Series II. International Social Security Standards: extension of social protection coverage and the effective implementation of social protection policies

Social protection is a human right and a social and economic necessity. It is enshrined in a range of major United Nations instruments and it is at the core of the ILO’s Constitution and mandate. Complementing international human rights instruments, international social security standards are part of a comprehensive internationally agreed and recognized normative framework, which establishes a clear benchmark of minimum standards and paves the way for the progressive realization of the human right to social protection. The Regional Workshop Series, focusing on international social security standards, equips participants with an understanding of how these standards provide for a systemic approach to social protection. The Series covers a wide range of social protection themes, provides an insight on the most recent social protection policy discussions and contributes to the advancement of the regional strategy of accelerating social protection coverage in Africa. OBJECTIVES The Regional Workshop Series aims at enhancing knowledge and understanding of the international social security instruments with a view to promoting their use and strengthening their purpose, relevance and impact: • Promoting a right-based approach to social protection policy-making; • Understanding international social security standards as a core element in designing national policies and legal frameworks; • Appreciating the purpose and relevance of these instruments in advancing universal social protection systems, with particular focus on the regional strategy for accelerating coverage of social protection in Africa; • Exploring framework for concretizing the right-based approach to social protection in policy and national law and practice; • Unpacking core provisions of the international social security standards; • Strengthening the regional network of consultants / researchers/ policy experts in the area of social protection. CONTENT The Series II. International Social Security Standards: extension of social protection coverage and the effective implementation of social protection policies offered participants the opportunity to: • Familiarize themselves with the internationally agreed standards and principles for building nationally defined social protection floors, and progressively reaching higher levels of protection, in line with the two-dimensional strategy for the extension of social security set out in the ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation; • Enhance understanding of the challenges and constraints with regard to access to social protection, in particular the peculiar circumstances and challenges of social protection in Africa; • Reflect on COVID-19 impact, response and recovery actions, and discuss how the lessons learnt can inform coverage extension and building/strengthening systems. • Acquire knowledge on strategies for the extension of social protection coverage and importance of an integrated approach, in line with international social security standards; • Become more familiar with key principles and provisions related to selected key branches of social security; • Increase awareness of key tools, guides, knowledge products and relevant resources on extension of social protection and international social security standards.