ILO | Social Protection Platform

Baseline

Social protection relies on national dialogue and consensus. It is not the result of a top-down approach as it involves many different actors, such as policymakers, social partners, development partners and the wide population. To be universal and sustainable, social protection should be considered as a common good that is independent of political or philosophical ideologies. Promoting an effective culture of social protection among all the groups concerned by social protection paves the way to establish universal and sustainable systems of social protection.
Policymakers with a culture of social protection based on evidence and knowledge are more prepared to take the right decisions and invest in social protection. In the same way, populations with a culture of social protection are informed on its principles and values and are better prepared to participate in the construction of social protection systems.
States need to create an enabling context in which individuals are aware of their rights and obligations and have trust in the system. Creating a culture of social protection through communication, awareness-raising and education are key in this process. Awareness and trust are particularly important in the context of contributory systems, in which individuals who contribute today need to have the confidence that they will be adequately protected when needs arise tomorrow. Having trust in the social protection system and seeing its tangible benefits, including the quality of its services, will also enhance individuals’ willingness to pay taxes to sustain it.

Approach and Technical Support

Supporting the ratification campaign of Convention No. 102

Engaging governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, donors and development partners in the design and implementation of universal social protection systems that deliver transparent, accountable and sustainable services. This involves the promotion of other ILO social security standards, such as Recommendation No. 202, which gives clear guidance for designing and implementing social protection floors.

Technical support includes:

a communication campaign to support the ratification of Convention No. 102 at the global level;
establishment of an International Social Protection Day, in line with the Conclusions of the second recurrent discussion on social protection (social security) adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 109th Session in 2021

Raising awareness to enhance willingness and support for social protection.

This requires intense advocacy with key target groups (ministries of finance, parliamentarians, social partners, journalists, development banks, academia, private sector and employers and so on), based on knowledge and evidence such as statistics, microsimulations of policy reforms, impact studies, budget analysis and so on.

Technical support includes:

assistance in the preparation of national communication strategies to enhance willingness and support for social protection based on knowledge and evidence aimed at key target groups (ministries of finance, parliamentarians, social partners, journalists, development banks, academia, private sector and employers and so on)

Raising people’s awareness of their rights and obligations to social protection and building knowledge of social protection principles and values

This includes communication on processes to register for and claim benefits. Communication and education with the wider public contributes to creating a national consensus around policy reforms and building ownership and trust in the system.