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

Year 2025, Volume: 4 Issue: 2, 124 - 140, 29.11.2025

Cem Ergun Durmaz , Volkan Dedeoğlu

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

References

• Barrientos, A., & Hulme, D. (2009). Social protection for the poor and poorest in developing countries: Reflections on a quiet revolution. Oxford Development Studies, 37(4), 439–456.
• Fehling, M., Nelson, B. D., & Venkatapuram, S. (2013). Limitations of the Millennium Development Goals: A literature review. Global Public Health, 8(10), 1109–1122.
• Fiszbein, A., Kanbur, R., & Yemtsov, R. (2014). Social protection and poverty reduction: Global patterns and some targets. World Development, 61, 167–177.
• Ghosal, S., & Waisbich, L. T. (2023). Towards a robust social protection system in the post-pandemic era. T20 India. https://t20ind.org/wpcontent/uploads/2023/07/T20_PB_TF6_6109_RobustSocialProtectionSystem.pdf
• Global Social Justice. (2022). Social protection floor beyond poverty reduction. https://www.globalsocialjustice.info/2022/07/01/social-protection-floor-beyond-poverty-reduction/
• Handayani, S. W., Cichon, M., Carraro, L., Villarroel, M. I., Bongestabs, A. F., Gassmann, F., Weber, A., Banzon, E., Paredes, K. P. P., & Hagemejer, K. (2018). Asia’s fiscal challenge: Financing the social protection agenda of the sustainable development goals. Asian Development Bank. https://www.adb.org/publications/asia-fiscal-challenge-social-protection-agenda
• International Labour Office (ILO), & World Health Organization (WHO). (2009). The social protection floor: A joint crisis initiative of the UN Chief Executives Board for Co-ordination on the social protection floor. ILO and WHO.
• International Labour Office (ILO). (2004). A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all. Report of the World. ILO.
• International Labour Office (ILO). (2010). World social security report 2010/11: Providing coverage in times of crisis and beyond. ILO. https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40dgreports/%40dcomm/%40publ/documents/publication/wcms_146566.pdf
• International Labour Organization (ILO). (2012). Social protection floors recommendation #202, 2012. http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:R202
• International Labour Organization (ILO). (2017). World social protection report 2017–19: Universal social protection to achieve the sustainable development goal. https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40dgreports/%40dcomm/%40publ/documents/publication/wcms_604882.pdf
• International Labour Organization. (t.y.). Social protection floor. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/dw4sd/themes/sp-floor/lang--en/index.htm
• Lagoutte, S., Gammeltoft-Hansen, T., & Cerone, J. (Eds.). (2016). Tracing the roles of soft law in human rights. Oxford University Press.
• Langford, M. (2008). Social rights jurisprudence: Emerging trends in international and comparative law. Cambridge University Press.
• Lönnroth, K., Jaramillo, E., Williams, B. G., Dye, C., & Raviglione, M. (2009). Drivers of tuberculosis epidemics: The role of risk factors and social determinants. Social Science & Medicine, 68(12), 2240–2246.
• Merrien, X. (2013). Social protection as development policy: A new international agenda for action. La protection sociale comme politique de développement: un nouveau programme d'action international, 89–106.
• Ortiz, I. (2018). The case for universal social protection. Finance & Development, 55(4), 32–34.
• The Danish Institute for Human Rights. (2016). The human rights guide to the sustainable development goals. http://sdg.humanrights.dk/en
• UNISDR. (2015). Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015–2030. UNISDR. https://www.undrr.org/implementing-sendai-framework/what-sendai-framework
• United Nations. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights (General Assembly Resolution 217 A (III)). http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html
• United Nations. (1966). International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. United Nations, Treaty Series, 993, 3. http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36c0.html
• United Nations. (2012). The millennium development goals report 2012. https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/reports.shtml
• United Nations. (2015). #Envision2030: 17 goals to transform the world for persons with disabilities. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html
• United Nations. (t.y.). Social protection. https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/issues/social-protection.html
• Wan Ginneken, W. (2011). Social protection, the millennium development goals and human rights. IDS Bulletin, 42(6).
• World Bank. (2001). Social protection sector strategy paper: From safety net to springboard. Washington, DC, USA.
• World Bank. (2012b). Resilience, equity and opportunity: Social protection and labor strategy. World Bank.