On 31 December, ESCAP released Time for Equality: The role of social protection in reducing inequalities in Asia and the Pacific, a groundbreaking report which examines the links between inequality and social protection. The report, released the day before the Sustainable Development Goals came into effect, finds that rights-based...

On 9 and 10 December, ECLAC is hosting Public Policies for Equality and the Agenda 2030 an expert meeting to share experiences on contributing to equality-generating policies, discuss methods for measuring inequality and present Towards Universal Social Protection. Latin American Pathways and Policy Tools. Feedback from the meeting will...

Tuesday, 1 December is World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day provides an opportunity to show support and solidarity with approximately 34 million people who are living with HIV/AIDS around the world. Despite achieving Millennium Development Goal 6 – to halt and reverse the spread of HIV – the epidemic...

Thursday, 19 November is World Toilet Day. Currently, 2.5 billion people or 36 percent of the world’s population, do not have access to adequate toilet facilities, (a figure that the Human Rights Council says may even be an underestimate) due to challenges such as inequality, safety and affordability of...

Former Colombian Minister of Finance José Antonio Ocampo will be the  International Labour Organization’s new Goodwill Ambassador for social protection. Nearly three-quarters of the world lacks adequate access to social protection.  According to Ocampo, “The world’s nations have spoken loudly and clearly. Extending social protection systems is among the...

On 30 October, FAO hosted Twitter chat with the hashtag #sptalk. Participants included UNDP Policy Centre, socialprotection.org and the Transfer Project. Discussion topics included defining social protection, social protection’s role in hunger reduction, enganging financial institutions in social protection initiatives to empower women and the identification of rights-holders. Read...

On 27 October, UN Water, the United Nations inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater related issues, launched Eliminating Discrimination and Inequalities in Access to Water and Sanitation, a policy brief on providing universal access to water and sanitation. The launch was sponsored by Finnish and Vietnamese permanent missions. The...

Senior United Nations officials, including Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, called on government leaders and policy makers to work towards achieving the 2030 Agenda, at the World Food Day ceremony on 16 October at the Milan Expo. The 2030 Agenda, which includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an international set of...

On 20 October, the Government of Finland received the Future Policy Award for its 1998 Basic Education Act. The award is given by the World Future Council, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNICEF to policies, rather than actors, that “create better living conditions for current and future generations.” The World...

Today, FAO released its annual report, The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA). The theme of this year’s SOFA report is Social Protection and Agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty. The theme comes at a crucial time. September marked the Sustainable Development Summit in New York, where the...

The Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas, presented her first report in September at the 70th session of the General Assembly.  The report aims to provide guidance and recommendations to states and other responsible actors for creating disability-inclusive social protection systems. The report touches...

On 16 and 17 September, we will hold the long-awaited official launch of the platform! On 16 September, UNRISD, ILO and OHCHR will hold Overcoming Exclusion and Promoting Rights: Challenges and Opportunities in Social Protection. The event is an official side event of the 30th Human Rights Council. Please...

On 8-9 September, ESCWA will hold a session of the Committee on Social Development. The committee, which was established pursuant to resolution 198 (XVII) of 31 May 1994, was adopted at the 17th ESCWA’s 17th ministerial session, and subsequently endorsed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council in...

ECLAC held a workshop to launch Instruments of Social Protection: the Latin American Paths towards Universalization.  This book aims to provide grounds for decision makers on universal and sustainable social protection systems. For more information, see ECLAC’s page on the event (in Spanish).   Photo credit: “kid” by Jean-Sebastien...

ESCAP participated in the 12th Training Course on Social Health Insurance, held in Seoul from 26 May to 5 June 2015, promoting equity in the context of access to health care, an integral element of social protection. Read more at ESCAP.   Photo credit: Training course on health coverage...

The ILO organized and hosted a meeting a technical meeting on social protection for persons with disabilities on 6-7 July. The meeting was a follow-up to one that took place in January, also organized by ILO to assist the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities in...

We recently added a number of new expert commentaries which explore crosscutting issues of social protection and human rights to the Platform. Beyond a Production- and Productivity-Centred View on Technological Progress by Ilcheong Yi looks at technological advancements and exploring the role of social policy in ensuring that enjoyment...

The framework provides a useful reference for development researchers, policy makers and practitioners who want to know which obligations are created by existing human rights laws and standards and in what way they are relevant to the design, implementation and evaluation of social protection programmes. It explains fundamental principles...

World Bank (WB) President Jim Yong Kim and ILO Director General Guy Ryder have issued a joint statement announcing the launch of a joint initiative calling for universal social protection. The initiative will highlight the importance of policies and financing to support social protection for all.   Read the...

In a world where 75% of the people have inadequate social protection and climate change is causing more and more despair, how do we plan to intervene on social protection? This was a key theme at the side event Corporate action for climate justice and human rights, held at...

On 19 June, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the International Movement ATD Fourth World, with support of the Permanent Missions of Belgium, Chile, France and Romania will hold a side event at the Human Rights Council. The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human...

An inclusive social protection system, combined with a rights-based approach, is the best way to protect people from structural problems such as poverty and inequality; and against cyclical risks such as illness, unemployment, accidents at work and aging. These issues and more were discussed at an international conference called...

Access to social security is a crucial element of inclusive societies. For persons living with disabilities, it plays an especially important role in providing an adequate standard of living and basic income security, thereby reducing vulnerability and levels of poverty. This expert meeting held in Berlin on 20 May...

Isabel Ortiz, Director Social Protection of the ILO and UNRISD Senior Research Fellow Magdalena Sepúlveda participated in Post-2015: Social Protection for All, a conference hosted by the Belgium’s Federal Public Service in Brussels on 27 April. The meeting identified ways to ensure that a rights-based approach to social protection is an...

UNRISD and partners hold a Side Event on Social Protection Floors and Human Rights at the 28th session of the Human Rights Council (6 March 2015). This event served to enhance awareness of and adherence to social security as a human right as well as to improve understanding of the steps...