Supporting Social Protection Systems

This Concept Paper contains three main sections:

- Part One presents the evolution of global social protection models from the origins of social security in Europe and the development of the Bismarck and Beveridge systems that still underlie the basic dichotomy between a focus on income security and a focus on poverty; it outlines the development of different social protection models in developing countries, the impact of the 2008 financial crisis and the evolution of the social protection floor as a model for comprehensive national systems.

- Part Two addresses the design and implementation of social protection systems, beginning with a consideration of the main existing policy frameworks and then examining the policy cycle as a basis for taking forward the systematisation of social protection at the national level. Specific attention is then given to the issue of financing social protection before turning to look at design issues, such as the role of targeting and conditionality; the choice of instruments, from cash transfers to insurance mechanisms; and key elements for implementation, such as management information systems.

- Part Three introduces the existing tools and mechanisms for analysing social protection systems, including the development-planning matrix. It then introduces various approaches to supporting the systematisation of social protection, including the work of the Inter-Agency Social Protection Assessment, in which DEVCO participates and the EU Social Protection Systems project. It concludes with an outline of the key elements that should inform support to the development of national social protection systems in EU programming.