Pre-Conference Workshop:
The Social Protection Floor Initiative
Social Protection in Africa: an
overview of the challenges
Viviene Taylor
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Outline of presentation
• Introduction
• Challenges in the policy context & the impetus
for social protection in Africa
• The challenges of the social and economic
context
• Existing social protection programme challenges
• Key challenges in implementing social
protection reforms
• Some conclusions
CHALLENGES IN THE POLICY CONTEXT & THE
IMPETUS FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION IN AFRICA
• The Policy Impetus in Africa
• Social protection as key to
social policy
THE CHALLENGES OF THE SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC CONTEXT
• Growing population at nearly 1 billion by 2010
• Age Distribution: Approximately 41% of the total
population are in the age range 0 – 14 years
• High fertility, maternal and child mortality rates
• Low life expectancy
• Malnutrition and childhood deprivation
• Low attendance of girls in school
• The disintegration of families and the social fabric
because of HIV/AIDS
• Limited access to services
THE CHALLENGES OF THE SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC CONTEXT (continued)
• Low employment, huge under-employment and a large
number of informal and rural workers without any
social protection coverage.
• Persistent and deepening poverty
• Famine, hunger and recurring food crises
• The lowest productivity growth rates in the world and
low GDP growth rates
• Erosion of subsistence agriculture and traditional
livelihoods
• Children, women and people in rural areas and the
informal sector are without basic social protection
EXISTING SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMME
CHALLENGES
• Contributory Social Protection
• Non Contributory Social Protection
Measures / Social Assistance
• Targeting and Means Tests
KEY CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING SOCIAL
PROTECTION REFORMS
• Formal institutions to address poverty and vulnerability
through social protection are essential.
• The role of the State and its agencies has to be clear
and coherent
• Sustainable methods of financing social protection
• The role of the private sector, especially that of
employers, as well as the role of civil society
organisations is critical
• The expansion of institutional capacity of national and
sub regional entities
• Agreement between governments, the international
donor community and related institutions is essential
SOME CONCLUSIONS
• Build broad based national constituencies representing
all social partners (workers, NGO’s private sector) to
work on a social protection reform agenda
• Much more engagement across government
departments such as labour, social development,
finance and related sectors including health and
education
• Internal cross sectoral government engagement as well
as external engagement with civil society organisations
and social partners.
SOME CONCLUSIONS continued
• Reviewing and revising the official understanding and
definition of social protection
• Development of a collective vision for reform of social
protection, I
• Agree to the values, principles and norms or standards
against which strategic objectives can be benchmarked
• Mobilise resources for social protection
• Build institutional capacity and provide information
and databases
THANK YOU