The Organization of American States' first Summit of Ministers and High-level Authorities in Social Development took place in Reñaca, Chile on July 8-10, 2008. The four key themes of the Summit were: improving the ability of social policy institutions to lead governments' efforts against poverty and inequality; Inter-American cooperation as a tool for promoting effective social protection strategies; multisectoral approaches to address the two main components of exclusion: hunger and unemployment; and moving forward with social development activities in the Inter-American system.
Both the opening statement of OAS Secretary-General Insulza and the concluding remarks of the Chilean President Michelle Bachelet emphasized strongly the need for social policy to build citizenship through the provision of guaranteed minimum standards in key areas of social policy. President Bachelet called on countries across the region to "adopt a new model of Social Protection" by breaking with traditional forms of assistance and to fully undertake a "system of guaranteed social rights." A rights-based approach to social policy from the perspective of social guarantees has been the theme of a two-year-long work program of the Social Development Department in collaboration with the Organization of American States (OAS) which includes eleven country case studies: nine in Latin America, two in the Caribbean and the case of South Africa. This work was initially requested by the OAS to serve as an input to this Inter-ministerial meeting, yet more broadly it also seeks to encourage cross-regional learning and dialogue on rights-based approaches to designing and monitoring social programs. The governments of Chile and South Africa have already initiated dialogue and exchange of practices on their distinct approaches to protecting social and economic rights. Two publications that have emerged from this work are the ESW 'Realizing Rights through Social Guarantees' and a Policy Note 'Increasing Social Inclusion through Social Guarantees.' The latter was disseminated during the Summit. A preparatory consultation for the Inter-ministerial Summit sponsored by the World Bank and the OAS was held in Asunción, Paraguay on June 4-6 2008. The workshop was attended by social development experts from over sixteen Latin American and Caribbean states representing ministries of social development and planning, the OAS, the Social Institute of MERCOSUR, national civil society groups, academic institutions and policy think tanks (see Presentations below). The objective was to discuss and compare experiences and key social development challenges in the region, including: What is the appropriate role of social development ministries in the design of policies aimed at diminishing social inequity?; What is their role in strengthening governance and citizenship?; What institutional arrangements can most effectively support the objectives of equity, good governance, and citizenship in the social policy arena? The workshop featured presentations of the Social Development Department's work on comprehensive social policy and Rights-Based Approaches to Social Policy. Presentations from Asunción workshop: |
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