Austerity measures that contravene Conventions by reducing social protection and increasing poverty
In its general report of 2009, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) observed that the global financial crisis was posing a real threat to the financial viability and sustainable development of social security systems and undermining the application of ILO social security standards....
Read MoreNamibia Social Protection Floor Assessment
This report is the result of collaboration between the Government of Namibia and the ILO. Drawing on the Social Protection Expenditure and Performance Review (SPER) and Social Budget methodologies, the objectives of the report are: 1) to improve the knowledge and information base on the coverage and performance of...
Read MoreSocial security coverage extension in the BRICS: A comparative study on the extension of coverage in Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa
This comparative study of the International Social Security Association ISSA presents the diverse approaches of the BRICS for the extension of social security coverage. It shows how responses take into account the local realities and environment in each country, with a focus on innovations that measurabley extend and improve...
Read MoreHandbook on the extension of social security coverage to the self-employed
In many countries, a large proportion of the working-age population can be considered as self-employed – in both the formal and informal sectors. Given the challenges in covering the self-employed, this development means that a relatively small proportion of the total population may be covered for social security benefits. Targeted measures...
Read MoreHandbook on the extension of social security coverage to migrant workers
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights (A/69/297)
The present report focuses on the implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption by all States of social protection floors. The very widely endorsed Social Protection Floor Initiative aims to guarantee basic income security and access to essential social services for all. In the report, the...
Read MoreThe Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202): Completing the standards to close the coverage gap
Summary: In June 2012, the 101st session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) adopted the Recommendation concerning national floors of social protection, 2012 (No. 202). This article explores the linkages between Recommendation No. 202 and the pre-existing International Labour Organization (ILO) social security standards and its complementarity with these....
Read MoreWorld Report on Child Labour: Economic vulnerability, social protection and the fight against child labour
This report focuses on the role of social protection in preventing and reducing child labour. It is the first in the series of World Reports on Child Labour called for in the outcome document, the Roadmap, emerging from The Hague Global Child Labour Conference of 2010. The World Report...
Read MoreSocial Security for All: Building social protection floors and comprehensive social security systems. The strategy of the International Labour Organization
This document lays out the social security strategy of the International Labour Organization on the extension of social security. The ILO’s two-dimensional strategy provides clear guidance on the future development of social security in countries at all levels of development. Its horizontal dimension aims at establishing and maintaining social...
Read MoreSocial Security and the Rule of Law: General Survey concerning social security instruments in the light of the 2008 Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization
In March 2009, at its 304th Session, the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization decided that the recurrent item on the agenda of the 100th Session (2011) of the International Labour Conference should address the ILO strategic objective of enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection, and...
Read MoreSocial protection for older persons: Key policy trends and statistics
This policy paper: (i) provides a global overview of the organization of pension systems, their coverage and benefits, as well as public expenditures on social security, in 178 countries; (ii) analyses trends and recent policies, e.g. extension of coverage in a large number of low- and middle-income countries; (iii)...
Read MoreMaternity and paternity at work: Law and practice across the world
This report reviews national legislative provisions on maternity protection at work in 185 countries and territories (including leave, benefits, employment protection, health protection, breastfeeding arrangements at work and childcare), statistical coverage in law and in practice of paid maternity leave as well as statutory provision of paternity, parental and adoption leaves....
Read MoreSemi-conditional cash transfers in the form of family allowances for children and adolescents in the informal economy in Argentina
In 2009, Argentina introduced a new transfer programme for children and adolescents younger than age 18 (Universal Child Allowance) that extended coverage under the contributory programme for family allowances to include families in the informal economy and families of unemployed persons. This article describes this innovative programme, compares it...
Read MoreSocial protection and an enabling environment for the right to adequate food
This Thematic Study takes a retrospective glance at social protection related developments over a span of a decade from 2004 to 2014. It starts off mentioning the historical shift in development policymaking in the early 2000s from a narrow focus on risks to a wider focus on rights. This...
Read MoreSocial Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102)
A reference for the development of social security systems, Convention No. 102 is the flagship of the up-to-date social security Conventions since it is deemed to embody the internationally accepted definition of the very principle of social security. Convention No. 102 is unique for both its conceptual formulation of social security,...
Read MoreSocial Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202)
Recommendation No. 202 is the first international instrument to offer guidance to countries to close social security gaps and progressively achieve universal protection through the establishment and maintenance of comprehensive social security systems. To this aim, the Recommendation calls for (1) the implementation, as a priority, of social protection...
Read MoreMaintenance of Social Security Rights Convention, 1982 (No. 157)
Convention No. 157 and its accompanying Recommendation No. 167 specifically address the issue of the maintenance of social security rights of migrant workers and complement Convention No. 118, focusing on equality of treatment and exportability. Unlike Convention No. 118 however, which allows State Parties to choose one or more...
Read MoreEquality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 (No. 118)
Convention No. 118 addresses the issue of the social security of migrant workers in a global manner. It covers the nine branches of social security and provides that, for each branch accepted under the Convention, a ratifying State undertake to grant equality of treatment to nationals of other ratifying...
Read MoreWorld Social Protection Report 2014/15: Building economic recovery, inclusive development and social justice
Social protection policies play a critical role in realizing the human right to social security for all, reducing poverty and inequality, and promoting inclusive growth – by boosting human capital and productivity, and by supporting domestic demand and structural transformation of national economies. This ILO flagship report provides a...
Read MoreReport on a human rights approach to the global and financial crisis (A/64/279). submitted by the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty
This report addresses the impact of the current global financial crisis on people living in extreme poverty and the enjoyment of their human rights. It stresses that the crisis offers an opportunity to move beyond the restructuring of the global financial and monetary systems and to place people at the...
Read MoreThe Compatibility between ILO Recommendation 202 on Social Protection Floors and the ICESCR
It is undeniably relevant to consider the compatibility of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Recommendation No. 202 and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), given that the ICESRC is very demanding, covering not only social security and its main nine branches, but also questions like...
Read MoreHuman rights-based approach to recovery from the global economic and financial crises (A/HRC/17/34)
In the present report, the United Nations Independent Expert on human rights and extreme poverty sets out the parameters of a human rights-based approach to recovery from the global economic and financial crises, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. She urges States to see...
Read MoreReport of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on Social Protection Floors (A/69/297)
The present report focuses on the implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption by all States of social protection floors. The very widely endorsed Social Protection Floor Initiative aims to guarantee basic income security and access to essential social services for all. In the report, the...
Read MoreStatement on Social Protection Floors: an essential element of the right to social security and of the sustainable development goals
The Committee on Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued this statement to underline the importance of social protection floors as a means to realize the right to social security. Extracts from the text: “The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Committee), in some of its Concluding...
Read MoreGeneral Comment No. 19 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The right to social security (Art. 9)
Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the Covenant) provides that, “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance.” The right to social security is of central importance in guaranteeing human dignity for all...
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