360 Soziale Probleme und Sozialdienste; Verbände
Refine
H-BRS Bibliography
- yes (29) (remove)
Departments, institutes and facilities
- Fachbereich Sozialpolitik und Soziale Sicherung (16)
- Internationales Zentrum für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (IZNE) (13)
- Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften (6)
- Fachbereich Ingenieurwissenschaften und Kommunikation (1)
- Graduierteninstitut (1)
- Institut für Technik, Ressourcenschonung und Energieeffizienz (TREE) (1)
- Zentrum für Ethik und Verantwortung (ZEV) (1)
Document Type
- Article (9)
- Working Paper (8)
- Part of a Book (5)
- Conference Object (3)
- Book (monograph, edited volume) (1)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
- Report (1)
- Book review (1)
Year of publication
Language
- English (29) (remove)
Keywords
- social protection (4)
- Social Protection (3)
- COVID-19 (2)
- Kenya (2)
- Sozialpolitik (2)
- cash transfers (2)
- social security (2)
- Africa (1)
- Avian influenza (1)
- Binary and count models (1)
This paper seeks to explore the framework within which the International Labour Office should promote a principled, practical approach to social security policy in the new millennium. Integration has to be built around a joint coherent policy vision and building such a policy vision requires debate. This paper is a product of a joint effort of members of the ILO Social Security Department and social security specialists working in the ILO field offices.
Farming communities confronted with climate change adopt formal and informal adaptation strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change. While the environmental and social effects of climate change are well documented, there is still a dearth of literature on girl-child marriage (formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child) as a response to the effects of climate change. In this research, we ask if girl-child marriage is promoted as a social protection mechanism first, rather than as simply a response to climate-induced poverty. We use qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to explore this question in a rural farming community in Northern Ghana. Our findings reveal that climate change shocks result in poverty and compel farmers to marry off their young daughters. The unmarried girl-child is perceived as an ‘extra mouth to feed’, a liability whose marriage becomes a strategy for protecting the family, the family’s reputation, and the girl child. The emphasis in girl-child marriage is not on the girl-child as an individual but on the family as a group. Hence, what is good for the family is assumed to be in the best interest of the girl-child. We place our analysis at the intersection of climate change, social protection, and the incidence of girl-child marriages. We argue that understanding this link is crucial and can contribute significantly to our knowledge of girl-child marriage as well as our ability to address this in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Introduction: The paper analyses – basing itself on reports and other documents created by different parts of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) – the process which led to the adoption of Social Protection Floor Recommendation No. 202 and the shift in focus of social policy advice towards basic protection and to the Global South countries. We look at the actions of different actors which shape the standard setting and policy stand of the organisation. Objective: To provide a comprehensive analysis of the historical trajectory of ILO social security standards, examining the evolution of principles, conventions, and the global dynamics that have shaped the organization's approach to social protection over time. Materials and methods: The methods include examining ILO documents, relevant subject literature, and the author's participant observations from over twenty-years of service in the ILO's Social Security Department, aiming to provide insights into the decision-making processes within the organization. Conclusion: We conclude that change was brought by: 1) shift in the membership of the ILO and of its decision-making bodies towards the increased presence and powers of representatives from countries of the Global South, 2) the shift in the global development community policy priorities towards poverty reduction, 3) emergence of experimental social assistance schemes in Global South countries, with designs often ignoring principles embedded in the ILO standards. The Social Protection Floor Recommendation complements previous standards in response to the challenges of widespread poverty and informality and spreading atypical forms of employment. It provides two directions of policy responses: 1) formalizing informal employment relationships and 2) expanding universal or targeted rights-based social assistance schemes. Assistance provided by ILO to member states focuses now more on building the non-contributory schemes and on identifying the fiscal space necessary to close the coverage gaps. Nowadays, the ILO must collaborate more than before with other development partners and the main challenge is to build among them awareness and acceptance of the principles of the ILO social security standards.
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration defines Global Skill Partnerships (GSP) as an innovative means of strengthen skills development among origin countries and countries of destination in mutually beneficial manner. However, GSPs are very limited in number and scope, and empirical analyses of them are, to date, relatively rare. This study helps fill this gap in data by presenting and examining existing GSPs or GSP-like approaches (e.g., transnational training partnerships). The aim of the study is to take stock of the various conceptual discourses on and practical experience with transnational skill partnerships. Using Kosovo as a case study, the study details the structure of such partnerships and the processes they entail. It documents the experience of those involved and catalogues the factors contributing to success. On this basis, the authors propose a means of categorizing the various practices that will help structure the empirical diversity of such approaches and render them conceptually feasible: Transnational Skills and Mobility Partnerships (TSMP).
Introduction: As historically verified, countries with comprehensive, well designed social protection systems in place are better prepared to cope with large scale catastrophes of all kinds, always in such situation there is still a need for government interventions other than social protection and larger scale discretionary social protection or related interventions. Objective: The article presents the actions of countries to minimize the negative social effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The text is an attempt to answer how social security systems should be adapted to aforementioned crisis? Materials and methods: The text uses research methods such as: literature criticism and statistical analysis of data and revision of implemented state intervention policies based on reports of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Labour Organizaton, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and International Monetary Fund. Results: 1) For social security institutions of key importance to ensure continuity of operations of all services – of contributory social insurance as well of social assistance - was to ensure continuous payment of all benefits due and quick response to the new entitlement emerging. It is also necessary to ensure that all citizens are fully insured, regardless of the form of contract under which they perform work. 2) In many countries, special emergency measures that extended coverage and increased benefits were taken by governments without clearly identifying the sources of funding and very often burdening social security funds with non-statutory expenses and affecting their long-term financial sustainability. 3) In the longer run, there is a need to ensure universal health care coverage of the adequate quality, there is a need to develop policies which will secure at least minimum income security to all – independently of their labour market status, forms of employment, sex, ethnicity or nationality.
The UN Declaration on the Right to Development (UNDRTD) adopted in 1986 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015 share a universal concept of development that refers both to individual and collective dimensions of prosperity and thus includes the rights of future generations.2 They thus offer a definition of the relationship between development and human rights that is very relevant for the 21st century. The core norm of the UNDRTD has been defined later as “the right of peoples and individuals to the constant improvement of their wellbeing and to a national and global enabling environment conducive to just, equitable, participatory and human-centred development respectful of all human rights”3.
Using a life-cycle approach, we identify key gaps for social reform in Georgia. The reduction of informal work is the most pressing of these, since formal employment is the backbone of any robust and reliable social insurance scheme. At the same time, greater financial resources are required through taxation in order to enable systematic social reform in Georgia. Both interventions are needed in order to fill the gaps in the current social protection system, which include the limited scope of pension and health insurance, as well as the lack of permanent unemployment insurance and universal child benefits.
Against the background of Germany’s long experience with social protection, we outline the main principles of the German welfare state and present the design of three main social insurance branches (pensions, health and unemployment). Based on the mixed experience that has emerged in Germany, in particular due to path dependencies and political deadlock, we derive lessons that inform a clear and coherent vision for social reform in Georgia.
In her recent article, Bender discusses several aspects of research–practice–collaborations (RPCs). In this commentary, we apply Bender's arguments to experiences in engineering research and development (R&D). We investigate the influence of interaction with practice partners on relevance, credibility, and legitimacy in the special engineering field of product development and analyze which methodological approaches are already being pursued for dealing with diverging interests and asymmetries and which steps will be necessary to include interests of civil society beyond traditional customer relations.
The Poverty Reduction Effect of Social Protection: The Pros and Cons of a Multidisciplinary Approach
(2022)
There is a growing body of knowledge on the complex effects of social protection on poverty in Africa. This article explores the pros and cons of a multidisciplinary approach to studying social protection policies. Our research aimed at studying the interaction between cash transfers and social health protection policies in terms of their impact on inclusive growth in Ghana and Kenya. Also, it explored the policy reform context over time to unravel programme dynamics and outcomes. The analysis combined econometric and qualitative impact assessments with national- and local-level political economic analyses. In particular, dynamic effects and improved understanding of processes are well captured by this approach, thus, pushing the understanding of implementation challenges over and beyond a ‘technological fix,’ as has been argued before by Niño-Zarazúa et al. (World Dev 40:163–176, 2012), However, multidisciplinary research puts considerable demands on data and data handling. Finally, some poverty reduction effects play out over a longer time, requiring longitudinal consistent data that is still scarce.
This study intends to contribute to the discourse on social protection and crime. The study assessed social protection as a tool for crime prevention, with bias to Owerri municipal local government area of Imo state, Nigeria as a case study. The study employed a qualitative approach which allowed the researcher to explore experiences and perspectives of selected participants. Purposive sampling was considered appropriate for the defined population. In-depth interview and focus group discussion (FGD) served as data collection instruments. A review of available literature, reports, newspaper publications, reports, and various internet sources were exhaustively utilised to gather secondary data.
The study revealed that social protection possesses the potential to prevent crime. The study informed that certain intervention programmes established by the government helped in decreasing crime incidences in the area under study. In addition, the study revealed that social protection enhances wellbeing, empowers people, promotes better living conditions, imbues a sense of belonging and inclusiveness, promotes social stability and does not lead to dependency. However, the study revealed that social protection alone is incapable of eradicating crime.
Intersectoral collaborations are an integral component of the prevention and control of diseases in a complex health system. On the one hand, One Health (OH) is promoting the establishment of intersectoral collaborations for prevention at the human-animal-environment interface. On the other hand, operationalising OH can only be realized through intersectoral collaborations.
This work contributes to broadening the knowledge of the process for operationalising OH by analysing the governance structures behind different initiatives that tackle health problems at the human-animal-environment interface. The cases taken as examples for the analysis are the control and response to rabies and avian influenza under “classical OH”, and the management of floods and droughts for insights into “extended OH”. Data from Ghana and India were collected and compared to identify the key elements that enable ISC for OH.
Despite the case studies being heterogeneous in terms of their geographic, economic, social, cultural, and historical contexts, strong similarities were identified on how intersectoral collaborations in OH were initiated, managed, and taken to scale.
The actions documented for rabies prevention and control were historically based on one sector being the leader and implementer of activities, while avian influenza management relied more on intersectoral collaborations with clearly defined sectoral responsibilities. The management of the impact of flood and droughts on health provided a good example of intersectoral collaborations achieved by sectoral integration; however, the human health component was only involved in the response stage in the case of Ghana, while for India, there were broader schemes of intersectoral collaborations for prevention, adaptation, and response concerning climate change and disaster.
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic threatens global health thereby causing unprecedented social, economic, and political disruptions. One way to prevent such a pandemic is through interventions at the human-animal-environment interface by using an integrated One Health (OH) approach. This systematic literature review documented the three coronavirus outbreaks, i.e. SARS, MERS, COVID-19, to evaluate the evolution of the OH approach, including the identification of key OH actions taken for prevention, response, and control.
The OH understandings identified were categorized into three distinct patterns: institutional coordination and collaboration, OH in action/implementation, and extended OH (i.e. a clear involvement of the environmental domain). Across all studies, OH was most often framed as OH in action/implementation and least often in its extended meaning. Utilizing OH as institutional coordination and collaboration and the extended OH both increased over time. OH actions were classified into twelve sub-groups and further categorized as classical OH actions (i.e. at the human-animal interface), classical OH actions with outcomes to the environment, and extended OH actions.
The majority of studies focused on human-animal interaction, giving less attention to the natural and built environment. Different understandings of the OH approach in practice and several practical limitations might hinder current efforts to achieve the operationalization of OH by combining institutional coordination and collaboration with specific OH actions. The actions identified here are a valuable starting point for evaluating the stage of OH development in different settings. This study showed that by moving beyond the classical OH approach and its actions towards a more extended understanding, OH can unfold its entire capacity thereby improving preparedness and mitigating the impacts of the next outbreak.
In this thesis, unique administrative data, a relevant time of follow-up and advanced statistical measures to handle confounding have been utilized in order to provide new and informative evidence on the effects of vocational rehabilitation programs on work participation outcomes in Germany. While re-affirming the important role of micro-level determinants, the present study provides an extensive example of the individual and fiscal effects that are possible through meaningful vocational rehabilitation measures. The analysis showed that the principal objective, namely, to improve participation in employment, was generally achieved. Contrary to the common misconception that “off-the-job training” is relatively ineffective, this thesis has provided an empirical example of the positive impact of the programs.
Social Assistance
(2018)
If the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to “End poverty in all its forms everywhere” is to be taken seriously, most low- and middle-income countries face a huge challenge. An estimated 1 billion people have indeed escaped extreme poverty since the early 1990s, and the global poverty rate fell from 35% in 1990 to 10.7% in 2013, but the absolute number of people living below the international poverty line of $1.90 at purchasing power parity has hardly changed. Countries in Asia contributed greatly to the overall decline in poverty rates: from 2012 to 2013, over 100 million people in Asia left extreme poverty behind, notably in India, Indonesia, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) (World Bank 2016). Yet the living standards of those still below that line have hardly improved (Ravallion 2016). The achievement of the first SDG requires additional efforts at global and national levels, particularly on policies that address chronic poverty traps and that improve the outcomes of poor and vulnerable populations.
Social Insurance
(2018)
Extending coverage through contributory social insurance or other contributory programs is tempting for governments as a potential avenue for mobilizing new resources and creating new fiscal space. Such extension has clear limits, however: it applies only to those in the labor market who have employment status with high degree of formality and whose incomes are significantly above subsistence level and received regularly. It also requires administrative structures with capacity to regularly register incomes of those covered, and to collect contributions.
This chapter analyzes the potential of social insurance (also called contributory social protection) in the 16 Asian countries reviewed in this publication to fill the protection and coverage gaps in income security. It focuses on pensions, but also reviews other benefits temporarily replacing lost labor income due to events such as sickness, maternity, and unemployment. As current labor market structures largely determine the chances of extending coverage through these means, this chapter also examines their characteristics and analyzes coverage by the different forms of social insurance and assesses the potential for extension.
This paper analyzes the complex effects and risks of social protection programmes in Ghana and Kenya on poor people’s human wellbeing, voice and empowerment and interactions with the social protection regulatory framework and policy instruments. For this purpose, it adopts a comprehensive Inclusive Development framework to systematically explore the complex effects of cash transfers and health insurance at the individual, household and community level. The findings highlight the positive provisionary and preventive effects of social protection, but also illustrate that the poorest are still excluded and that promotive effects, in the form of enhanced productivity, manifest themselves mainly for the people who are less resource poor. They can build more effectively upon an existing asset base, capabilities, power and social relations to counter the exclusionary mechanisms of the system, address inequity concerns and offset the transaction costs of accessing and benefitting from social protection. The inclusive development framework enables to lay these complex effects and interactions bear, and points to areas that require more longitudinal and mixed methodology research.
The paper contributes to the debate on the political economy of implementation of propoor social policy. It argues for a broadening of the debate, which is dominated by technocratic arguments, emphasizing the lack of financial resources, technology or skills as the major barriers for effective implementation. Describing the dynamic interplay of ‘formal’ operational programme structures and ‘informal’ traditional institutions in delivering the CT-OVC – the largest and oldest cash transfer programme in Kenya – it argues for the need to look more closely into the local political economy as an important mediating arena for implementing social policies. Implementation is heavily contingent upon the local social, political and institutional context that influences and shapes its outcomes. These processes are highly dynamic and ambivalent evolving between ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ structures and institutions. They may change over time and place, challenging the implicit assumption that programmes are evenly implemented across geographic and political entities.
Argentina substantially contributes to the global organic agriculture and food sector due to its large areas of organically managed agricultural land. However, most of the organic production is foreseen for export. Overall, food supply for the domestic organic market is hardly tapped. This study investigates the current importance of organic agriculture and food production as well as its consumption within the country. The novelty of the study also lies in the observation, documentation and analysis of latest stakeholder-driven developments towards organic agriculture and food. The publication allows to make the Argentinian organic market significantly more visible for the international audience.
Food losses occur for many reasons at all stages of supply chains for fruits, vegetables and potatoes. They cause immense economic, environmental and social costs – not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. According to the European Commission, about 90 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in Europe alone. However, particularly for the early stages of supply chains for fruits, vegetables and potatoes there is still a lack of reliable data. Thus, one objective of this study is to contribute to the quantification of food losses between field and retail, where the main focus is set on potatoes, apples, carrots, strawberries and asparagus. Furthermore, neither reasons why products are removed from the supply chains nor their alternative uses are fully examined yet. This is why, the study takes a look on those issues, too. Results are based on data from an online survey among producers of fruits, vegetables and potatoes in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany and on interviews with producers and other supply chain experts. Findings suggest that the products’ size and form, their storage capabilities and food safety issues have big impacts on food losses. Despite a small sample size, these findings are in line with recent studies.
The Participation Act, introduced in the Netherlands in 2015, puts into practice the idea that every individual has to make a contribution in a participatory society. The Act includes aspects of income support, compulsory activities in return for benefits, and labour market reintegration. Drawing on 45 interviews, we provide insights into interactions between the individual financial and social situation, an individual’s position in society, and reintegration activities. The narratives show the fundamental need for individual freedom and societal meaning, recognition, and appreciation, as well as the complex circumstances in which social assistance recipients make decisions. Conflicts between those needs and the Act lead to the question of how personal and societal objectives can be reconciled.