Symposium on social protection in Southern Africa

The Johannesburg-based Centre for Social Development in Africa is organising a symposium on, ‘Social Protection in Southern Africa: new Opportunities for Social Development’, 24-25 May 2011. It will take stock of what is being done to promote social protection both region and continent-wide and how to move forward.

Leading regional and international experts are billed to look at how social security schemes can alleviate poverty and reduce vulnerability.

It is an increasingly topical issue in development circles. Fostering social protection was the focus of the European Commission’s latest annual European Development Report (ERD) published in December 2010 entitled, ‘Social Security for Development.’ “Social protection is one of the key elements that can foster resilience” said Françoise Moreau, Acting Director for EU development policy at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Development at the launch. “Social protection can and should be a distinctive feature of the EU development agenda”, said Georgia Giovannetti, the ERD’s lead author, from the University Institute, Florence Italy. She added: “The time is ripe to support social security systems; higher commitment to governance and high growth in Sub-Saharan Africa”.

The Johannesburg event will look at specific case studies. Lisa Kurbiel, senior Social Policy Specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Mozambique will present a paper on, ‘Searching for equity within the new Urban Poverty Strategy in Mozambique’. Murungi Irene, Programme Officer with the National Association of Women’s Organisations in Uganda will turn attention to social protection in Uganda and Dolly Ntseane and Rodreck Mupedziswa, both of the University of Botswana, will explain how social protection has promoted Botswana’s social development.

The symposium will also focus on how the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is promoting a minimum standard of social protection in its 15 member countries.

For the full programme see: www.ui.ac.za/csda

The European Commission’s report on ‘Social Security for Development’ can be viewed on: erd.eui.eu