Universal Social Protection – What it means and why it concerns all of us
By Christina Dankmeyer, Social Protection Advisor, GIZ
Check out the international conference
Together to achieve Universal Social Protection by 2030
for more on this topic
Social protection has been long overlooked. Yet, since 1948, everyone has the right to a “standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to social security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” ‘In the event of’ implies that we do not notice it when we do not need it.
Only since the 1990s, growing evidence from more and more programmes worldwide has helped complete the picture on the benefits of social protection. In Africa, for example, investing USD 1 in social protection has been found to generate between USD 1.84 and USD 2.5 in economic activity (Taylor, 2013). In Europe, social protection programmes help reduce inequality by one-third (ILO, 2011). Continue reading “Universal Social Protection – What it means and why it concerns all of us”