Universal Health Coverage & Universal Social Protection: A joint agenda to improve health equity and well-being in the informal economy
Hybrid 1-day workshop event
Date: 12th of December 2024 from 9:00 to 17:30
Location: Hybrid event
Onsite: Room II at the International Labour Office in Geneva
Online: A Zoom link will be made available after registration
Register: https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/ShowWiki.action?id=3231
Background
Human health and wellbeing are strongly determined by the conditions in which people live, work, grow and age. Therefore, working conditions, status in employment and effective social protection coverage, as they impact income, social cohesion, and inequality, also have an impact on people’s health, including mental health. Indeed, they affect nutrition, education, housing, healthcare seeking behaviours and other social determinants of health (SDH). Those determinants are rooted in the unequal distribution of power and resources which generates a social gradient in health at local, national and international levels, resulting in inequities in health outcomes within and between countries.
The bidirectional relationship between informal employment and health calls for integrated approaches. When indeed, addressing these social and environmental determinants of health requires the engagement of policy areas that go well beyond health alone, with a growing recognition of the importance of adopting multisectoral approaches to achieve health equity, which also contributes to greater social justice. This underscores in particular the need to reinforce the linkages between SDG target 1.3 on universal social protection (USP) and SDG target 3.8 on universal health coverage (UHC) to maximize their human development impact. Such integrated policies are aligned with the objectives of the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions.
The ILO and the WHO are collaborating to explore inter-sectoral action to improve health and wellbeing, particularly in the informal economy, at the occasion of Universal Health Coverage Day 2024.
Agenda
09:00 Opening
09:15 Launch of the scoping review “Role of social protection in reducing the burden of public health and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence review”
09:45 Session 1: Setting the scene – the interplay between informal employment, the absence of social protection and health and well-being
11:00 Session 2: Contribution of integrated approaches to promoting occupational health and extending social protection
14:00 Session 3: Addressing informality within the health and care workforce
15:45 Session 4: Universal Social Protection for health and well-being in the context of the climate crisis and other societal upheavals
17:00 Closing