Remarks

by

Ms. Bience Gawanas Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa

at the

The 57th Session of the UN Commission for Social Development

Side event on: “Innovations for inequality reducing social protection policies in Europe and Africa”

Thursday, 14 February 2019, 13:15 – 14:30 pm, CR 12, UNHQ ------

Thank you, Dr. Voipio for the introduction.

Excellencies, Fellow Panelists, Colleagues and Friends,

1. I am pleased to be with you today representing the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa and to co-host this event. At the outset, I wish to thank OSAA’s partners in the organization of this event – the Government of Finland and UN-DESA – for this collaboration that embodies the universality of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It might be that African and European countries are at different levels of development but they share common challenges, including realizing the promise of leaving no one behind. The success of their efforts towards this objective is contingent to a great extent on the efficacy and effectiveness of social protection systems.

2. I address this topic for three reasons.

3. Firstly, the topic is of significant importance to promoting inclusive growth, sustainable development and social cohesion, as well as to strengthening the resilience of our people and societies. Social protection policies are indeed a critical tool for eradicating poverty and for protecting the dignity and well-being of the most vulnerable - the overarching objective of both the 2030 Agenda and the ’s Agenda 2063 and indeed the priority theme of this 57th session of the Commission on Social Development. Agenda 2063 is Africa’s transformative agenda. A people driven strategy that seeks to significantly improve the livelihood and well-being of all Africans.

4. Secondly, despite numerous challenges, the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and Member States have, since the adoption of the 2004 Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment and Poverty Alleviation, taken big strides in putting social protection for vulnerable populations on continental and national agendas. This is evidenced by the various social protection instruments of the African Union. The key policy instrument is the 2009 Social Policy Framework for Africa followed by the landmark SPIREWORK or Social Protection Plan for the Informal Economy and Rural Workers which was also rolled out at national level and domesticated in , for example.

5. The African Union has also drafted a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection, and in parallel, drafted the Social Agenda 2063 for the social development dimension of sustainable

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development of Agenda 2063. Basically, in terms of a Social Protection Architecture for Agenda 2063, the Social Agenda would constitute the programmatic component and the protocol the legal component for such architecture. Both instruments would in effect call for social policy interventions by the state in collaborative working relations with society to correct the skewed economic development paradigm of the past which produced non-inclusive growth, and it would clearly protect the vulnerable underbelly of society which is the working class, their children and families. They will ensure that social development is not left to the invisible hand of the market, but instead, these instruments will concretize appropriate conditions for creating livelihoods and consequent human security for citizens so that they can be empowered to drive transformation on the continent.

6. Thirdly, these commitments are bearing fruit and their outcomes have become visible, not only to be reflected in aspirations and additional policy instruments, but also in real impacts on the ground. For their part, African countries are exerting enormous efforts to strengthen national social security systems. In their Voluntary National Reviews presentations in the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and in other fora, African countries have offered great examples of the successful policies they are implementing to strengthen social protection systems and expand social protection floors. Senegal’s endeavours towards universal social protection systems; the policies implemented by Cabo Verde to tackle inequality, including between urban and rural areas; Egypt’s programme of conditional cash transfers for poor households with children; Togo’s efforts to support women entrepreneurs; the positive impacts of the Child Support Grant in ; and the piloted Basic Income Grant in , for instance, have been well documented and researched, and there are many other good examples of social protection interventions in many other African countries.

7. To further build capacities for vulnerable groups, just last week, the African Union, through its Mwalimu Nyerere Scholarship Scheme for 2019 also launched its call for applications for refugees and displaced persons in Africa for Masters Programmes in natural sciences, agriculture, health, education, engineering and social sciences.

Excellencies, Colleagues and Friends,

8. Despite the remarkable socio-economic progress made by African countries over the past two decades, economic growth has not translated into significant reductions in

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poverty levels for the majority of African countries. Economic growth in many countries has belied growing inequalities and widening gaps, including between the rich and the poor and between urban and rural areas, with limited opportunities for the economic and social participation of those left furthest behind. Furthermore, in many countries, expecting mothers and children are excluded from social protection programmes.

9. The continent is still facing enormous development challenges that traverse the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development. Yet, reducing poverty and tackling inequality remain Africa’s greatest development challenge. Currently, about 390 million Africans still live in poverty, accounting for half of the world’s poor. 700 million lack access to improved sanitation and 300 million lack access to clean water. Those are just a few indicators to demonstrate the magnitude of the challenges.

10. There is a continued need for coordinated and evidence-based policies and measures across the SDGs that truly put people, particularly the most vulnerable, at the centre of development efforts that can achieve the aspired transformation. This is the only way to ensure that growth is broadly shared, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable.

11. It is a fact that whilst the labor market serves as the primary source of income security for women and men during working life, social protection plays a major role in protecting and enhancing human capital and human capabilities.

12. I have just come from where I participated in the AU Summit on the theme “Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa”. I have seen a strong political will from African leaders to support and empower the most vulnerable. However, we must understand the global and financial context in which efforts by African countries are taking place: the rise in debt levels for many countries, particularly among the LDCs, disruption of global trade, volatility in financial markets and the related limited fiscal space available for many countries have had significant impact on their public spending to achieve the SDGs.

13. In this context, it is imperative to strengthen the global partnership for development and scale up financial and non-financial support in critical areas for eradicating poverty and reducing inequality. Support to building national capacities in social

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protection systems, including the programmes supported by the Government of Finland and other development partners, is more important than ever before. It’s crucial to prioritize support for social protection systems within the framework of both North-South and South-South cooperation.

14. Critically important for the UN, however, is the promotion of the cornerstones for social and economic development, in which my Office has been very instrumental the past year. These are the nexus of peace, security and development to be buttressed by good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law on the African continent. In the process, we came to appreciate that social cohesion among people in the different strata on the continent is critical for poverty eradication, reducing vulnerability and addressing inequality. Key to this social cohesion is the promotion of the Pan-African values of solidarity, self-reliance, hard work and collective prosperity.

Excellencies, Colleagues and Friends,

15. I personally wish that the social protection outcomes towards the eradication of poverty and inequality, for which we are gathered here, will strongly propel education, early childhood care, health care, food security, good nutrition, decent work and the multiplier effect of cash transfers in local communities as the big equalizers.

16. Finally, I am confident that the excellent discussions we are having at the meetings of the 57th Session of the UN Commission for Social Development and today’s event will bring new insights to this important debate on ways and means of strengthening social protection systems in African countries.

I thank you all.

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