Institute of Development Studies

Social Protection for Social Justice

8 April 2011 - Hester Phillips

Social protection is increasingly seen as a necessary form of policy for successful and sustainable development. The global financial crisis, which began in 2007, provided a jolt to development policy-makers at national and global levels. In countries where poor and vulnerable people had access to working social protection systems the adverse human impacts were lesser than in countries that did not have these systems in place.

The effects of that crisis continue to play out across the world and provide a reminder of the ongoing need for systems of social protection. Social protection systems not only reduce vulnerability and prevent the worst effects of poverty, they provide a potential means by which human development can be protected for the future and promote the political legitimacy of national governments.

Gathering momentum

The World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations are all currently working on strategies and initiatives that put social protection centre stage. The Centre for Social Protection (CSP) at IDS which provides a global focus for research, policy analysis and capacity building in social protection, will be using its 2011 conference (April 13 -15) to connect with this momentum and push it forward.

In the wake of projections by the World Bank and the IMF that the economic crises may have slowed growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa to such an extent that 20 million fewer people will be lifted out of poverty by 2015 the conference couldn't be timelier.

The gathering of around 100 carefully selected thinkers from across the development sector will provide an opportunity to challenge conventional, mainstream understanding and programming of social protection.

The conference is an opportunity to ask and expect much more from social programmes that claim to deliver positive sustainable outcomes for lives otherwise mired in vulnerability and poverty. Debates will focus on a systemic approach to social protection, which creates national level mechanisms that genuinely empower vulnerable people in good times and in bad.

European Report on Development

According to the European Report on Development Social Protection for Inclusive Development, the UK launch of which takes place at the CSP conference, social protection mechanisms can help to ensure that progress achieved in times of global prosperity is not rolled back during economic downturns. It finds that, by transferring a certain amount of wealth to those in need, social protection mechanisms can actually help stabilise economies, making effective social protection a key component in building resilience to economic shocks.

François Bourguignon, director of the Paris School of Economics and former chief economist of the World Bank, said: "If you have social protection instruments, there is something which economists call automatic stabilisers.

Allister McGregor, Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies and conference convener, explains: "Economic stabilisers mean that, when people are negatively impacted by forces beyond their control - for example when they lose their job during an economic recession or have less food for their children because of rapidly increasing food prices - formal mechanisms kick-in to help them through the crisis in ways that do not result in long term developmental damage."

Sharing the debate

This is a pivotal moment in this history of social protection, and the CSP is keen to share the forthcoming debates beyond the conference walls. Highlights from the three day event will be captured in a number of ways. Visit the CSP conference webpage for live tweeting, video, podcasts and more.

The CSP Conference runs from April 13 - 15 at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University in the UK.

For more information visit the Centre for Social Protection conference website

The Centre for Social Protection would like to acknowledge the generous support of UNICEF, Concern Worldwide and the Institute of Development Studies in funding this conference.

Related Events

CSP Conference 2011: Social Protection for Social Justice

Dates: 13 Apr 2011 - 15 April 2011