Leaving No One Behind: A Social Protection Primer for Practitioners The Primer is a document for UNDP COs, and their local counterparts, to position social protection in the context of the Agenda 2030. Presentation to members of the SPIAC-B, 22 September 2016 New York

Why a Primer on Social Protection in the Context of the SDGs? As UNDP develops its offer to support countries in the implementation of Agenda 2030, important opportunity to position social protection as a tool that has the potential simultaneously to address many drivers of exclusion and deprivation, and contribute to many goals and targets. Articulate how social protection can play a transformative role in supporting the achievement of sustainable development. Discuss social protection from an equity perspective, as a mechanisms to leave no one behind. Link social protection to environmental issues.

Guiding Principles of Social Protection for Sustainable Development The primer sets out a set of guiding principles with the objective of enhancing social protection systems that are consistent with, and have maximum impact on, the achievement of sustainable development. [Just FYI, as explained in Primer] Protect human rights: If inclusive and systemic, social protection provides a mechanism for individuals to realize their human rights to social security and adequate social services. The notion of social protection as an obligation under human rights law is very well established and flows directly from the right to social security and a decent standard of living, which is articulated in Articles 22 and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Ensure non-discrimination: Social protection systems, in design and implementation, must be free of discrimination. While most legislation regarding social protection uses inclusive language, marginalized groups are likely to miss opportunities to benefit for various reasons including stigmatization, discrimination, and lack of access and lack of accessible information about their rights. Social protection systems and processes need to recognize that that the more excluded people are, the harder it is to reach them and hear their voices. Non-discrimination needs to be an active target of social protection systems, seeking to hear the voice of right holders, both at community and individual levels, understand their specific needs and barriers, and address them. This requires the involvement and participation of the community, and specific groups within the community, such as social partners (workers and employers organizations) in the process of social protection design and implementation. Foster gender equality and women’s empowerment: The promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women is a core principle of sustainable development. Social protection must be gender-responsive in its design and implementation. It must seek to encompass the different needs and constraints faced by women, men, girls and boys, and reduce gender inequalities in access to and control over resources and the benefits of development. Women and men face different risks and vulnerabilities, some specific to their gender and others exacerbated by gender inequalities and discrimination. The design and implementation of social protection programmes should address such gender-related constraints, including the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work and other barriers to women’s economic advancement. Remain risk-informed and sensitive to environmental concerns: Social protection must address social and environmental opportunities and risks in an integrated manner, recognizing the fundamental linkages with environmental sustainability. Provide a continuum of protection (life-cycle approach): Social protection should be based on a continuum of protection, available at different stages in individuals’ lives, including transitions from one stage to the next and from one employment status to another (for instance when workers move from the informal sector to the formal sector or vice versa). This means it will encompass the particular risks faced, and the specific rights to be protected at each stage in life. Promote universality: Universality of social protection recognizes the right to social protection, and it needs to be fulfilled by a comprehensive and coherent system of programmes based on national solidarity.

Strong focus on reaching those left behind Universal systems of social protection which allow special attention and greater support to be given to those who need assistance the most or experience unique challenges due to inequalities and social exclusion. Inclusive social protection emphasizes the need to reach everyone that needs to be reached, addressing deprivation in all areas that matter for well-being, beyond income poverty; it recognizes the need to make social protection sensitive to the specific needs and constraints faced by different groups, as well as how these needs and constraints interact with each other. Provide examples of inclusion of marginalized groups into social protection systems in differente countries: Moving towards HIV-sensitive social protection in Cambodia Gender-sensitive social protection in Uruguay One key element of the primer worth highlight is its strong focus on working with marginalized groups to ensure there are no barriers to accessing social protection. The Primers looks at mechanisms for coverage expansion as well as making social protection sensitive to the needs of those traditionally excluded. EXAMPLES INCLUDED: The Royal Government of Cambodia, in collaboration with UNDP, UNAIDS and other development partners, embarked on a comprehensive process to make social protection schemes in the country sensitive and inclusive to the needs of people affected by HIV. A socio-economic impact study to better understand the household-level impacts of HIV on human development led to the inclusion of people affected by HIV as a priority group in the National Social Protection Strategy. To move towards the implementation of the strategy, a regional High Level Technical Consultation on HIV-Sensitive Social Protection for Impact Mitigation was hosted in Siam Reap, and a comprehensive review of the existing and potential impacts of social protection schemes on households affected by HIV was carried out. The recommendations derived from the consultations and review are guiding the actions of the Government in moving towards HIV sensitive social protection. Uruguay is an example of important strides in more gender-sensitive social protection. Specifically, it provides transfers for every child or minor in the household and has worked to position social care services as a critical complement to social protection, to allow women to balance work and family life. UNDP, in collaboration with other agencies and civil society, has worked to generate evidence about the use of time and care, provided support to advocacy efforts and an exchange of relevant international experiences, and was able to position early childhood, disability, old age, and care services in the Government’s social protection agenda. This allows women to better balance work and family life, and improves their access to labour markets. The country has also made great strides in extending unemployment benefits to domestic workers, a predominantly female occupation.

Social Protection and Environmental Sustainability Climate Change Poverty Environmental Degradation The primer also attempts to make the link between social protection and the environment. The 2030 development agenda and goals link the concerns of “people and the planet”recognizing the interdependence of human well-being and healthy ecosystems. We know that the destruction of the natural resource base as a result of environmental degradation aggravates deprivations, since the poorest depend disproportionately on natural resources for their livelihoods. Furthermore, increased deprivations aggravate environmental degradation if the poor are forced to resort to the overexploiting of natural resources, such as overfishing and slash-and-burn agriculture, for survival. The Primer looks at the link between social protection and environmental sustainability through two different entry points, (i) linking social protection to the sustainable management of natural resources; (ii) linking social protection to risks associated with climate change Some of the mechanisms through which social protection can contribute to sustainable natural resource management include: Increased investment capacity of the poor; Providing incentives for adopting positive natural resource management practices; Easing the transition towards greener economies

Social Protection and Climate Change The primer also stresses links between social protection and climate risk. There is significant interest in countries around the world in making social protection more disaster and climate risk-sensitive, and bridging the gap between humanitarian response and social protection.

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