Bangladesh - Social Protection, a right for vulnerable workers in the SAARC-subregion. Programme 2014-2016

Het recht op sociale bescherming promoten voor kwetsbare groepen arbeiders (in het bijzonder vrouwen en jongeren) door een gezamenlijke aanpak en samenwerking van 10 sociale bewegingen uit de sub-regio SAARC Social protection is an essential pillar for combating poverty and preventing people from falling into poverty. Economic growth in the sub-region must benefit everyone. There is therefore a need to redistribute increased prosperity and social protection measures must also be assessed in this light. For WSM and its partners in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, it is essential that the maximum possible involvement of the beneficiaries in the preparation, elaboration and evaluation of these measures is ensured. These participatory and transformation roles demand social movements in order not to be dependent purely on decision-making and goodwill over which they have no control. Sustainable measures and solutions are only possible if the target group can be an active stakeholder. Sustainable change also requires political solutions, and cooperation with other stakeholders is recommended. For this reason, WSM is focusing on synergy and networking in the sub-region and in the three countries concerned. The Right to Social Protection is an individual right, but can only be guaranteed through collective measures. In this perspective, WSM also focuses in this programme on strengthening the partner organisations. They do not position themselves as beneficiaries, but as actors of sustainable change. It goes without saying that this requires continuous capacity building through networking, training, exchange of ideas, concepts and experiences between partners, countries and continents. The emphasis is on a wide variety of prevention, protection, promotion and transformation initiatives.

Better respect for the right to social protection for vulnerable groups of workers (especially women and young people) is achieved through a joint approach and cooperation of 10 social movements from the SAARC sub-region.