In its recent communication on “Social Protection in European Union Development Cooperation”, the EU affirms the value of social protection for overcoming socio-economic inequalities and for promoting inclusive growth. Social protection is defined as a set of “policies and actions that enhance the capacity of all people, but notably poor and vulnerable groups, to escape from poverty, or avoid falling into poverty, and better manage risks and shocks”. It includes both social securities, such as income security, and access to essential services, most notably health and education.

How will the Union translate its values and commitments into concrete action in partner countries? How will the positive elements of the European social model be more emphatically incorporated into EU’s development cooperation? How will the European Commission address inequality specifically within the scope of social protection? What development instruments will /should be used? What budget will be dedicated? What is meant by institutional capacity building? What tools need to be developed to suit the vision of a comprehensive policy position on social protection? What change processes are needed to coordinate national or donors’ social protection programmes through political dialogue? What is the relation to other instruments such as the ILO Social Protection Floor? What steps will be taken to raise the issue of inequality within political dialogue, particularly with Middle Income Country (MIC) partners and at the multilateral level?

Speakers:
Katja Bender, Hochschule Bonn/Rhein-Sieg
Nicholas Taylor, Head of Sector Social Protection at European Commission
Florian Kraetke, European Centre for Development Policy and Management ECDPM
Rolf Kuennemann, Human Rights Director of FIAN International
Matthias Rompel, Head of the Social Protection Section at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Moderation:
Mario Negre, Department "Bi- and Multilateral Development Cooperation", German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)