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A Social Protection Floor for all: The UN initiatives and International agendas. Mariko Ouchi ILO Decent Work Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia 15 April 2011. A UN System Emergency response to the crisis.
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A Social Protection Floor for all: The UN initiatives and International agendas Mariko Ouchi ILO Decent Work Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia 15 April 2011
A UN System Emergency response to the crisis In April 2009, the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB) agreed on nine joint initiatives to confront the crisis, accelerate recovery and pave the way for a fairer and more sustainable globalization: • Additional financing for the most vulnerable • Food Security • Trade • A Green Economy Initiative • A Global Jobs Pact • A Social Protection Floor • Humanitarian, Security and Social Stability • Technology and Innovation • Monitoring and Analysis
SPF: concept and definition The SPF Initiative aims at jointglobal and local UN actionto promote access to essential services and social transfers for the poor and vulnerable. It includes: • A basic set of essential social rights and transfers, in cash and in kind, to provide minimum income and livelihood security for poor and vulnerable populations and to facilitate access to essential services, such as health care • Geographical and financial access to essential services, such as health, water and sanitation, education, social work
Basic health services Education Food security nutrition Water sanitation Housing Other social services as defined by national priorities … Children People in active age groups with insufficient income from work Unemployed Older persons and people with disabilities Focus areas and main target groups of the SPF Rights & transfers to guarantee access for
Why SPF-I needed? - Problem of Coverage Gap: those with the strongest needs are most often uncovered Coverage has two dimensions: Horizontal – who is covered? Vertical – how adequate are the benefits and services provided? In case of social security…… Lower income countries: huge horizontal coverage gap(majority of the world’s population uncovered) but even those minority groups covered are not covered adequately (scope of benefits narrow and level/quality low) Higher income countries: still exist here and there gaps in horizontal coverage (domestic workers, temporary workers) and issues in vertical coverage (like inadequate benefits for those with short or broken careers as a result of some recent pension reforms)
Social protection development staircase:Social Security Dimension within the SPF-I
Social Protection Floor – Key actors At country level, the Initiative is owned/supported by: Government institutions: ministries of labour, health, finance, agriculture, social security insitutions, etc. Non-governmental actors: social partners, national NGOs, etc. UN country teams It is supported internationally through the: Global advisory network of UN agencies: ILO, WHO, FAO, IMF, OHCHR, UN Regional Commissions, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNDESA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHABITAT, UNHCR, UNODC, UNRWA, WFP, WMO, World Bank Development partners: Regional Development Banks, bilateral donors, International NGOs The definition transcends the mandate of any individual UN agency, so a coherent, system-wide approach is needed.
What else has been done so far? 3 things… One: Advocacy at global, regional, national levels => e.g. UNCSocD Resolution 2010, UN Millennium Summit, G8, G20, Yaounde Triparite Declaration, South South Dialogue, input to G20 Two: Country operations in Cambodia, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nepal, Togo, Vietnam...and Armenia with other agencies and IMF on basis of joint UN manual Three: High-level Social Protection Floor Advisory Group established under chairpersonship of Ms. Michelle Bachelet
What next?… at the UN • Short to medium term: • Training of planners • SPF-I Rapid Assessment to be carried out - to grasp the overall picture on social security coverage and raise inter-agency/ministerial discussion at the national level – started in Armenia • Country projects to be started and expanded • SOUTH - SOUTH (East-East) learning dialogue • Long-term: • Concept to be anchored in official institutional strategies of the UN agencies • This requires major campaign to defend minimum national social protection floor budgets in a globalised economy
What needs to be discussed nationally? How can a realistic national strategy be defined? How can/should a country establish its own benefit priorities? How can/should countries sequence initiatives in relation to the social protection floor? How should benefit levels be established taking into account national poverty thresholds and prevailing income levels? How can fiscal space be preserved, freed, and/or extended to ensure the financing of adequate benefit levels? How can the benefit mechanisms, which are necessary to an effective guarantee under the social protection floor concept, be promoted, at both national and international levels?
SPF-I : Links with DRR, applicability and constraints in the context of Central Asia Links with DRR: - Strongest in Food security (short-term & long term impacts) - Lesser extent in Energy and Water security & Natural disasters - As long as energy and water problems are more based on the supply-side constraints and not based on the purchasing power of individuals, links with social protection is secondary/thirdly. - If it is due to the lack of purchasing power of individuals (extreme poor, vulnerable groups etc), then, there is a clear link.
SPF-I : Links with DRR, applicability and constraints in the context of Central Asia (2) SPF-I: Applicability and constraints in the context of Central Asia Food security - Direct impact to the people through price increase Option: Indexation reflected to the cash benefits - Fiscal space – are they affordable? - Is annual indexation enough? (periodical review of CPI baskets most likely needed) - Priority of indexation – which cash benefits first? (1) Means-tested benefits, basic pension (2) Unemployment benefits (3) Categorical benefits
SPF-I : Links with DRR, applicability and constraints in the context of Central Asia (2) SPF-I: Applicability and constraints in the context of Central Asia Water & Energy security Main constraints: identification of beneficiaries Cost of identifying beneficiaries > Benefit for the society Another option for DRR: Social insurance for disaster/risk compensation (national and private) In link with SPF: SPF needs to be designed for DRR-responsive framework in order to cope with emergency situation – political will/initiative and national consensus will be required!!!
