Series I. International Social Security Standards for building and maintaining efficient and effective social protection system.

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 will equip participants with an understanding how these standards provide for a systemic approach to social protection. The Series will cover a wide-range of social protection themes, will provide an insight on the most recent social protection policy discussions and will contribute 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 I. International Social Security Standards for building and maintaining efficient and effective social protection systems offered participants the opportunity to: • Have greater familiarity with the international social protection legal and policy framework; • Gain better understanding of how international social security standards are applied at national level, in law and in practice, and what is their relevance for policy design and implementation, and in particular in building and maintaining comprehensive social protection systems, for the reform of social protection schemes and for the decision making processes at national level; • Get more acquainted with integrated approaches to strengthen national social protection systems, including social protection floors, which contribute to the reduction and prevention of poverty, to the promotion of economic and social development, decent work, as well as to the transition from the informal to formal economy.