Throughout the events organized during this week in the heart of Europe, INSP!R network members reiterated their conviction that the best way to get people out of exclusion and precariousness is to build or consolidate genuine solidarity systems that support these men and women throughout their lives, through events such as maternity, illness, unemployment, pension, etc. This social protection is there to help us cope with difficulties, independently. This system, the social protection, is based on a certain number of human rights, recognized as universal since 1948. It is a mechanism to be developed and protected. It has proved its worth and can be implemented anywhere, provided it is supported and involves the State, the private sector and civil society. Social protection should not be seen as a burden, but rather as an investment in a more sustainable, inclusive and supportive society.
Look at the presentation video of INSP!R
In addition to thematic reinforcement sessions on the transition to care societies, the status of platform workers and social protection in the context of just transition, participants took part in the climate demonstration organized by Belgian social movements in the streets of Brussels on Sunday 3rd December. This action echoed COP 28, which opened on Thursday December 30th in Dubai. It was organized by the Climate Coalition, which brings together over a hundred Belgian civil society organizations, as well as NGOs, trade unions, mutualities and others. Members of the steering committee of the INSP!R intercontinental network from Asia, Africa and Latin America & Caribe held a banner with a call to action to ensure a just transition with effective social protection measures to leave no one behind.
They also took time to visit social and trade union projects run by the Christian workers' movement in Tournai, Mons and Gent. These encounters enabled them to better exchange ideas on the dynamics of services provided to citizens to help them escape from precariousness.
On December 1st a festive evening was held to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this formidable networking adventure, alongside numerous Belgian and international guests invited to the WSM headquarters in Brussels. Speakers from 4 continents were able to reminisce, share their successes and sketch out a desirable future for network dynamics in the service of universal social protection. Finally, the steering committee also met for two days to discuss internal organizational issues and outline an advocacy and learning agenda for the coming months.
The participants representing the INSP!R network on this stay were:
Samy Arokiasam (Areds, India), Mary Karol Luna (National Association of Journalists - ANP, Peru),Pr Ingrid Mulamba (CDS, DR. Congo), Niwa Soulima (Synphot, Togo), Angeles Carrion (RIPESS-Lac, Ecuador), Sabine Jenifère Medetadji (SUO, Benin), Santiago Fischer (WSM, Belgium), Agnès Chapelle (Mutualité Chrétienne de Belgique), Karin Debroey (ACV-CSC trade union, Belgium), Agnieszka Basinska (Flandria, Poland). They were supported by INSP !R network and continental coordinators: Drissa Soare (West Africa), Denis Mushiya (Central Africa), Gabriela Prudencio (Latin America & Caribbean), Bismo Sanyoto (Asia), as well as Bart Verstraeten (chair of the WSM steering committee) and Céline Magonet (WSM), who provided logistical and administrative support.
What is the INSP!R network?
Read the INSP!R activities report 2021-2022
According to the ILO, today 71% of the world's population has little or no access to social protection. Yet social protection is not a privilege, it's a human right. It is also the best insurance against inequality, poverty and exclusion. To guarantee this right to social protection for all, 166 social movements in 20 countries in Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, Asia and Europe are joining forces within the global network INSP!R, the International Network for Social Protection Rights. The INSP!R network is an ideal tool for fostering connections between diverse actors around the common goal of fighting inequality. This has always been the DNA of the network's members. Linking up as a network gives us the means to share our experiences and learn from each other, to raise the profile of what we stand for, and to work together to defend the ideal of universal social protection.
The starting point for the network's work is based on the International Labour Organization's Decent Work Agenda, with the aim of transforming societies while ensuring that no one is left behind. The INSP!R network was officially born in 2019, but its history goes back 15 years, when the idea emerged of working in synergy with a variety of actors from around the world, largely partners of WSM, ACV-CSC and Christian Mutualities around this common goal.
Santiago Fischer
(c) photos : Kristof Vadino
