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142 Int'l Lab. Rev. 277 (2003)
Extending Social Security: Policies for Developing Countries

handle is hein.journals/intlr142 and id is 287 raw text is: International Labour Review, Vol. 142 (2003), No. 3 Extending social security: Policies for developing countries Wouter van GINNEKEN* O ne of the key global problems facing social security today is the fact that more than half of the world's population is excluded from any type of statutory social security protection. Those thus affected work largely in the informal economy, and are outside the scope of contribution-based social insurance schemes or tax-financed social benefits. In low-income countries in, for example, sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia, generally more than 90 per cent of the population is not covered, while in middle-income developing countries this percentage ranges between 20 and 60 per cent. It is estimated that, worldwide, only 20 per cent of populations enjoy adequate social security. Social security is a universal need and is recognized as a basic human right, in both ILO Conventions and United Nations charters such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The consensus between governments, employers and workers reached at the International Labour Conference in 2001 (ILO, 2001) placed the extension of social security high on the ILO agenda and asked it to launch the Global Campaign on Social Security and Cover- age for All. The Conference considered that, with the advent of globali- zation and structural adjustment policies, social security had become more necessary than ever, and that the highest priority should be given to policies and initiatives to extend social security protection to those who have none. The first section of this article will examine the role of social secur- ity in the overall context of globalization, adjustment and poverty, and will define the concepts of social security and coverage. The second sec- tion will review examples of successful approaches and practices of the extension of social security in developing countries for three main social security programmes: social health insurance, contributory pensions, * ILO, Geneva. Email: ginneken@ilo.org Copyright © International Labour Organization 2003