WUNRN
Asian Development Bank - ADB
ADB Social Protection INDEX - Asia
Pacific
http://www.adb.org/publications/social-protection-index-assessing-results-asia-and-pacific -
Includes link to download full document
ASIA-PACIFIC - "MISSING
MIDDLE" LACK VITAL SOCIAL PROTECTIONS - POVERTY RISKS - WOMEN
VERY VULNERABLE
MANILA,
PHILIPPINES – Social protection systems in many fast-growing middle-income
countries in Asia and the Pacific are failing to support large numbers of poor
and vulnerable people, leaving them exposed to risks and unexpected
difficulties like unemployment, ill health, and natural disasters, says a new
Asian Development Bank (ADB) study.
ADB's
latest Social Protection Index shows social protection systems in many
fast-growing middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific are failing to
support large numbers of poor and vulnerable people.
“There are many vulnerable groups, including women and informal sector
workers, who can’t access unemployment, health or other social insurance but
are also not poor enough to be eligible for social assistance such as cash
transfers,” said Bart Édes, Director in ADB’s Regional and Sustainable
Development Department, on the release of the study, The Social Protection Index:
Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific. “Government
social protection programs need to be expanded to cover this unprotected
‘missing middle,’ who are at risk of falling into poverty in the case of an
economic, environmental, or health shock of some kind.”
The study, which analyzes government programs providing social insurance,
social assistance, and labor market support in 35 countries across
The study notes that because social insurance tends to dominate government
social protection spending, benefits accrue disproportionately to men and
non-poor. Poor and disadvantaged persons, particularly those working in the
informal sector, benefit less because they lack access to social insurance.
They are instead targeted by social assistance programs that in many countries
are fragmented and provide inadequate transfers.
Relatively little is being spent on labor market programs like
cash-for-work and skills development. This needs to be addressed amidst rising
youth unemployment, critical skills gaps, and the disproportionate number of
women who are unable to enter the formal labor market. Areas for government
attention include employment guarantee schemes to construct or rebuild basic
infrastructure, skills development, and technical and vocational education and
training.
Countries at various stages of development need to set their own targets,
taking into account available public resources. However, governments need to
accelerate the review and reform of pension schemes in view of the region’s
huge informal sector and rapid aging. Preventive social protection programs
such as micro-insurance schemes to cushion the impact of variable weather
patterns and natural disasters should also be explored, the study says.
Expanding social protection coverage requires mobilization of additional
public revenue which can be secured by broadening the tax base, improving tax
collection, and improving public expenditure management. Governments should
also encourage private firms to contribute more to social insurance programs.
After many years of high growth, the
The new Social Protection Index was prepared
by ADB and development partners; the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD); the
__________________________________________________
UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty - Website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/SRExtremePovertyIndex.aspx
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10474&LangID=E
UN EXPERT ON POVERTY URGES COUNTRIES TO FOCUS ON SOCIAL PROTECTION
& GENDER INEQUALITIES
NEW YORK - Social
protection systems with a gender focus can increase women’s participation in
economic life, provide them with income security in old age and improve
nutritional levels and food security, the UN Special Rapporteur on
Extreme Poverty told the General Assembly.
Warning that “poverty is not gender-neutral,” Magdalena Sepúlveda urged
states to “devote increased attention to gender equality while designing,
implementing and evaluating social protection programmes within a human rights
framework.”
Women are more vulnerable to poverty because of discrimination and gender
inequality. Therefore, “the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
greatly depends on the strengthening of women’s enjoyment of the full range of
their human rights, including gender equality and women’s empowerment,” she
noted while presenting her report on human rights and extreme poverty.*
She acknowledged that in recent years, many countries have put in place or
strengthened social protection initiatives to address the persistence of
extreme poverty. Such social protection measures were essential to accelerating
progress on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Special Rapporteur warned, however, that some social
protection schemes specifically targeting women within households could, if
badly designed, exacerbate or contribute to inequalities.
“Social protection programmes must be complemented by other social policies
aimed at increasing women’s economic autonomy such as ensuring access to
education, land, productive resources and credit, fair inheritance rights, full
legal capacity, justice and freedom from all forms of violence,” she stressed.
Social protection measures must also acknowledge the role played by women
as providers of care, without reinforcing patterns of discrimination and
negative stereotyping.
“Social policies must encourage a better balance in the way men and women
share household responsibilities, in particular the care of children and older
persons,” she said.
In her report to the General Assembly, Sepúlveda highlights the importance
of social protection measures in facilitating the achievement of the MDGs and
provides recommendations on the core elements of a rights-based social protection
system, including the meaningful integration of gender-related concerns.
Magdalena Sepúlveda is the Special Rapporteur on the question of
human rights and extreme poverty since May 2008. She is a Chilean lawyer
currently working as Research Director at the International Council on Human
Rights Policy in Geneva. She has extensive experience in economic, social and
cultural rights and holds a PhD in international human rights law from Utrecht
University.