Article 22 of UDHR
“Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national
6 Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, 276/2003.
effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.”
Article 25 of UDHR
“1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.”
Article 9 of ICESCR
“The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance.”
What is a social security system?
Ideally, a social security system should aim to provide comprehensive coverage against all situations that may threaten a person’s ability to earn an income and maintain an adequate standard of living. Social security areas are summed up in the ILO Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102). They are:
• medical care;
• sickness benefits;
• unemployment benefits;
• old-age benefits;
• employment injury benefits;
• family and maternity benefits;
• invalidity benefits;
• survivors’ benefits.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has provided guidance about the content of the right to social security in its general comment No. 19 (E/C.12/GC/19), and the UN Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (A/HRC/21/39) also expand on the human rights framework applicable to social security. In a social security system, a distinction is drawn between social insurance programmes – which provide for benefits tied to the interruption of employment earnings – and social assistance programmes – which provide for benefits that supplement insufficient
incomes of members of vulnerable groups. Both types of programme are intended to guarantee the material conditions required for an adequate standard of living and to offer protection from the effects of poverty and material insecurity. The ILO and other UN agencies recommend that States adopt national social protection floors, guaranteeing basic income security to children, older persons and persons of working age who are unable to earn sufficient income (in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity and disability) and universal access to essential health care health benefits.7
As regards low-income countries, the following observations on social security are in order:
• Few countries have set up comprehensive social security schemes providing universal coverage.
• Social security schemes tend to target specific groups (such as children or pregnant women).
• Social security schemes are often emergency relief programmes providing support in the event of calamities.
Obstacles frequently encountered in low-income countries in trying to establish a social security system include lack of resources, administrative incapacity, debt and the structural adjustment policies imposed by international financial institutions.
Box 82 Parliamentarians submit petition to the Latvian Constitutional Court regarding a social security issue (Case 2000-08-0109; 13 March 2001) Twenty members of the Latvian parliament petitioned the Constitutional Court claiming that a law that did not ensure employee pension rights, regardless of the amount of their employer’s contribution, was unconstitutional. The parliamentarians affirmed that the law was a breach of the constitutional right to social security and of Articles 9 and 11 of the ICESCR. The Constitutional Court found that the law was inconsistent with the right to social security, since it did not provide for an effective mechanism for the implementation of social security protections. This had the effect of denying the right to social security to employees whose employers did not pay the mandatory contributions.
Key factors to be considered in relation to the right to social security In their efforts to ensure the implementation and full enjoyment of the right to social security, States and particularly parliaments should take the following steps:
• Adopt a national plan of action – including goals, measurable progress indicators and clear time frames – establishing appropriate mechanisms to monitor
advancement in realizing the right.
7 See ILO Recommendation 202 concerning National Floors of Social Protection, adopted on 14 June 2012.
• Establish social security systems by law in a transparent, sustainable and inclusive manner.
• Expand nationally funded comprehensive social security systems that encompass social insurance and social assistance, in line with the ILO’s recommendations on a social protection floor.
• Allocate the resources necessary to progressively ensure universal access to social security for all and the enjoyment of at least the minimum essential levels of economic, social and cultural rights. While all persons should be progressively covered by social security systems, priority should be accorded to the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups.
• Ensure non-discrimination and equality in access to social security by equalizing the compulsory retirement age for both men and women, ensuring that women receive the equal benefit of public and private pension schemes and guaranteeing maternity leave for women, paternity leave for men and parental leave for both men and women.
• Take specific measures to ensure that persons living in poverty, in particular women and persons working in the informal economy, have access to social security benefits, including social pensions, sufficient to ensure an adequate standard of living and access to health care for them and their families.
• Make administrative and judicial appeals procedures available to allow potential beneficiaries to seek redress.
• Devise and implement measures to avoid corruption and fraud with regard to social security benefits.