International Bi-regional Conference on Social Protection, Somerset West
7 June 2007
Honourable Ministers of Social Development, Labour, Social Security and
Social Services from Latin America and the African countries
Your Excellencies and Members of the Diplomatic Corps
The United Nations Resident Representative and Co-ordinator
Members of the Academic and Research fraternity
Senior Managers and advisors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a privilege for me to welcome you, on behalf of the Government and the
people of South Africa, to our country and also to the City of Cape Town.
I would like to thank the researchers from Latin America and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) for the compliment in agreeing to have this
Bi-Regional Conference on Social Protection in South Africa.
We are indeed humbled by your positive responses. You're coming to South
Africa does give us the responsibility of ensuring that we engage in fruitful
dialogue on the issues of social protection.
Ladies and gentlemen:
This gathering is of great significance for our countries as we continue to
forge meaningful relationships of co-operation in our endeavours to respond to
the challenges of poverty, vulnerability, inequality and social exclusion. The
southern African sub-region incorporates some of the poorest countries in the
world, with about 40% of people living in poverty if the crude one dollar a day
measure is taken.
It is argued that inequality in the African sub-region is manifested through
increasing levels of impoverishment, rising unemployment and the inability of
the majority of people to access sources of livelihood or basic services.
Equally, the people of Latin America also continue to face the challenges of
poverty and inequality, notwithstanding some significant progress in the last
15 years.
HIV and AIDS remains one of the key challenges of our time and has its most
severe impact on the African continent. The disease is robbing our children of
their parents and a sustained livelihood and burdening them with the costs of
care, medicine and funerals.
Ladies and gentlemen
It has now become very apparent that neither the developmental approaches
adopted in the 1960s and 70s, nor the "structural adjustment" reforms of
subsequent decades have been effective strategies in reducing extreme
disadvantages faced by the poorest and most vulnerable groups in our societies.
Social security measures for example, though very significant, have proved to
have limited successes in our countries.
There is a great degree of consensus that poverty means the complex,
multi-dimensional state of material lack and ill-being of such a nature that it
undermines the basis of effective social and economic being and participation;
preventing our people from being able to live a meaningful life.
Poverty means a woman dying while giving birth, despite the great advances
in medical science. Poverty means people dying in transit between work and home
simply because of a reliance on sometimes private or public modes of transport.
Poverty means dying from cholera because access to potable water is limited. It
is in the context of this multi-faceted nature of poverty that many of our past
efforts bore limited fruit.
Ladies and gentlemen
There is now also emerging consensus that social protection, which had its
genesis in the developing country contexts, and implemented with great success
in many Latin American, is the response of the South to our challenges of
poverty, destitution, vulnerability and social exclusion. Social protection
goes beyond the narrower concept of social security to encompass a package of
benefits including income support and the social wage from the state, the
market, civil society and households to individuals and households. This broad
framework makes this concept more acceptable in developing countries than the
concept of social security.
Social security has indeed proved beneficial in developed countries where
large numbers of citizens depend on the formal economy for their livelihood. In
our common country contexts of high levels of unemployment, a growing and
significant informal economy, formal social security arrangements are almost
absent for the vast majority of the working population and for the
unemployed.
Our state's capacity to reach the vast majority of the poor people is often
limited because of resource constraints. We therefore require multiple agencies
to provide social protection as well as a developmental state that has the
requisite capacity to intervene effectively. A properly construed framework of
social protection is thus capable of holding the state responsible to provide
for the poorest sections by regulating non-state agencies.
Many countries in Latin America and Africa have adopted a broad view of
social protection. As this conference unfolds and the country case studies
presented, we will draw inspiration form the success of a number of
programmes.
* The success of the cash transfer programmes of countries such as the
Brazilian Bosa Familia, the Mexican Opportunidados and the Chilean Solidario
linked with conditions have generated fresh and new excitement in both
developed and developing countries. I am sure that the delegates here will
engage in the merits and demerits of these programmes.
* The comprehensiveness of the social assistance programme from Mauritius and
the expansion of the safety net in Namibia, Botswana, discussions in Uganda and
Tanzania are exciting developments as we seek to address poverty in the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. These examples of
income support and the positive impacts indicate that poverty alleviation has
to be accompanied by providing people with the ability to make purchasing
decisions.
* There is widespread realisation that education, especially primary education
must be provided free since any form of fees creates serious distortions and
bias against the poor. Again the commitments of some Latin American countries
to provide free secondary and tertiary education, linked with savings
incentives serve as excellent proof of the success of this social protection
measure.
* In both our regions the provision of adequate health continues to be a major
challenge in respect of prevalence of preventable diseases that the poor are
exposed to, inequitable access, exclusion from participation in minimum
benefits packages. We should continue to strive for health systems that are
inclusive, affordable and equitable.
* We are encouraged by the Chilean example of housing provision coupled with
basic services of water, electricity and refuse removal. South Africa too has
made significant progress in this area which has set us on course to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in these areas.
* Our regions have build systems of welfare services and community development,
and we continue to address challenges of violence against women and children,
substance abuse and social instability, in a comprehensive, albeit that the
skills drain of professional social workers poses a new threat in our
endeavours.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are pleased that since 1998, interaction between the countries of the
South has intensified in a number of areas covering strategic engagements,
exchange of expertise, consultations in social protection and regional
technical assistance.
We need to further expand these engagements. There are five main areas in
social protection on which our strategic cooperation ought to rest:
1. In respect of labour market work, we need policies and programmes designed
to promote employment, the efficient operation of labour markets and the
protection of workers
2. We need to think together on how to expand social insurance programs to
cushion the risks associated with unemployment, ill health, disability,
work-related injury and old age.
3. We need to collectively grapple with expanding the impact of income
transfers and welfare services for the most vulnerable groups with little or
other means, including single mothers, the homeless, or physically or mentally
challenged people.
4. Exchanges of ideas are needed on micro-and area-based schemes to address
vulnerability at the community level, including micro-insurance, agricultural
insurance, social funds and programs to manage natural disasters.
5. The most critical of all is the need to find solutions to improve child
protection and to ensure the healthy and productive development of our
children.
When implemented properly, these policies and programmes can make a major
contribution to our common overarching goal of poverty reduction. In closing, I
wish to emphasise that the South-South Co-operation has a critical role to play
in helping us build a brighter tomorrow. This we must pursue as part of our
destiny and for our children. I wish this forum success in the deliberations on
social
Thank you,
Issued by: Department of Social Development
7 June 2007
