ILO, UNOSSC Discuss Social Protection Policy on UN Day for South-South Cooperation

Transcription

1 ILO, UNOSSC Discuss Social Protection Policy on UN Day for South-South Cooperation The afternoon program of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation 2013 featured presentations by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), and representatives from nations participating in the agencies programs. The ILO promotes the rights of individuals across the world by encouraging cooperation among governments, employers, and workers in order to create sensible labor policy. The speakers discussed ILO s work with the UNOSSC around implementing sustainable social protection floors, which are nationally-defined guarantees that ensure individuals have access to primary healthcare and basic income security. Following comments from ILO and UNOSSC leaders, representatives from Cambodia and Mozambique presented cases of successful social protection floor programs in their countries. The afternoon kicked off with a presentation from Telma Viale, Special Representative of the United Nations and Director of the Office for the United Nations in New York, ILO. Viale began by thanking Ambassador John W. Ashe and the UNOSSC, with whom the ILO has a long-standing relationship. Previously, the two agencies partnered together at the UNOSCC Expo, which took place at the ILO headquarters in Geneva in In 2012, the General Conference of the International Labor Organization established the text of the recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection. These reaffirmed that social security is a human right and along with the ability to find employment it is an economic and social necessity for development and progress. Through the efforts of the ILO, partnerships have been strengthened with Brazil, China, South Africa, India and other IBSAfunded nations. Next to speak was Adriana Telles Ribeiro a representative of the Brazil s Mission to the UN. Brazil was the first country of the South-South cooperation to sign the partnership with the ILO, and social protection floors have been an extremely effective, according to Ribeiro. Over the past decade, almost 40 million Brazilians have risen out of extreme poverty, she said. Ribeiro highlighted specific programs Brazil has implemented that have helped everything from promoting education and health checks, to supporting smallholder agricultural producers, encouraging healthier eating in schools, and incentivizing the impoverished to take part in conservation of the Amazon. Next to speak was the ILO Director of the Social Security Department Alejandro Bonillo Garcia. Garcia began with a quote, one he attributed to Yankees Catcher Mariano Rivera, but is truly Albert Einstein s. Regardless of its origin, the quote was true to today s topics: In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they are not.

2 We are in a very historical moment, Garcia continued. I have been working for almost 30 years. This is the best moment that I ve experience in the agenda of social protection. He continued to urge nations to start implementing social protection floors for their populations now, before it becomes too hard in the next five to ten years, arguing that it is not a cost but an investment. He then laid out a template for developing social protection floors at both the global and national level. Garcia stressed that they must be inclusive regardless of area of residence or poverty level. He also reiterated the need for social protection to be a program developed and implemented by employers and government but also something that included those who the programs are aimed to help: workers and the impoverished. Social protection floors also must cover the entire lifecycle, Garcia explained; they cannot just be aimed at the elderly or children. Despite challenges, Garcia acknowledged the creativity and productivity of South-South cooperation, and hinted that not only developing countries need to work to implement these structures. Many developed countries are in trouble, he said, meaning that the issue is universal and can travel well beyond the global South. Following the statements from Viale, Ribeiro, and Garcia, Francisco Simplício, the Assistant Director of the Program and Funds Management for UNOSSC, discussed the obstacles in implementing sustainable social protection floors. It s difficult to put things into practice, [we are dealing with] strong limitations of available financial resources [and] need innovation, he said. Simplício also encouraged new methods for coordination between donors and those implementing policy, saying that it will not work in the same way as it has been working in the past... we have been working together in bringing this social protection into practice [and] different from previous [years we now have] knowledge of what works and what does not work. Key to coordination is the exchange of know-how. Simplício asserted that knowledge is important to the successful applications of these programs, calling it a new kind of resource. The task at hand, Simplício continued, is to bring member states together and coordinate information sharing that will be relevant to the new age. Member states [should offer] an expression of solidarity as all ambassadors presenting [today] with mutual accountability, he stated. Defined broadly as a mechanism [for] coming together toward [increasing] knowledge [to] promote cooperation. He referred to a successful knowledge sharing case in the form of the South-South Development Academy, which successfully co-financed a workshop [and] brought a number of countries [to] the start of social protection floors.

3 Until the initial meeting of the academy in 2011, where knowledge was for the first time consolidated, most of the experts of the countries had never had the opportunity to meet before. This event marked an exciting point in the cooperation of member states, and according to Simplício, it was the first collection of experiences in social protection, [gathering] 18 case studies on social protection from 15 countries of the global South. Simplício s presentation was followed by statements from ILO s Social Security Specialist Valérie Schmitt. She began by addressing successful applications of social protection floors in Asia. Two case studies she highlighted were the success of Thailand s universal healthcare system, and Cambodia s national social protection strategy. The aim of implementing successful social protection is to have, as Schmitt asserted, direct South-South coordination with limited UN involvement. She called this the helicopter method: In order to benefit an entire region, the ILO uses its helicopter view of common issues and challenges to develop joint methodologies and tools [for applying social protection floors] Plans for implementing social protection floors should be tailored to specific problems, in order to create effective systems based on relevant experiences. To make sure the programs get to a country s grassroots level, Schmitt explained a method of Single Window Service, or a service that reaches every person in need in all levels of society by bringing the resources directly to those in need. To propel such a plan, Schmitt proposed three forms of education. First, to explain what people are entitled to; then to educate people, children and students ( the future policy makers ); and finally, to disseminate information via internet platforms, like GESS and popular social networks. Ultimately, Schmitt explained, the ILO s helicopter view is about identifying needs and connecting people. Such an approach, the agency thinks, will lead to international coordination and quality decision making to provide direct assistance and knowledge sharing for the global community. Following comments from ILO and UNOSSC leaders, representatives from Cambodia and Mozambique presented case studies on how social protection programs were being implemented within the South-South cooperation context. First up was Cambodia s Dr. Vathana Sann, Deputy Secretary-General, Council for Agricultural and Rural Development. Sann began by speaking about sustainable social protection floors in his country, sharing how the strategies were developed and then implemented. Social protection is only part of Cambodian history, it is only part of Cambodian policy agenda, he said. Up to 5.5% of GDP is spent on social protection, the question is why this isn t effective how can sustainability effect the root cause of poverty in Cambodia.

4 He mentioned financing and monitoring problems as two such issues, stating, most programs are on a limited budget and lack one unique system of monitoring. In using Cambodia s experiences as a blueprint for other developing countries, he stated that, there must be a strong coordination mechanism in place to make sure they reach the goal, and that transparency is key. Cambodia s National Security Strategy was developed in 2011 under a specific framework, which operates with the belief that specific strategies need to be implemented to address various levels of poverty. The social security process must be understood to be a gradual process, Sann said. It is a gradual process of moving from a safety net base to an expanded and comprehensive understanding of social security. Increasing the financial commitment of social protection programs at the expense of other sectors is a concern for government financial planners, he admitted. But, as other panelists had alluded to throughout the day, Sann stressed that spending on social security strategy is also a way to address peace, security, and prosperity. For such a strategy to be effective, the core mechanism must be in place to ensure the full cooperation of all people involved, and that a country has a secure platform from which to work from: A good strategy is not about how sophisticated and how [sound] it is during development but how [sound] it is during implementation. Sann finished his presentation by stating that cost effectiveness and investment plans needed to be in place to select the most appropriate tools. We want to make sure that we reach the people, Sann explained. The nation has to listen to the demands of the population. We have one voice. Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere. The following speaker was Elsa Alfai, Social Policy Advisor of the Minister of Women and Social Affairs of Mozambique. She discussed how social protection law responds to the challenges of vulnerable people. With a population of 3 million and a rate of poverty in 2008/2009 of 57 percent, Mozambique serves as a good example of how social protection policies can be developed, implemented, and shared from the ground up within the context of South-South cooperation. The first step is acknowledging the essential need of governments to provide sound policies. Mozambique, Alfai stated, recognizes that all citizens should have a social protection floor and that, the social protection guide holds a permanent position in our debates. Mozambique s government has introduced social protection as one of their main planning instruments, approving their basic strategy in The response to the needs of [children], the elderly, people with disabilities, and women became more structured and integrated because these groups have access to the benefits of health, education, social welfare and we have tools for better monitoring and evaluating government response, Alfai said.

5 Mozambique has defined four National Basic Social Security Axes aimed at specific communities and issues within their society, namely people with HIV, malnourished children, family reunification, extremely poor households in which no adults are able to work, and the upgrading of specific infrastructure projects. In terms of financing these various projects, she noted that, around 90 percent of the budget comes from domestic resources, calling it one of the program s positives. Regarding donor support, she noted the constant trend in the increasing number of beneficiaries. On a practical level, the country is trying to improve the operating systems by providing new payment modalities, case management functions and promoting linkages with other sectors within Mozambique, she said. She also noted the benefits derived from the experiences of other counties, particularly those from Africa. Support from international partners such as the ILO and the International Monetary Fund around the costing of programs and increasing the national dialogue has also been very helpful. Mozambique has reaped rich lessons with the materialization of a social protection floor, she said. We say that investing in social protection is an investment in human capital. Following the presentations from Sann and Alfai, Alejandro Bonilla Garcia wrapped up the afternoon by stressing advocacy for social protection floor programs, and promoting international cohesion around such initiatives. There has to be a champion in every country, Garcia said. There has to be someone who does not sleep every night because social protection is not implemented. And while Garcia called for leaders in New York, Vienna, and other northern countries to also be enthusiastic around social protection issues in the global South, he pleaded for these nations to be humble when providing resources, and not to push certain social models. In closing the day s activities, Garcia called for all nations to stay optimistic and to work toward a world vision in which individuals in all countries are supported by social protection floors, calling such a vision not a question of dreaming, but a question of imagining. Reports by Sarah Gray, Talia Kuhel, Heidi Harrington-Johnson, Anton Root Edited by Anton Root