The Africa Union's social policy framework for Africa

First session of the AU Conference of Ministers in charge of social development in Namibia 2008

During the first session of the African Union (AU) conference of Ministers in charge of Social Development organized in Windhoek, Namibia in October 2008, Ministers adopted the Social Policy Framework (SPF) which is a framework to guide African Union (AU) Member States as they develop and/or implement appropriate national strategies and programmes.

This guidance was ratified by African Heads of Government in January 2009. It sets out a vision for African societies based on social solidarity, equity of choice, and freedom from discrimination and poverty. In doing this, it still treats social policy as subordinate to economic policy, but recognises the importance of social development both as a goal in its own right, and as a means of creating the conditions for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Social protection appears as the first of the eight pillars of the regional plan set out in the SPF. The policy reads: "investment in and access to social protection is still low in many countries. Social protection and social security will be built gradually, based on comprehensive longer-term national social protection action plans".

Measures recommended include:

• extending existing social insurance schemes (providing subsidies for those that cannot contribute)
• setting up community-based or occupation-based insurance schemes on a voluntary basis
• providing social welfare services and employment guarantee schemes
• introducing and extending publicly financed non-contributory cash transfer schemes.

In terms of social transfers, the SPF makes a recommendation that African countries should "Ensure relevant social protection, including income transfers, to support the poorest families in their efforts to mitigate the economic and social impacts... on the most vulnerable such as the elderly, children and the sick".

The Second Session of the Conference of the AU Ministers in charge of Social Development held in Khartoum, Sudan, in November 2010 focused on strengthening the Implementation Strategy of the SPF, with a role envisioned for the AU Commission on supporting knowledge development, capacity building and lesson learning. More information on this conference is accessible on the AU website.

African Union - 2008