GCSPF e-Newsletter # 51 - April 2021

The video of the virtual event “International Solidarity to Support a Robust and Inclusive Recovery – A Global Social Protection Fund” is now online. The event was co-organized by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and was held in the framework of the Spring Civil Society Policy Forum of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The video is available in English, Spanish and French.

The speakers at the event were: Cathy Feingold (International Director of the AFL-CIO and Deputy President of ITUC); Olivier de Schutter (UN Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights); Omar Faruk Osman (Secretary General of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions); Yolande Wright (Head of Child Poverty at Save the Children, GCSPF); Didier Jacobs (Senior Advisor at Oxfam) and Michal Rutkowski (Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs at the World Bank). Read more

By Markus Kaltenborn and Laura Kreft
For years, social experts have proposed the establishment of a Global Fund for Social Protection – an international institution to help low-income countries develop the capacity to finance a minimum level of social protection for their population. The debate is now gaining momentum. The article is published in D+C. Read the article here

Through this paper, Action Against Hunger (AAH) looks back on the importance of developing rights-based social protection systems, and on States‘ commitment through the adoption of the 202 ILO recommendation on social protection floors. The document highlights how the macroeconomic policies of international financial institutions, and the social protection programs they promote, have a negative impact on the realization of the right to social protection for all, and offers recommendations to reverse this paradigm.
The paper highlights the flaws of a targeted approach to social protection, which “have been found to have higher administrative costs than universal ones, and exclude many people who need, and have the right to, protection.”
The paper recommends a bolder approach to universal social protection and calls on governments, development partners – in particular, G20 States (with a particular focus on France), the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group – to make a major shift towards social justice, through the promotion of universal social protection floors. Read more

The need to rebuild the social organization of care has become more urgent during the covid-19 pandemic: women around the world have been forced to take on even more responsibility for the work of caring for their families, children, the elderly, the sick, people with disabilities etc. amidst the confinement measures needed to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus.
How to set this reconstruction in motion was the focal point of the webinar “Beijing+25 and the future of care” held on March 30 as a side event to the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) organized by UN Women. The presentations all confirmed that it is only through a comprehensive economic and political perspective that changes the current economic model and strengthens public care services financed by the adoption of fair and progressive tax systems that fundamental change will be possible. Only in this way we can achieve adequate remuneration for workers in this largely female sector and reduce the burden of unpaid care work of women.
The event was organized by Public Services International (PSI) in alliance with the Center for Economic and Social Rights, Dawn - Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Womankind Worldwide, Global Alliance for Tax Justice, ActionAid, and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Participants debated the issue of care in the context of progress and setbacks in the implementation of public policies for women and girls in line with the objectives of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Read more

WSM publishes a handbook to share reflections and good practices on gender equality on four continents, in four languages (FR, NL, EN, ES). Mixing theory and practices, it aims to encourage organizations to make a concrete commitment towards greater gender equality.
Gender equality means equal rights and equal opportunities between men and women. Equality between men and women is essential to ensure the sustainability and inclusiveness of development. It is an essential principle that is, however, rarely applied.
Designed both to raise awareness and to capitalize on experiences, this “roadmap” is also a tool in which we set out our vision and strategy on gender equality in a very accessible way. Read more

The UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, is launching a long-term video project to support the campaign for global social protection.
You can take part by pressing the record button of your camera/phone (horizontal/landscape format) and by responding to the question: “Why does social protection matters to me/to us, in our specific situation”. Be as concrete as possible, based on your job, your family situation, etc. Feel free to also ask the following question: “How does the absence of social protection affect my life”.
Please send them your video by WeTransfer or other big files transfer system (max 2 minutes). The videos will be regularly posted on a YouTube channel and on www.srpoverty.org. Deadline to share your video is April 20th.
To send your videos and for any additional information or suggestion, please contact them at projects@srpoverty.org Read more