Social Protection and the Millennium Development Goals: an Assessment from a Human Rights Perspective

Abstract

The adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represents a significant turning point, demonstrating that the international community assumed a shared responsibility for achieving globally defined development objectives within an institutional framework for the first time. These goals also reflect the initial collective demands of poor and vulnerable groups toward global governance processes, forming the foundational elements of a new global social contract. Although the multi-sectoral, broad, and complex nature of the MDGs has been widely discussed in the literature, the strategic contribution that social protection mechanisms can offer to these goals has received comparatively limited attention. Yet social protection systems play a critical role in reducing the economic and social risks faced by both poor and non-poor populations, thereby enabling sustainable progress across all MDG areas. This study aims to comprehensively examine the structural and complementary relationship between social protection and the Millennium Development Goals from both conceptual and empirical perspectives.

Keywords

• Social Protection
• International Labour Organisation
• Millennium Development Goals
• Human Rights

Sosyal Koruma ve Milenyum Kalkınma Hedefleri: İnsan Hakları Perspektifinden bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

Binyıl Kalkınma Hedefleri’nin (BKH) kabulü, uluslararası toplumun küresel ölçekte tanımlanmış kalkınma hedeflerine ulaşma konusundaki ortak sorumluluğunu ilk kez kurumsal bir çerçevede üstlendiğini gösteren önemli bir dönüm noktasıdır. Bu hedefler, aynı zamanda yoksul ve kırılgan kesimlerin küresel yönetişim süreçlerine yönelik ilk kolektif taleplerini yansıtarak yeni bir küresel toplumsal sözleşmenin temel unsurlarını oluşturmuştur. BKH’nin çok sektörlü, geniş kapsamlı ve karmaşık yapısı literatürde sıkça ele alınmakla birlikte, sosyal koruma mekanizmalarının bu hedeflere sağlayabileceği stratejik katkı görece sınırlı düzeyde incelenmiştir. Oysa sosyal koruma sistemleri, hem yoksul hem de yoksul olmayan nüfus gruplarının karşı karşıya oldukları ekonomik ve sosyal riskleri azaltarak tüm BKH alanlarında sürdürülebilir ilerleme sağlanmasında kritik bir rol üstlenmektedir. Bu çalışma, sosyal koruma ile Binyıl Kalkınma Hedefleri arasındaki bu yapısal ve tamamlayıcı ilişkiyi kavramsal ve ampirik açıdan kapsamlı biçimde değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

• Sosyal Koruma
• Uluslararası Çalışma Örgütü
• Milenyum Kalkınma Hedefleri
• İnsan Hakları

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