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...

Summary The present report highlights the importance of social protection measures in the Millennium Development Goals agenda. It also stresses that social protection measures designed, implemented and evaluated within the framework of a rights-based approach are more likely to ensure the achievement of the Goals and to result in...

While acknowledging the compounded challenges faced by Namibia – including limited institutional capacity, and the fact that Namibia has one of the world’s lowest population densities – this report concludes that progress has not been fast enough. There are still unacceptable levels of inequality along the lines of gender, race,...

The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights conducted an official visit to Mongolia from 3 to 7 December 2012, during which she collected first-hand information on the situation of people living in extreme poverty and on the impact of key policies relating to poverty alleviation and development...

This report focuses on cash transfer programmes (CTPs) from a human rights perspective. CTPs are non-contributory programmes  providing payments in the form of cash to individuals or households. The primary objective of  CTPs is to increase the real income of beneficiaries in order to enable a minimum level of  consumption within...

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...

  Information and communication technologies and social protection In recent years, donors, development agencies and poverty reduction initiatives have increasingly turned towards social protection as an effective tool for addressing extreme poverty and accelerating development in the world’s poorest countries. The term refers to the provision of benefits in...

Most people living in rural areas in the Global South do not have access to social protection. People in rural areas are disproportionately exposed to income insecurity, as employment is typically casual, seasonal and low paid. With few resources, low income, and high risk exposure, rural populations are particularly...

  Generally, under human rights instruments, rights are granted to ‘everyone’ without discrimination of any kind. Thus, minorities (national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities) should enjoy all rights including the right to social security on the same footing as the majority of the population. The protection of the rights of minorities...

Maternity protection includes protection against suspension or loss of income during maternity leave, and access to maternal health care. Maternity leave supported with cash benefits to fully or partially replace women’s earnings during the final stages of pregnancy and after childbirth is of critical importance for the well-being of...

Health coverage, and particularly access to health care when it is needed, is crucial for human well-being. In addition, of all the elements of social protection, health care is most essential to the economy as a whole and to economic recovery in particular. Against this background, health protection schemes...

From a rights-based perspective, the level of benefits provided must be adequate. According to the CESCR’s General Comment 19 (para 22), “Benefits, whether in cash or in kind, must be adequate in amount and duration in order that everyone may realize his or her rights to family protection and...

The principle of equality and non-discrimination requires States to ensure that social protection programmes meet the standards of accessibility, adaptability, acceptability and adequacy for all rights holders. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has recommended these standards through several General Comments including 13, 14 and 19....

A human rights-based approach to social protection requires grounding social protection systems in a strong legal and institutional framework. This should ensure both programme stability and the recognition of beneficiaries as rights holders. The need to provide for strong legal frameworks that clearly lay out entitlements, rights and obligations...

The interdependence, indivisibility and mutually reinforcing nature of human rights necessitates a holistic approach to social protection. As such, under international human rights law, social protection programmes should be one element within a broader strategy aimed at overcoming poverty and realizing all human rights, including economic, social and cultural...

The implementation of social protection schemes requires collecting many types of information including that identifying beneficiaries and their dependants or carers, earnings, employers, contact details, and more. It is essential that the collection of such information is done without breaching the right to privacy. In this regard, personal information...

A human rights-based approach to social protection requires that policy makers, programme administrators and others whose actions have an impact on a programme should be held accountable for their actions. To meet this human rights requirement, social protection programmes should have mechanisms to collect and process complaints, in particular...

Non-discrimination and equality are core elements of the international human rights normative framework. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that every human being is entitled to all rights and freedoms “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or...

Personal dignity and autonomy are at the very foundation of human rights, and are inextricably linked to the principles of equality and non-discrimination. As a result, respect for the inherent dignity of all must inform all public policies. State agents, private service providers and individuals must avoid stigmatization and...

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...

Meaningful and effective participation of rights holders must be a key component of any social protection system. This is what builds trust and public support behind schemes and ensures that there is a sense of ownership. The participation of right holders is important during the social protection policy making...

Summary Ibrahim Gueye and 742 other retired Senegalese members of the French Army submitted this case before the Human Rights Committee alleging racial discrimination in French legislation. The petitioners contended that the French law accorded different treatment to those retired army men of Senegalese nationality who served in the...

Summary: The verdict in Gaygusuz versus Austria established an important case law regarding the equal treatment of nationals and non-nationals. Gaygusuz, a Turkish national, had come to Austria in 1973 and worked for almost a decade with some gaps when he went back to Turkey. He later applied for...

Summary: The case was brought by Mr. Taylor petitioning against the difference in the age of eligibility between men and women to receive winter fuel allowances as part of social security. While the age of eligibility was 60 and above for women, it was 65 and above for men....

Summary: The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) claimed that France had violated the right to medical assistance (Article 13 of Revised European Social Charter) by ending the exemption given to illegal immigrants, with very low incomes, from expenses for medical and hospital treatment. The complainant alleged the...