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play_arrowBuilding social protection floors for all

ILO Global Flagship Programme

Vision and value proposition

play_arrow Photo: Marcel Crozet/ILO

Social security is a human right

Despite this, 4 billion people have no access to social protection and are left totally unprotected.

53% of the population has no access to social protection

Life without social protection means

People cannot access the health care services they need
play_arrow People cannot access the health care services they need

While 66 per cent of the global population are protected by a health scheme of some kind, significant coverage and adequacy gaps remain. These include large out-of-pocket payments for health services, physical distance, limitations in the range, quality and acceptability of health services, and long waiting times.

Children have to work to help their parents
play_arrow Children have to work to help their parents

Social protection, together with broader interventions such as access to quality education, is vital in preventing and eradicating child labour. Social protection helps children attain their full potential, support family livelihoods and care needs, thus helping break vicious cycles of poverty and socio-economic vulnerability. Despite this, only 26 per cent of children receive social protection benefits.

Women have to go back to work the day after deliveing their babies
play_arrow Women have to go back to work the day after delivering their babies

Only 45 pmer cent of women with newborns worldwide receive a maternity cash benefit. Lack of income security forces many women, especially those in the informal economy, to keep working into the very late stages of pregnancy and/or to return to work prematurely, thereby exposing themselves and their children to significant health risks.

Frail older persons have to work until they die
play_arrow Frail older persons have to work until they die

Although pensions are the most widespread form of social protection in the world, with 78 per cent of people above retirement age receiving some form of support, major discrepancies still exist across regions, between rural and urban areas, and between women and men.

Persons with disability have no income on their own
play_arrow People cannot access the health care services they need

While 66 per cent of the global population are protected by a health scheme of some kind, significant coverage and adequacy gaps remain. These include large out-of-pocket payments for health services, physical distance, limitations in the range, quality and acceptability of health services, and long waiting times.

Our vision

Our vision is a world where all countries have national social protection systems that:

play_arrow Provide adequate social protection to all their population throughout their lives, prevent poverty, reduce inequality and combat social exclusion;

play_arrow Are not temporary arrangements, but robust, reliable and sustainable mechanisms;

play_arrow Should be built on national consensus achieved through inclusive social dialogue;

play_arrow Should be embedded in law to provide rights and obligations for current and future generations;

play_arrow Should be adequately and sustainably financed.

COVID-19 and my disability won't stop my search for work

Governments Employers W o r k e r s Civil society Financial and administrative governance Costing and financing Legal frameworks Data and statistics Policy design Adaptation to new and emerging challenges Strategies Culture MIS Maternity Child & family benefits Survivor benefits Disability Persons with disabilities Link with formalization Link with green policies Link with labour market and employment policies Link with labour migration Employment injury Sickness Old age Unemployment Long term care Health Victims of climate change Informal economy Gender responsive P a r tn e r s h i p s: U SP 2 0 3 0 , S P I A C - B , P 4 H , I F I s U N S P F in i t i a t i v e W o r k e r s a n d e m p l o y e r s n e t w o r k s G lo b a l c o a l i t i o n fo r S P F s

Our value proposition

Based on inclusive social dialogue and the application of international social security standards, the Flagship Programme supports Member States in building national social protection systems that are sustainable and adapted to new and emerging challenges, are universal and leave no one behind, are comprehensive across the life cycle and are coherent with other policies. Through partnerships, the Flagship Programme increases ownership for universal social protection and the application of international social security standards.

Theory of change

The first phase of the Flagship Programme laid the foundations for the development of robust social protection systems in 21 priority countries through concrete institutional changes leading to impacts on people. The second phase builds on these achievements, expanding to 50 countries, and is based on three inter-linking pillars.

Theory of change diagram

Theory of Change

Inter-linking pillars

pillar-1
Pillar 1

Supporting 50 priority countries to develop their national social protection systems following a three-pillar approach.

Step 1: Adopting a national social protection strategy
Step 2: Designing and reforming schemes
Step 3: Improving operations

Read more about each step here

pillar-2
Pillar 2

Supporting countries in 16 thematic areas and strengthening the knowledge base.

Through the Technical Support Facility (TSF), ILO thematic experts support their colleagues in country to provide very specific expertise such as drafting or reviewing legal documents, ensuring gender sensitive social protection or putting in place management information systems in alignment with ILO social protection standards. The experiences at country level feed back into the thematic work across 16 thematic areas and allow for the development of knowledge products, exchanges across countries and south-south learning.

Learn more about each thematic area here

pillar-3
Pillar 3

Working with social partners, development partners, the UN family, and the social protection community.

Strategic partnerships support pillar 1 and 2 to multiply impact and promote a rights-based social protection approach in line with ILO standards. The ILO involvement in delivering as One UN is at the heart of these partnerships. The Flagship Programme collaborates with employers and workers organisations through the Global Business Network for Social Protection Floors as well as the Social Protection, Freedom and Justice for Workers Network. Development partners are crucial for achieving policy coherence at country level, and in creating a global coalition for social protection.

See more of our Partners here

play_arrow Building social protection floors for all