Identification and biometric technology
The implementation of social protection schemes requires the correct identification of beneficiaries. In a growing number of countries, particularly in developing countries, biometric technology is increasingly used for the identification of beneficiaries of social protection programmes, including through fingerprints, iris and facial recognition. In most developed counties with better...
Read MoreInformation and management systems
Management and information systems (MISs) are of critical importance in the administration of any social protection programme, including for the identification and registration of potential beneficiaries, the determination of their eligibility and entitlements, contribution collection, the delivery of benefits, and the processing of complaints and appeals. The enormous amount...
Read MoreElectronic methods of administration and payment
The use of information communication technology (ICT) in social security administration is increasing worldwide. E-services can facilitate access and the extension of coverage, the delivery of benefits, contribution collection and other administrative processes. At the same time, the introduction of electronic methods poses some challenges, especially in countries with...
Read MoreAdministration of non-contributory schemes
The effective administration of non-contributory social protection schemes is key to ensuring that people can realize their human rights. This includes adequate administrative capacities, human and financial infrastructure, as well as administrative procedures. Photo credit: “family planning counseling in Cambodia” via ILO in Asia and the Pacific (CCBY...
Read MoreAdministration of contributory schemes
An efficient administration is one of the prerequisites for a cost-efficient and effective functioning of contributory social protection schemes, namely social insurance schemes. An efficient administrative structure facilitates the collection of of contributions and the delivery of benefits. Photo credit: “Soldier Ride 2012 Bike Fitting” via U.S. Army Europe...
Read MoreConditionality and Human Rights
Expert commentaries - Date: 19 May 2014 / Author: Guy Standing
Across the world, states have made binding commitments under international human rights law to do what they can to ensure all their population attains its basic material needs. And yet, governments in numerous countries have been introducing so-called conditional cash transfer schemes (CCTs) based on the imposition of forms...
Read MoreConditionalities, Cash and Gender Relations
Expert commentaries - Date: 1 May 2014 / Author: Maxine Molyneux
Is the empowerment of women through conditional cash transfers illusory as women are ‘empowered’ by these programmes only as the nodal points receiving cash for the family and not as independent persons with their own economic, social and cultural rights? First, it is important to distinguish between the positive...
Read MoreIncorporating a Rights-based Perspective into the Administrative Activities of Government Programmes
Expert commentaries - Date: 28 March 2014 / Author: James Midgely
As the role of social protection in social development is increasingly emphasized, there is a need to ensure that social protection programmes are not only efficiently managed but express core values such as rights which have played a vital role in shaping social development practice over the years. However,...
Read MoreProtecting the Right of Access to Social Security Benefits
Expert commentaries - Date: 15 April 2014 / Author: Stephen Kidd
States must ensure the right to social security for all without discrimination of any kind. Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and Article 26 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child oblige States Parties to take effective measures, within their...
Read MoreDo Targeting Techniques Tend to be Incompatible with the Human Rights Standards of Transparency and Access to Information?
Expert commentaries - Date: 3 April 2014 / Author: Nicholas Freeland
Targeting Techniques and Human Rights Standards of Transparency and Access to Information Poverty targeting presents many problems in terms of accuracy and reliability, but common methods for identifying the poor are also problematic in terms of human rights standards of transparency and access to information. Let us look from...
Read MoreThe Case Against the Commodification of Social Protection
Expert commentaries - Date: 10 September 2014 / Author: Manuel Couret Branco
In May 2006, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed its concern about the fact that a significant number of countries that had been ensuring a certain level of social protection through public intervention were transferring part of the responsibility to the private sector (CESCR 2006)....
Read MoreBiometrics Use for Social Protection Programmes in India Risk Violating Human Rights of the Poor
Expert commentaries - Date: 2 May 2014 / Author: Usha Ramanathan
Biometrics and the violation of human rights Suddenly, biometric data is being gathered everywhere and from everybody by all manner of agencies. The idea of parting with fingerprints and iris impressions has been marketed as a means to more efficiently and surely deliver services to the poor. This, and...
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