Global Workers' Digital Academy on Ensuring Adequate and Effective Social Security and Protection for All Workers

Despite progress in recent years in extending social protection in many parts of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep-seated inequalities and significant gaps in social protection coverage, comprehensiveness and benefit adequacy across all countries. As of 2020, only 46.9 per cent of the global population were effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit, while the remaining 53.1 per cent – as many as 4.1 billion people – were left wholly unprotected. COVID-19 provoked an unparalleled social protection policy response. Governments extended coverage to unprotected groups, increased benefit levels or introduced new benefits, and mobilized additional financial resources. But while these measures acted as important shock absorbers, they remained insufficient to mitigate the full impact of the crisis and were mostly implemented in advanced economies, leaving 53.1 per cent of the global population unprotected. Social protection coverage gaps are often linked to a significant underinvestment in social protection. The temptation to revert to fiscal consolidation to pay for the massive public expenditure outlays necessitated by COVID-19 must be avoided as austerity leaves deep social scarring, hurting the most vulnerable in society. Countries are now at a crossroads with regard to the trajectory of their social protection systems. Recovery will only be sustained and future crises mitigated if countries move towards comprehensive, sustainable and shock responsive social protection systems. A human-centred recovery requires countries to reinforce their social protection systems by urgently closing coverage and adequacy gaps through adapted policy solutions; restore and secure the necessary financial resources in a sustainable and equitable way; and enhance coordination between social protection and employment, economic and fiscal policies. Social protection policies will also need to address persistently high levels of informality and inequality as well as transformative changes in the world of work, driven by technological innovations, demographic shifts, and environmental and climate change. In addressing these challenges, the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (2019) called upon all Members, with the support of the ILO, to strengthening the capacities of all people to benefit from the opportunities of a changing world of work through, among others, universal access to comprehensive and sustainable social protection. More recently, the Conclusions concerning the second recurrent discussion on social protection (social security), adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2021, called upon ILO Members to commit with strong political will and social dialogue to build and maintain universal, comprehensive, sustainable and adequate social protection systems. To this purpose, member States should establish and maintain nationally defined social protection floors for all in need in line with the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), serving as a steppingstone to progressively ensure higher levels of protection, in accordance with the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and the vision of the Centenary Declaration towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets on social protection and in particular SDG Targets 1.3 and 3.8. Mobilizing the necessary financial resources will not be easy for many countries, but the cost of inaction will be significant. In this sense, solidarity and international financing are needed to support countries with insufficient capacities of their own, e.g. through the Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection, which was launched by the UN together with the ILO in September 2021, and an international financing mechanism, such as a Global Fund for Social Protection. Workers’ organizations play a crucial role in strengthening workers’ resilience and enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all. They are key for tripartite participation in social protection policy making and the implementation of social protection schemes. However, they are often not equipped to effectively participate in national social protection dialogue with the result that around the globe social protection reforms are carried out without taking the interests of workers into account. Workers are also often left out in the monitoring and evaluation of social protection schemes, including the reporting on SDGs. OBJECTIVES Support workers’ organisations in contributing to the ILO's Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for All with strong and effective positions in social protection policy making and implementation at the national, regional and global level by strengthening their understanding of (i) the role of social protection in crises responses and beyond, (ii) its financing mechanisms, (iii) impacts/ implications of social security reforms, as well as by enhancing their ability to monitor and evaluate the implementation of social protection schemes; The specific objectives are: • Sharing good practice experiences on comprehensive, efficient and innovative services to the TUs members with regard to social protection; • Follow up to the ILC Resolution and conclusions concerning the second recurrent discussion on social protection (2021) and in line with the plan of action that was adopted by the 343th Session (November 2021) of the ILO Governing Body; • Giving tools for an effective implementation of Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202) and effective implementation and promotion of ratification of the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and other relevant social security standards. • Analyse the discussion of tripartite constituents during the 344th ILO Governing Body on Securing social protection for migrant workers and their families: Challenges and options for building a better future. CONTENT - Effectiveness of social protection. - Coordination between social protection and employment, economic and fiscal policies. - Social Protection as a tool for formalization of the informal economy and enhancing equality - Transformative changes in the world of work, driven by technological innovations, demographic shifts, and environmental and climate change; and responses from the Social Protection schemes. - Protection floors for all in need in line with the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202). - Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and the vision of the Centenary Declaration towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals targets on social protection. - Monitoring and evaluation of social protection schemes, including the reporting on SDGs. - Innovative financing mechanisms and the debate on domestic financing and finding fiscal space, and were domestic financing is not sufficient, complementing domestic financing with international financing, e.g. through the Global Accelerator and a Global Fund for Social Protection, as suggested by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. - Policy coherence on social protection in the multilateral system, and advancing care policies. - Trade unions’ participation/ actions/ in the context of the covid pandemic, and their role in building forward better. PARTICIPANTS The course targets trade union leaders at national-level and professional staff engaged in economic and social policy and international development, preferably those directly responsible for policy and/or workers’ education programmes whose main responsibility concerns social protection programmes. Trade union representatives in tripartite social security boards and in social security institutions are highly encouraged to participate. The nominating organisations will be required to place a special emphasis on the nomination of women candidates. Participants need to have direct access to the following resources: • PC, laptop, iPad • Windows operating systems • Internet connection • Internet browser and • Email account • WhatsApp account LANGUAGES The course will be conducted in Spanish, English and French. While advanced language skills are not a requirement, the nominated candidates must be able to understand and be able to involve themselves in discussions in one of these three languages. METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS The course require full involvement by all participants. There will be a specific training material tailor made for the academy. Webinar sessions are designed for the work in small groups in which a space will be provided for a continuous exchange of ideas, information and good practices on selected topics. Active learning methods will be used throughout the course, which will encourage the participants to take part in-group discussions and to be fully involved in all aspects of the training. In essence, the training will consist of a combination of presentations and interactive exercises. Every exercise will be created with specific care regarding its impact and its potential for further action. An interactive final wrap-up session will help in reviewing and in rendering conclusions operational. E-CAMPUS The activity is supported by the E-campus, the education platform of the International Training Centre of the ILO. The platform is used before, during and after the training for the distribution of course information, communication and collaboration, feedback and multimedia content. EVALUATION The final evaluation of the course will examine the achievement of the immediate objectives and the level of satisfaction of the participants. The evaluation will also contribute to the improvement of future ACTRAV-Turin training programs. Number of hours: 40 hours