International Expert Meeting "Towards the consolidation of a welfare state in Latin America and the Caribbean: the future of social protection in an era of uncertainty"

Background

Social protection systems constitute a fundamental pillar of welfare states. Despite the significant progress made in past decades in the countries of the region, it is essential to strengthen and consolidate universal, comprehensive, sustainable and resilient social protection systems. This challenge is intertwined with the imperative to adapt social protection systems for the future. This is an urgent task that requires facing a new risk structure that is shaped from the intersection of the socioeconomic impacts of various disasters and the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and three structural crises – of instable and low economic growth, rising inequality and the environmental crisis. It also needs confronting the critical nodes of inclusive social development, in particular of technological transformation, the need to transition towards sustainable economies, and demographic and migratory dynamics. All this unfolds in a context of high uncertainty, and global and regional instability.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fundamental role of social protection systems in facing the economic and social impacts of these crises. The region has been proportionally the most affected in terms of the number of deaths and is one of the most impacted in economic and social terms. This is due to long-term structural factors including inequality in its various manifestations, as well as the weakness of social protection systems in terms of their coverage and distance from achieving universality, sufficiency, and financial sustainability. Therefore, access, financing, and solidarity, continue to be imperative components to be addressed in the design of social protection systems and its allowances. A renewed and comprehensive social protection approach to environmental, economic, and social risks is required. A perspective from a framework of a care society which decommodifies access and socializes and collectivizes risks and opportunities beyond individual merits and chances is central. Identifying strategic orientations for social protection in this context is key and will require solid planning, management, and institutional strengthening efforts. Social protection hence contributes towards the construction of a welfare state adapted for the future, by guaranteeing the expansion of rights and integrating the new technological and digital tools in its management, urgently addressing the unequal distribution of income, of paid and unpaid work, and securing access to decent work and care.

In the face of the pandemic, the current situation sets a challenging scenario, as well as opportunities to move towards a path for recovery with equality. Social protection can ensure solidarity between generations and at the same time guarantee adequate social protection for all based at least on four possible axes: 1) policies tending to consolidate a guarantee of adequate income throughout the life cycle; 2) policies aimed at restructuring strategic areas of well-being and in particular of universal access to health and pensions; 3) family policy tools with a life-cycle approach and care policies; and, 4) a social pact that sustains these policies and promotes, among others, strategic actions that combine labour inclusion policies, skills training and social protection entitlements for the transition to an environmentally sustainable economy.

Objective

From an expert perspective, this meeting aims to provide a space for reflection on the main challenges to move towards universal, comprehensive, sustainable and resilient social protection systems. At a time when the matrix of risks is ​​being reconfigured, marked by high levels of uncertainty, social protection systems should be embedded in a welfare state that protects the rights and well-being of people. This event also seeks to promote a space for dialogue and exchange between the experience of Latin America and European countries to reflect on the future of social protection and the welfare states. It falls under the activities of the ECLAC-BMZ/giz project "Recover better – Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic consequences in Latin America and the Caribbean".