Legal advice

Social security is a basic human right enshrined in major international instruments such as:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 217A (III) of 10 December 1948;
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966; and
• The Declaration of Philadelphia, Annex to the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, adopted by the International Labour Conference, 10 May 1944

It was further reaffirmed as a basic human right and a fundamental means for creating social cohesion by the International Labour Conference in 2001 (Conclusions concerning social security) adopted by the International Labour Conference, 89th session, 2001) and as a social and economic necessity for development and progress in 2011 (Conclusions concerning the recurrent discussion on social protection (social security) adopted by the International Labour Conference, 100th session, 2011). The Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012, (No. 202), adopted the following year by the International Labour Conference by near consensus is grounded in this recognition and further considerations. Its Preamble lays down:

• the recognition by the international community that social security is an important tool to prevent and reduce poverty, inequality, social exclusion and social insecurity, to promote equal opportunity and gender and racial equality, and to support the transition from informal to formal employment;
• the consideration that social security is an investment in people that empowers them to adjust to changes in the economy and in the labour market, and that social security systems act as automatic social and economic stabilizers, help stimulate aggregate demand in times of crisis and beyond, and help support a transition to a more sustainable economy.

In light of the rights-based approach to the protection of workers privileged by the ILO, the legal advice provided to ILO constituents and standards-related activities carried out by the Social Protection Department are key to the extension of social security and the development of comprehensive national social security systems worldwide. All advice provided in this respect is based on worldwide agreed social security principles and standards as laid down in the up-to-date ILO social security Conventions and in particular in the flagship Convention, which is the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and the recently adopted Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012, (No. 202).