Towards Social Security for the Poor

Social Policy Section
Social Development Division, United Nations ESCAP

Towards Social Security for the Poor in the Asia-Pacific Region

ST/ESCAP/1673

With the overriding issue of poverty in mind, the Governments have committed themselves to eradicating absolute poverty from the Asian and Pacific region by 2010 and working towards the reduction of relative poverty. To meet that target, among others, the Governments have agreed that they will, by 2000, formulate an overall policy framework that will accord priority to social protection for all, in accordance witht he prevailing standards of society and within available resources.

To assist the Asian and Pacific Governments in formulating such an overall policy framework, the secretariat undertook a two-year project on the enhancement of social security for the poor. The first part of the project activities culminated in the preparation of an analytical study and a regional study on social security systems and their effectiveness in providing social security to the poor. Those studies were based on a series of country case studies, covering a representative cross-section of the developing Asian and Pacific region: China, Fiji, India, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uzbekistan. The preparation of country studies was coordinated by the Marga Institute of Sri Lanka

This present publication includes the regional and country studies. Its purpose is to provide guidelines for designing a national policy framework to accord prioirty to social protection for the poor. The publication also contains the report of the Expert Group Meeting on the Enhancement of Social Security for the Poor convened by ESCAP at Bangkok in November 1995, as part of the project. Based on a review of existing social security policies, programmes and mechanisms in the region and their effectiveness, the experts adopted a set of 24 recommendations to strengthen measures for social protection to the poor, covering the social security concept; strategies, policies and programmes; institutions; finance and regional support measures.

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