Developing inclusive social protection systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Published on 06/03/2019

Health and human development

SOCIAL PROTECTION AND DECENT WORK

Ethiopia

On 19 and 20 February 2019, the SOCIEUX+ facility, the EU-SPS programme and the African Union (AU) organised a seminar in Addis Ababa concerning the ways and means to extend social protection systems in Sub-Saharan African countries, which are marked by the dominance of the informal economy. Social protection for all, especially for men and women who work in the informal economy, consequently remains a major challenge in Africa.

The discussions gathered an audience of African senior officials from the social sector, a number of European experts in social protection, as well as representatives from the AU and EU. They focused on 5 main issues:

• The protection of vulnerable populations in the context of an informal economy;

• The financing of social protection systems in Africa;

• Regional integration and social protection;

• The sustainability of social protection systems and institutional strengthening;

• Information systems and data management for social protection.

In the context of this seminar, Expertise France, the leader of the SOCIEUX+ programme, invited partners from Gabon, Togo, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar and Malawi, as well as experts who had participated in SOCIEUX+ missions, based on cooperation between peers. Issues as fundamental as the establishment of universal health coverage, and access to a pension or to protection against accidents at work were discussed and innovative solutions were studied.

Managing data and information for #SocialProtection: Mr. Peiro talks about his experience in #Zanzibar with @SOCIEUXplus, working on a new management information system for the roll-out of their universal pension scheme #ISPSAddis pic.twitter.com/oZgO7oMcqT
— SOCIEUX+ (@SOCIEUXplus) 20 février 2019

SOCIEUX+, a flexible and responsive instrument

The exchanges and discussions also confirmed the relevance of the SOCIEUX+ programme, a flexible and responsive cooperation instrument, which has to date benefited over 40 countries around the world.

This facility is financed by the European Union and intervenes upon request in a period of less than 3 months. It assists its partners in the development of sustainable, effective, inclusive and equitable social protection systems and labour market policies.

The implementation of such policies is crucial for populations because, as pointed out at the conference by a number of participants, economic growth is not always synonymous with development and the reduction of inequalities: it must be combined with a redistribution policy for which social protection systems are the vehicle.

Françoise Millecam @EU_Commission DEVCO: "Social Protection is in the DNA of the #EU, and we believe in it as a human right". #ISPSAddis conference is ending, thanks to @_AfricanUnion @OECD_Centre @ilo @UN_Women, and to all the partners, speakers and participants! pic.twitter.com/9928OBJwKc
— SOCIEUX+ (@SOCIEUXplus) 20 février 2019