UNRISD - Linking Social Protection and Human Rights - Web platform on case law

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) develops a web platform, titled "Linking Social Protection and Human Rights", that provides both a space to convene leading thinkers on social protection as a human rights issue, and a source of practical guidance for policy makers (duty bearers), practitioners (social workers) and advocates defending women and men (rights holders) whose rights to social protection have been violated against. The Guide comprises an explanatory framework on the human rights approach to social protection, a depository of key case law where social protection issues have been discussed by regional and domestic courts, expert commentaries on common issues and easy access to external resources, which are targeted at policy makers, development practitioners and human rights advocates. This work is a result - and a user-friendly practical application - of earlier work that Finland supported in the framework of the UN Human Rights Council, whose Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Dr. Magdalena Sepulveda, has focused her work on social protection, as an effective way to reduce extreme poverty and inequality. Some of the key messages of the Special Rapporteur's work have been synthesized into a publication "The Human Rights Approach to Social Protection" which was published in the MFA-Finland's publication series "Elements for Discussion" in 2012, and in another MFAF-publication by the same author titled: "Access to Justice for Persons Living in Poverty. The Human Rights Approach" in 2014. The Finnish funding (200.000e) will enable UNRISD to expand, enhance and further develop the existing web platform, to provide outputs summarizing and highlighting lessons and practices from existing evidence, to further develop complementary tools, and to provide concrete ideas for those implementing and overseeing the establishment and expansion of social protection programmes and systems in developing countries.