Poster

[1Z103] Social Protection as Rights: Challenges of Covering Anti-Poverty Strategies to All

*Daichi SHIMIZU¹ (1. University of Tsukuba)

Keywords: social protection, human rights, universal coverage, international organizations, development workers

Social protection serves as an essential safety net and provides access to basic needs for vulnerable populations. In contemporary global discourse, social protection is increasingly recognized as an inherent human rights agenda, as well as a strategy for poverty reduction and economic development. With its global agenda, Universal Social Protection Initiatives 2030, the extension and increasing coverage of programs are a core political instrument for international organizations.The objective of this study is to illuminate the decolonial perspectives on the development of Malawi from the global discourse and the narratives of development workers in Malawi who are contributing to the social protection scheme in the country. Malawi is one of the countries where the influence of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conference on Social Protection for All has been particularly strong. Following the conference, Malawi adopted the successful methodology of the social cash transfer (SCT) programme, which was designed by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The SCT programme provides cash aid to ultra-poor individuals in addition to public work programmes. The field research was conducted from April 2023 to March 2024. The primary data to be presented will be from semi-structured interviews, which were conducted using snowball sampling as the data collection method. These interviews were conducted from January 2024 until the conclusion of the field research. The participants in these interviews were primarily (ex)government officials and other relevant stakeholders. The study demonstrates that the financial dependency of international organisations exerts considerable influence over the discourse of local workers. The collected narratives indicate a consensus that social protection is a fundamental right that must be extended to a wider population. However, there is a prevailing concern about the current situation of the World Bank, which has gained significant control over programmes through Multi Donor Trust Funds.