The 108th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) adopted on 21st June 2019 the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work charting the way towards a human-centred future of work. The Declaration recognizes the central role of universal access to comprehensive and sustainable social protection for building a brighter future of work.

Social protection has been at the heart of the work of the 108th Session of the ILC in many respects:

• The Committee on the Application of Standards discussed this year’s General Survey, which provides a panorama of the country level implementation of the Social Protection Floors Recommendation No 202 and calls for full implementation of this instrument, including through national dialogue processes and technical assistance by the Office.
  • Click here to access the General Survey concerning the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202).
• Thematic Forums:
  • At the forum "Securing sustainable transitions over the life course," Ms Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), launched A Strategy for IMF Engagement on Social Spending, acknowledging the centrality of social protection for inclusive development and the importance of increasing fiscal space for social protection. Watch the video.
  • The forum "Multilateralism for an equitable future of work" provided concrete pathways to work more coherently towards reducing inequality. Watch the video.
• 36 Heads of States and 9 high level personalities addressed the Centenary Session of the ILC, many of them highlighted the importance of social protection to securing transitions over the life course in a world of work affected by digitalization, demographic shifts, climate change and globalization. The President of France, Mr Emmanuel Macron, stressed the importance of developing universal social protection systems for all by 2030 in line with the Social protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202). Watch the videos.

Have a look at the parallel activities related to social protection that took place during the ILC:

• Interview with Valérie Schmitt, Deputy Director and OIC of the Social Protection Department: "Achieving universal social protection coverage by 2030 is possible".
• Presentation of the digital exhibition "With social protection, we can build a brighter future" including eight thematic videos:
  • Social protection for workers in new forms of employment
  • Social protection and climate change
  • Social protection and human mobility
  • Social protection and green transition
  • Social protection to realize children's full potential
  • Social protection and ageing: adequate and sustainable old-age pensions
  • Social protection and long-term care
  • Adapting health protection for a globalized work
• And as usual, many participants supported #USP2030!