The Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) and several members participated in the Preparatory Process for the Summit of the Future. The first consultation the Road to the Summit Discussion Series, Meeting 15 Summary Responding to Rev.2 took place on 25 July 2024. Further information is available here.
Markus Kaltenborn delivered a statement on behalf of the GCSPF on 25 July 2024.
Good morning, good afternoon everyone,
My name is Markus Kaltenborn, I am speaking on behalf of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), which comprises more than 130 NGOs and labour organisations worldwide. Our aim is to support long-term strategies for overcoming extreme poverty and for combating huge social inequalities. In our view, social protection is a key instrument for achieving these goals. Social protection instruments are social benefits such as cash transfers, which for example benefit families and the elderly, but also social insurance schemes such as public health insurance or pension schemes. Although social protection is a human right, more than half of the global population has no access to it. On the African continent only 18% of the population are effectively covered by at least one of the basic social protection guarantees.
This is a big problem, mainly because adequate social protection is a prerequisite for the provision of many other important basic needs. Without adequate social protection, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve several goals of the 2030 Agenda. In particular, the fight against poverty and the reduction of inequalities within and between societies, but also adequate food supply and health care, regular school attendance for children and the elimination of gender discrimination are goals that are linked to Social Protection.
Some countries have succeeded in generating adequate domestic resources to ensure rights-based and sustainably financed social protection systems for the entire population. Other countries, however, do not yet have sufficient financial resources to fully guarantee their population this protection. It is therefore essential and urgent that the international community supports the system building, rollout and the financing of social protection floors worldwide. Financial and technical support can, and must be, significantly expanded, otherwise it will not be possible in many parts of the world to achieve some of the key objectives of the 2030 Agenda. One of our main aims is therefore a well-coordinated global mechanism for the financing of social protection systems, mainly in low-income countries. We hope that, one day, the global community will be able to set up A Global Fund for Social Protection.
In the Draft of the Pact for the Future social protection is mentioned – this is, of course, very good. We hope that this will lead to a more prominent role for this important topic in the future, especially at next year's World Summit for Social Development. What is not so good, however, is the fact that, unlike in the first version of the draft, it is not emphasized any more that there is a need for universal social protection. But universality is extremely important, because all people, especially the most vulnerable groups, should have access to social protection systems. This should not remain a privilege of individual groups. It would therefore be important for the text of the Pact of the Future to be adapted once again in this respect. Universal social protection is the key to overcoming poverty and inequality.
