south spent an average 14.3% of government revenue on foreign debt payments in 2020, an increase from 6.7% in 2010. Read more

Ageing Nepal, is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organization based in Kathmandu that was established in 2011. Ageing Nepal is a not-for-profit Non-Government Organization (NGO) registered with the government of Nepal and is also affiliated to Social Welfare Council (SWC). Ageing Nepal is a member based organization operated by trustees, member representatives and professionals. Ageing Nepal has ECOSOC Special Consultative Status, and is member of HelpAge Global Network and it is member of the Steering Group of GAROP.
Major areas of work: Awareness building, Consultancy services and Human Resource Development.
Further information can be found here.
Contact information: Krishna M. Gautam, Chairperson
http://www.ageingnepal.org/ - Twitter:@AgeingNepal

NACASUD-Nepal affirms its contribution to build on peaceful, just, equitable, inclusive, resilient and prosperous world. So, it works for peace, justice, human rights, democracy, governance and sustainable development.
NACASUD-Nepal is a non-profit making, voluntary, and non-partisan organization that was established in January 2017. NACASUD-Nepal is a collective platform of development professionals, civil society activists and persons involved in social movements. The general objective of the organization is to establish equality based social justice by safeguarding the values of democracy, human rights, justice and sustainability. NACASUD-Nepal aims to contribute in achieving SDGs at local level. NACASUD-Nepal is engaging with federal, province and local governments in the country. Moreover, it is engaging with Civil Society Major Groups, NGOs, UN Agencies, INGOs etc. on sustainable development agenda and other public issues.
Contact information: Daya Sagar Shrestha
http://nacasud.org.np/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nacasud
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nacasud