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HOME > Why and how should Social Security be extended?

Several international instruments assert that every human being has the right to social security. Worldwide, only one in five people currently have adequate social security coverage, while half of the world's population has no social security protection of any kind.

Social protection is important for preventing people from falling into poverty and enabling those who are poor to escape the poverty trap. In the absence of social protection people are subjected to increased risks of sinking below the poverty line or remaining caught in poverty. Moreover, there is strong evidence that social security contributes to economic growth by raising labour productivity and enhancing social stability.

Extending social protection to the entire world population represents a considerable challenge, be it politically, financially, technically or institutionally.

The international community recognizes the extension of social protection as a key topic on its agenda. During the 2001 International Labour Conference, Governments, Employers, and Trade Unions reached a new consensus on social security, deciding that a major campaign should be launched in order to promote the extension of social security coverage. During the G8 Conference "Shaping the Social Dimension of Globalisation" in 2007, social protection was highlighted as a key concern and a crucial tool in combating poverty and promoting economic and social development, particularly in developing countries.

Mandate of the ILO in Social Security

The mandate of the ILO is defined in the Philadelphia Declaration adopted on May 10, 1944, which states the aims and purposes of the ILO and the principles which should inspire the policy of its Members. It provides in Article III inter alia:

The Conference recognizes the solemn obligation of the International Labour Organisation to further among the nations of the world programmes which will achieve:
f) the extension of social security measures to provide a basic income to all in need of such protection and comprehensive medical care
g) adequate protection for life and health of workers in all occupations
h) provision for child welfare and maternity protection.

Furthermore, the ILO organizes every year in June the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, where conventions and recommendations are drafted and adopted by the tripartite organ (composed of government delegates, employer delegates and worker delegates who have the same voting rights). The ILC also decides on the ILO's general policy, budget and work programme.

The ILC has confirmed the role of the ILO in social security twice:

• ILC 2001: the Conclusions of the ILC in 2001 confirmed the ILO's mandate in social security and requested the ILO to launch a global campaign for the extension of social security for all, launched in 2003, and reaffirmed the role of social security as a basic human right.

• ILC 2008: The ILC adopted the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization which recognizes that the ILO has a solemn obligation to further among the nations of the world programmes which will achieve the objective of the extension of social security measures to provide a basic income to all in need along with all the other objectives set out in the Declaration of Philadelphia.