Participants in national consultations

1. Regional Experts Meeting:Investing in Social Protection in Africa9-11 June 2008Le Méridien Président, DakarSummary of findings of national consultations on social protection Silvia Stefanoni, sstefanoni@helpage.orgDeputy Chief Executive, HelpAge International

2. Background African Union commitment to sustainable social development and furthering human rightsAfrican Union commitment to further social justice and equity as well as opportunities for all people to develop their capacities.Recognition of limited progress to support chronically poor through development interventions Recognition that social transfers are an ‘underutilized’ policy option to achieve rights and poverty reductionRecognition that ‘formal’ social security transfers have limited reach to the some 80% of people that are in the informal sector

3. Regional PrecedentsAU Policy Framework and Plan of Action on Ageing 2002AU Plan of Action on the FamilyAU Plan of Action on the Decade of Disabled persons African Charter on the rights and Welfare of the ChildPlan of Action on HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other related infectious diseases African Union 2004 Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action - aim to empower people, open opportunities and create social protection and security for workers 2006 Livingstone Call for Action – calls for costed social transfer plans within 3 years that development partners can supplement2006 Yaounde Call for Action; calls for intergenerational social policies and integration of cash transfers in development plans including the social pension Development of African Union social policy framework which mainstreams protection as clear policy area

4. Desired outcome of Livingstone 2 processClear recommendations on extending social protection for first AU Conference of Ministers in charge of Social Development, to be held in October 2008, Namibia Recommendations to be derived from Six national social protection consultations: Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Mozambique, ,Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Tunisia; March 2008Three AU convened regional expert meetings on social protection; Uganda, Egypt and Senegal April – June 2008 Civil society contributions to all meetings

5. Participants in national consultations • High level government representatives – Ministries of Finance/planning, social protection and social development • Civil society organizations –NGOs and NGOs • Faith based organizations (FBO’s) • Development partners • United Nations agencies • Bilateral and multilateral agencies • Regional bodies • Specialised social protection experts

6. Definition adopted for the consultations • ‘Social protection encompasses a range of public actions carried out by the state and others that address risk, vulnerability, discrimination and chronic poverty. The right to social security in childhood, old age and at times of disability is expressed in a range of international Human Rights Declarations and treaties. Social security transfers in the form of, for example, pensions, child benefit and disability allowances are considered to be core elements of a comprehensive social protection system.’[1] • [1]By implementing basic social protection, states and supporting international agencies fulfil international human obligations, as expressed in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

7. Findings • Political will – necessary for extending coverage, securing budget and delivery of good quality and sustainable programmes - critical to encourage citizen demand • Having a shared vision – public debate on need for and role of social protection in public policy - importance of linking media, civil society and government; issues of rights and solidarity • Inter-ministerial coordination; to avoid duplication, scattered approaches and to improve data gathering and analysis • Financing and Budgeting; importance of accurate costing based on national data, use of and reference to costing scenarios by ILO and others, links between policy makers in Ministries of Finance and social policy and social security experts

8. 5. Capacity building – extending social protection requires investment in capacity of people, structures, administration, technical expertise and monitoring – by government and citizens • 6. Evidence and monitoring – especially sharing of evidence to inform policy between governments and between citizens and government; accurate data collection and analysis necessary for improved evidence frameworks for monitoring • 7. Role of civil society to support and inform policy development and to complement government programmes; importance of encouraging civil society engagement not just for demand but for effective implementation

9. Some key recommendations • Establish high level inter-ministerial committees on social protection (SP) • Establish regional social protection ‘observatories’ • Review budgetary provisions for SP based on accurate demographic and poverty data • Support institutional capacity building • Introduce a global strategy on SP – eg a minimum social security package • Partnerships with civil society on SP design, delivery and monitoring • Include SP in PRSPs and put together national SP action plans • Ensure social security reforms promote public and private investment and prioritise sustainability, universality and improved quality of services • Extend social security to informal sector workers • Improve health access for all groups

10. Final words • Consultations were invaluable tool to inform policy and foster cross country sharing • They made clear that: • Much is happening across the continent • There is much vibrant interest and wish for national debates on place of social protection in national policy making for very poor people • Leadership of the African Union to champion this process is critical • Development partners an civil society can, do and should play an vital role to ensure national action on social protection • National debates will be helped by the full reports – now being compiled and to be available in due course • It is possible to secure the extension of social protection to all people - as is their right and our obligation to make it happen