Social protection is essential to reduce and prevent poverty and vulnerability throughout the lifecycle. Numerous commitments from the international community have been agreed upon to support financing efforts to ensure comprehensive social protection systems that provide adequate support to all, however, major financing gaps for social protection persist, with the ILO estimating that 1.2 trillion USD is needed to close the financing gap for low-and middle-income countries. Nevertheless, international financial support remains critically low.
In the meeting, panellists from international organisations, civil society, trade unions, and academia called governments to urgently move away from austerity measures, to make instead use of the different sustainable options available to strengthen social protection. You can download here the background note, agenda, and the speakers’ presentations.