The ILO and its social security standards
The body of ILO Social Security Standards
Today, the set of up-to-date social security standards, and notably the landmark Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), has come to be recognized globally as a key reference for the design of rights-based, sound and sustainable social protection systems used as a reference by the human rights bodies assessing the implementation of the human right to social security and at the regional level as a model for crafting regional social security instruments.
Already in 1952 and for the first time in international law, Convention No.102 defined the very notion of social security not in abstract terms but as an organized system guaranteeing minimum quantitative and qualitative benchmarks which countries are required to demonstrate compliance with upon ratification.
Apart from Convention No. 102, the ILO also adopted a set of 5 thematic Conventions which established a higher standard of protection for most of the contingencies covered by Convention No. 102 by reference to persons protected and the levels of protection to be provided:
- Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 (No. 121)
- The Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors' Benefits Convention, 1967 (No. 128)
- Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention, 1969 (No. 130)
- Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168)
- Maternity Protection Convention, 2000, (No. 183)
Recommendation No. 202 : A major step forward in reaffirming and operationalizing the human right to social security
In 2012, based on the fact that more than half of the world's population did not have access to any form of social security, the International Labour Conference adopted the Social Protection Floors Recommendation No.202 which enshrined for the first time in international law the notion of social protection floors as fundamental elements of national social protection systems. This major new instrument sets the ILO's vision and strategy as to how to extend social protection to all and reaffirms the central role of Convention No. 102 in this respect.