On the 1st and 2nd of October HelpAge International and the Church of Sweden held a conference on social protection with specific focus on the Nordic model and its relevance to international development.
Ivar Lo Johansson (a Swedish writer) describes in his work how his grandmother received the national basic pension in 1914. It was the largest amount of money she had been given and suddenly, despite not being able to write her name, she became part of something much larger than her family and village.
When pensions, with a broad parliamentary majority, were introduced in Sweden in 1913 it was an important step in the development of the Swedish social protection system and the Swedish social contract. The universal right to social protection was one reason that poverty in Sweden declined sharply in the 1900s. Drawing on this background, Sweden has a unique opportunity to share their experiences.
Globally millions of the poorest people are completely without social protection, especially in low and middle income countries. Yet we see how social protection – in the form of child and family allowance, pensions, support for disability and health insurance – primarily in Latin America, but also African and Asian countries is having a very clear impact on poverty reduction. Research increasingly shows that social protection reduces malnutrition, improves health and education and gives people the basic security that makes them willing to take the risks, such as starting their own business. A good example is South Africa, where the grandchildren of older people who receive the basic pension are about 3 inches taller than their peers – a very clear sign of improved diet.
In the global debate on what should replace the MDGs after 2015, social protection is raised as an important means to achieve the proposed goal of completely eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. Both the UN and the EU have endorsed the Social Protection Floors initiative, recognising that achieving minimum income security is about achieving human dignity and human rights. Sweden have also endorsed this initiative, and should now push the international community to take up the challenge to help all countries develop social protection systems.
This blog is adapted from a joint statement written for the conference by Eva Brunne (Bishop of Stockholm), Eva Nordmark (TCO’s Chairman), Christer Wälivaara (LO-TCO), Silvia Stefanoni (HelpAge International) and Dag Ehrenpreis (PRO Global)
You can watch videos from the conference here