The 1st Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment (STC-SDLE-1) is scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 20 to 24 April 2015.

The purpose of the STC-SDLE-1 will be to consider social inclusion challenges for vulnerable groups in Member States, including the expansion of social protection systems to combat poverty and exclusion, as well as to establish synergies among the social development, labour and employment sectors to enable the joint operationalization of the Specialized Technical Committee.

Social development and social security as central concern and key developmental goal for the African Union

The Constitutive Act of the African Union identifies as one of the objectives of the African Union, (to) “promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments”. The Constitutive Act furthermore contains the principle of “promotion of social justice to ensure balanced economic development”. Consequently, constitutional provision exits, as a defining imperative, to safeguard human security and social security in which enhanced social protection and social development policies and programmes would play a vital role.

After two decades of registering steady high levels of economic growth, Africa is still facing unacceptable high levels of poverty and inequality usually upheld or sustained by less inclusive development processes.

Social development and social protection are instrumental in achieving inclusive development and will be vital for achieving the goals of the AU Agenda 2063, especially with regard to the outcomes, namely: (i) A Prosperous Africa based on Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development; (ii) An Integrated Continent, Politically United, based on the ideals of Pan Africanism, (iii) An Africa where Development is People-driven, relying particularly on the potential of Women and Youth, and (iv) A Peaceful and Secure Africa.

The AU Agenda 2063 states the value of social development as follows: “To guarantee the high standard of living as a right, An Africa of 2063 will be characterized by the fact that all its citizens would have affordable social security and where social protection is extended to all vulnerable sections of society. All its citizens shall be free from fear and want, and all public facilities and services will have provisions for people with disabilities. The Africa of 2063 will be a compassionate and caring society.”

Social development is anchored in the Social Policy Framework for Africa (Windhoek, Namibia, 2008) which also builds on employment and social protection as key strategic areas aiming at achieving well-being of people in Africa. Over the next decade, the vision for the employment and labour sectors have been framed by the AU Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development.

Political developments in North Africa over the past three years have exposed the unacceptable situation of inequality, social and economic exclusion, poverty and huge unemployment as well as underemployment in Africa. Income inequality in Africa is high and reaches 60% in some countries. Social and economic inequality is a major source of political, social and economic risk. In developed economies, inequality also leads to protests and interrogation of the social system. With regard to social protection from risks and the resulting insecurities, and investment in human infrastructure, Africa is lagging behind other regions as measured by public expenditure on social protection floors, as a percentage of GDP, in 2010-2011. The measures in Africa are 0.2% for children representing 42% of the population, 0.5% for social protection of women and men of working age, 1.3% for older women and men, and 24.7% for universal health coverage, as compared to 0.2% for children representing 26.5% of the population, 1.5% on social protection for women and men of working age, 2% on older women and men, and 58% on universal health coverage in the Asian region.

The Ebola crises has furthermore exposed, not only the weak health systems in the affected countries, but also the need for integrated social protection interventions in the aftermath of natural disasters, especially with regard to the care for children affected by the death of caregivers. Social consequences of the Ebola crises include orphans, destitute youths and adults where need for cash transfers, feeding schemes, interim housing and care arrangements, family life education and reintegration into the education system have been amplified. Consequently, the need for acceleration of training of health care workers and social workers to follow up on family life education and guarantors for health and social wellbeing, such as vaccination, nutrition and education.

Under normal circumstances, the key challenges of social protection systems evolve around the issues of financial, fiscal and economic affordability and their sustainability, in particular in developing countries, such as in Africa. Other specific challenges relate to legal and financial social security coverage of rural and informal workers engaged in occupational or sectorial groups with specific vulnerabilities. Traditional social protection schemes are still operational besides the systems implemented by governments, international partners and NGOs.

The situation of limited contribution to social security systems is aggravated by other social development challenges such as the harsh status of vulnerable groups such as children, orphans, persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV-AIDS, migrant workers, child labour particularly in domestic work, etc. The African family, which is the basis for social integration, has been weakened by the negative impact of socio-economic crises which precipitate the continuous dislocation of family members and of the family as a unit. Subsequently, interventions should be rolled out that will support the family as the primary provider of social protection to its members in the African context. In the same vein, support should be mainstreamed in the form of social protection measures for children, older persons, persons with disabilities and the girl-child, also protecting her from early marriage with all its consequences. The STC-SDLE-1 will consider policy indicators and guidelines in all the mentioned respects.

Social Development and social protection in the global agenda for human development

Social development and social protection for the realization of human, social and economic rights are recognized in the Declaration of Philadelphia, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and also in the Social Security Standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and its Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization. In April 2009, as one of its joint Crisis Initiatives, the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination adopted the Social Protection Floor Initiative. In June 2012, the International Labour Conference adopted Recommendation R202 on Social Protection Floors as a strong normative guideline for building comprehensive nationally defined social protection systems, which was also endorsed by the G20 in the same month. Social Protection Floors is defined as sets of basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. In addition to the Social Protection Inter Agency Coordination Board (SPIAC-B) co-chaired by the ILO and the World Bank, the One-UN Social Protection Floors Country Teams were set up in March 2014.

The European Union has subsequently adopted the “Agenda for Change” as pivotal instrument of cooperation in the area of social protection while the World Bank is implementing its Social Protection Strategy for Africa (2012-2017). Bilateral partners are also pursuing cooperation with developing countries in the areas of social development and social protection. This diversity of interventions offers a series of opportunities but it also points to the challenge of fragmentation which requires effective coordination mechanisms.

The Post-2015 Development Agenda contains 12 Social Protection Targets to change people’s lives by 2030, focusing on pension, employment, benefits for persons with disabilities, social support to mothers and families with children, universal health coverage, and social protection for all during the life cycle. However, social protection is not included as a stand-alone goal towards inclusive development.

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