GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTER
December 2011
In this edition
National councils and the Social Protection Floor - Central and West Africa
New social protection initiatives
Protecting democracy – Reclaiming civil society space in Africa
New Publications
National Councils and the Social Protection Floor - Central and West Africa
The International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and the Cameroon Women in Leadership andDevelopment (CAWOLED) organised training on the social protection floor initiative (SPFI) for civilsociety organisations (CSOs) in the Commonwealth Central and West Africa Region. The meeting
was supported by grants from the Commonwealth Foundation and SIDA. The meeting, held from 12
to 15th December 2011, brought together umbrella and other organisations from Cameroon,Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Other meeting participants came from Senegal,
Uganda and Paris. The main objective of this meeting was to increase civil society’s contribution to
the design and implementation of a social protection floor in the Sub-Saharan countries through a
new awareness and the knowledge of the SPFI.
The meeting was officially opened by arepresentative of the Governor of the Littoral
region – Mr Joseph Elongo who is also technicaladviser for the economic cultural and social affairs
department
intheregion
andpersonal
representative of his Excellency the Governor of
the Littoral Region. His presence confirmed theimportance the Cameroonian government attaches
to the UN initiatives for social protection. He
underscored the Cameroonian government’s“desire to ensure sustainable universal access toservices and quality care” by all citizens. Mr
Elongo quoted the Head of State of Cameroon, His Excellency Paul Biya, "The ultimate goal of mywork remains the sustainable development of Cameroon in favour of Cameroonians. This is to give
each Cameroonian the opportunity to food, health care, shelter, raising children and ensure theireducation, ……this is a great ambition, my greatest ambition which I want to see become a reality
for all.”
Mr Joseph Elongo stated in his address, the vision of the Head of State represents the political will
and total commitment to the implementation of a social protection floor in Cameroon. He stressedthat achieving a successful SPF should be given special attention by the Cameroonian State. Its
success lies in a fight against poverty, adequate funding of programmes in a multidisciplinary
context and social dialogue as well as the on-going and tireless contribution of development
partners and NGOs. During the training the Cameroon media ran live sessions and popularised theSPF on both state and private radio and television stations.

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Mr Christian Rollet, President of ICSW, who participated in the entire training, echoed the need for
civil society organisations to engage in the SPF at national level.
Technical support for this training was provided by the International Labour Organisation throughMr Butare Theopiste who provided in depth understanding and appreciation of the SPFI. At the endof the three days, participants prepared a set of recommendations for all the stakeholders involvedin the SPFI. The recommendations were aimed at governments, technical and financial partners, UNbodies, other related agencies and civil society organisations. Participants developed individualwork plans detailing how their organisations would engage in the SPFI at national level.
ICSW thanks the Commonwealth Foundation and SIDA for supporting this training and theCameroon Women in Leadership and Environment under the leadership of Ms Paschaline Tar, fororganising an excellent meeting. A detailed report on the meeting will soon be uploaded on theICSW website – www.icsw.org
New social protection initiatives
The International Labour Conference decided in June 2011 to take forward its commitment to socialprotection. The Social Security Department of the ILO in preparation for the 2011 Conference
issued a Report IV(1) Social protection floors for social justice and a fair globalization. It provides
information on the law and practice concerning the establishment of a social protection floor orelements thereof at national level. The report, which included an overview of the maindevelopments and emerging trends worldwide, was sent with a questionnaire on social protection toall governments.
Following the 2011 conference the ILO is seeking to influence world opinion in general and the G20
in particular on the social protection floor. The Advisory Board of the Social Protection Floor
Initiative published the “Bachelet Report” in October 2011 - Social Protection Floor for a Fair andInclusive Globalization. (The Advisory Board is wider than the ILO and is a UN Chief Executive
Board initiative agreed at its 2009 meeting). The Bachelet report called on the 2011 G20 Leaders
Summit in Cannes to consider an “action plan” for implementing social protection floors throughexisting and new financing mechanisms. It shows that some countries – such as El Salvador, Benin,Mozambique and Vietnam – could provide a major social protection floor for as little as 1 to 2 percent of GDP. The report shows that nationally-designed social protection floors are affordable evenin low income countries.
Protecting democracy – Reclaiming civil society space in Africa
ICSW participated in a meeting in Johannesburg South Africa, 21 to 23 Nov 2011 on Protecting
democracy: Reclaiming CSO space in Africa organised by the Centre for Citizens' Participation on
the African Union (CCPAU), the Midrand Civil Society Support facility, the Open Society Initiative forSouthern Africa (OSISA), the Southern African Trust and Trust Africa (TA). The main objective of
the meeting was to create awareness of the narrowing space for civil society to operate on thecontinent. The meeting was presented with research undertaken by Trust Africa, the Southern
African Trust, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and CIVICUS among others. Theconclusions included strategies to implement recommendations emerging from the research;engagement with Pan African institutions on civil society space; skills building sessions on how todeal with and respond to shrinking civil society space and the development of tools and strategies
to respond to the threats being faced by civil society.
Key priorities emerged from the conference. These included; consolidating and maximising
opportunities, relations and spaces within regional and continental bodies; enhancing mechanisms
to protect and support human rights defenders, activists, human rights campaigners at local,
national and regional level in response to increasing vulnerabilities and threats; freedom ofGlobal Cooperation Newsletter

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movement (Africans vis a vis Europeans); promoting national level lobbies; advocacy andcampaigning for supportive legal, policy and operational environments and penultimate creationand expansion of civil society space with a national emphasis; promoting civil society self-regulation
mechanisms and enhancing accountability and effectiveness; strengthening and supporting coalitionbuilding and solidarity actions to defend, create and expand civil society space; financing civilsociety activities and relations between civil society and donors; effective engagement between civilsociety and governments (CSO-State relations). Recommendations were drafted under these majorpriorities.
New Publications
Social policies in Seychelles: Social Policies in small states series, No. 5. This book provides
comprehensive analysis of social policy development in the Seychelles from the colonial era
onward, focusing on the political and economic developments that have led to the current situation.
The challenge now is to maintain current levels of social policy interventions in the face of severeindebtedness and stagnant economic growth.
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BF3C2/setLanguageCookie?OpenAgent&langcode=en&url=/80
256B3C005BCCF9/search/3A9A74B074A08D26C12579580049787F?OpenDocument
UNESCO-CSH publication on the Right to the City in India New Delhi, 9 Dec. 2011 – On theoccasion of the Human Rights Day, celebrated every year on the 10th December, Mr Miloon Kothari,former Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, United Nations Human Rights Council andExecutive Director, Housing and Land Rights Network, launched the UNESCO-CSH publication titled
Urban Policies and the Right to the City in India: Rights, Responsibilities and Citizenship. Thepublication, prepared in collaboration with Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi and supported
by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, is a compendium of 16 research policy-papers covering several angles of
the right to the city approach in India. The publication is intended as an advocacy tool to promote arights-based approach to urbanization in India. A rights-based approach in the context of Indian
cities has not yet been extensively documented and researched. For more information:
http://portal.unesco.org/geography/en/ev.phpURL_ID=15084&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
A Fair Green Economy? Studies of Agriculture, Energy and Waste Initiatives in Malaysia
This paper looks at how the Malaysian government deals with green economy. Through case studies
of agriculture, renewable energy and waste-to-wealth initiatives, the paper demonstrates thatgreen economy in Malaysia has the most potential when it involves the engagement ofcommunities. ...
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/search/85AECC96CC26C369C12579760054BFCF?Open
Document&cntxt=5F640&cookielang=en#top
The content of this Global Newsletter may be freely reproduced or cited provided the source isacknowledged. Views do not necessarily represent policies of ICSW.
December 2011 Newsletter Editor: Roselyn Nakirya, Programme Coordinator
ICSW, Plot 4, Berkeley Lane, Off Lugard Avenue,Entebbe, Uganda
Phone: +256 414 32 11 50
Website www.icsw.org Email: icsw@icsw.org
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