Social Protection, Inequality and Social Justice

Organization(s): IDS, ISSC, UNESCO
Author: Keetie Roelen, Rachel Sabates-Wheeler, Stephen Devereux
Year: 2016
PDF of Resource

Social protection refers to a range of policies that explicitly aim to reduce poverty and vulnerability, and which have the potential to be redistributive. This contribution argues that social protection can significantly contribute to reducing inequality and social injustice, particularly when it is designed and delivered in conjunction with complementary initiatives. Emerging evidence from middle and low-income countries makes a compelling case for social protection’s positive impacts on addressing both material and non-material inequalities.

Related Principles

Universality of Protection

States parties to major human rights instruments related to economic, social and cultural rights such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) have an immediate minimum core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, minimum essential levels of all economic, social and cultural rights such as the right […]

Social Protection and Human Rights