Social Protection

Building social protection floors
and comprehensive social security systems

Implementation of the Social Protection Floor

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Each UN organization conducts important activities related to the floor, they all have a social protection agenda or engage in related activities.  The SPF initiative establishes a framework for enahanced policy coherence across the UN system, namely to discuss country priorities.

The UN agencies involved in the Initiative have jointly produced a manual that will guide countries to implement the SPF: 'Manual and strategic framework for joint UN country operations'.

There is no best solution or 'one-size-fits-all' formulas. Each country has different needs, development objectives and fiscal capacity to achieve them, and will choose a different set of policies.

 We can identify 8 different steps in the implementing process of the Social Protection Floor:

  1. Identify the key stakeholders at the national level 
  2. Setting up national SPF task forces composed by representatives of governments, social partners and other stakeholders, and supported by UN SPF country teams 
  3. Awareness-raising (political willingness - Integration of SPF in national, regional and global planning process) 
  4. Map present SPF situation (status quo)
    • Political and institutional analysis
    • Social Protection population
    • Macroeconomic data, household income-expenditure, poverty levels,...
    • Crisis impact assessment
    • Inventory of measures taken to mitigate crisis impact
  5. Identify viable policy options and concrete proposals for progress 
  6. Evaluate the impact and cost of policy options versus status quo and identify financing sources and priorities 
  7. Implement a monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanism 
  8. Identify technical and financial support required for building capacities
 

The emerging policy issues to establish a social protection floor can be summarized in a set of core questions.

  • How can a basic level of social protection for all - including first and foremost the most vulnerable - be designed and implemented at country level?
  • How can such policies and measures be made compatible with the necessity to build a long-term sustainable architecture of national social protection systems?
  • How can the fiscal space for social transfers be secured or increased?
  • How can cooperation between agencies on the new Social Protection Floor initiative of the CEB be made more effective?