GNV News – September 13, 2024

According to a report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in September 2024, 52.4% of the world’s population can now receive protection from at least one type of social protection. This marks steady improvement from 42.8% in 2015. However, at the current pace, it will not be until 2073 that everyone in the world will have at least partial access to social protection, and the ILO argues that progress is “too slow.” In addition, the poorest countries continue to be left behind, and improvements have not been seen in these countries.

Social protection targets a wide range of people, including households with young children, older persons, persons with disabilities, the unemployed, and those injured on the job. In low-income countries, how far to expand social protection systems to include more people remains a major challenge. Moreover, even though the number of people who can receive protection has finally surpassed half of the world’s population, coverage is limited; it only means access to at least one type of protection and does not necessarily meet everyone’s needs. Furthermore, even where protection exists, the level of protection varies greatly by country. For example, pensions provided under the Nigerian government’s system fall far below the amount needed for subsistence.

Learn more about global poverty → “How should we interpret the global poverty situation?”

Learn more about welfare systems in South America → “Pink Tide: An overview of a quarter century of politics in Latin America”

Older man, Pakistan (Photo: Asian Development Bank / Flickr［CC BY-NC-ND 2.0］)