Identification for Development: The Biometrics Revolution
This paper surveys 160 cases where biometric identification has been used for economic, political, and social purposes in developing countries. About half of these cases have been supported by donors. Recognizing the need for more rigorous assessments and more open data on performance, the paper draws some conclusions about...
Read MoreJoint statement on advancing child-sensitive social protection
The joint statement aims to build greater consensus on the importance of child-sensitive social protection. It lays out the particular vulnerabilities that children and families face, the ways that social protection can impact children even when not focused on them, and outlines principles and approaches for undertaking child-sensitive social...
Read MoreGood practice in the development of management information systems for social protection
The focus of this paper is to examine good practice in the design and implementation of management information systems (MISs) for social protection. Section 2 describes MISs, pointing out that they are more than systems of computer hardware and application software. Section 3 discusses the type of information required by...
Read MoreElectronic payment for cash transfer programmes: Cutting costs and corruption or an idea ahead of its time?
There is growing interest in the use of electronic payment (e-payment) systems in cash transfer programmes. When cash is transferred to beneficiaries through e-payment technologies such as mobile phone accounts or smartcards, there is potential to cut costs and reduce corruption compared with physical payment methods. E-payment systems can...
Read MoreISSA Guidelines on Information and Communication Technology
The ISSA Guidelines on Information and Communication Technology address the issues related to the management and implementation of ICT systems and provide guidance to support social security institutions in carrying out ICT-related activities. Its main goals are to promote the effectiveness and reliability of social security services, as well...
Read MoreInformation and Communication Technology: Facilitating innovative social security
The objective of this issue is to highlight four sustainable and positive contributions that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is making to social security; to summarize the challenges of putting in place and managing effective ICT and to identify key elements to the successful implementation of ICT solutions. Link...
Read MoreISSA Guidelines Contribution Collection and Compliance
These guidelines are intended to cover all the key components of a contribution collection and compliance system. Some are necessarily general, such as those covering the mission, strategy, communication, etc., and could be applied to other social security contexts, but others are quite specific to contribution collection and compliance....
Read MoreSocial security contribution collection and compliance: Improving governance to extend social protection
Using survey evidence collected from social security organizations and contribution collection agencies, a major aim of this article is to advance knowledge sharing and good practice on contribution collection and the enforcement of compliance. Although contribution collection and compliance have important social protection, political and fiscal dimensions, this article...
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 MoreEvidence on gender inequities in social health protection. The case of women living in rural areas
While in many developing countries, urban women have achieved some progress towards equality due to better chances in growing formal economies, rural women are often stuck in harsh living and working conditions in informal economies, e.g. as landless labourers or domestic workers. The objective of this paper is to...
Read MoreGlobal evidence on inequities in rural health protection: New data on rural deficits in health coverage for 174 countries
This paper presents global estimates on rural/urban disparities in access to health-care services. The report uses proxy indicators to assess key dimensions of coverage and access involving the core principles of universality and equity. Based on the results of the estimates, policy options are discussed to close the gaps...
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 MoreUniversal health protection: progress to date and the way forward
This paper proposes policy options based on ILO research and experiences that aim at universal coverage and equitable access to health care. The policy options discussed focus on ensuring the human rights to social security and health and on the rights-based approaches underpinning the need for equity and poverty...
Read MoreThe transition from the informal to the formal economy, 103rd and 104th Session of the International Labour Conference
The informal economy is significantly impacting the world of work, with as much as 40–80 per cent of the labour force in developing countries working within it. Increasingly, transition to formality has emerged as a priority policy agenda in developed and developing countries, and new policy initiatives and approaches...
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 MoreRapid extension of health protection
This policy brief summarizes the limited coverage of health protection today. It suggests three steps to rapidly extend health protection and achieve universal health coverage that is sustainable and allows for returns in terms of socio-economic development and growth. Link to this...
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 MoreConvention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1954 (UNHCR)
Relevant articles Article 24: Labour legislation and social security The Contracting States shall accord to stateless persons lawfully staying in their territory the same treatment as is accorded to nationals in respect of the following matters: a) In so far as such matters are governed by laws or regulations...
Read MoreSocial security: Three lessons from the global crisis
This article focuses on three lessons that can be drawn from responses to the global crisis: People covered by different social security arrangements with respect to financing, design and coverage are exposed to economic shocks in different degrees. With adequate financing, design and coverage, social security acts as an economic...
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...
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