The International Labour Organization’s Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for All has extended social protection to more than 100 million people worldwide since its launch in 2016.
The programme provides technical assistance to governments to strengthen national social protection systems, ensuring coverage throughout the life cycle and supporting just transitions in the face of emerging economic and social challenges, it disclosed in a report published on its website.
During its second phase (2021–2025), the programme exceeded its target of 60 million, reaching more than 84 million people. In 2025 alone, nearly 29 million people benefited from improved social protection coverage. The initiative also supported 180 institutional reforms across 50 priority countries, ranging from new social protection laws to administrative reforms.
Country-level results include Uzbekistan extending maternity and sickness benefits to over six million workers, Suriname ratifying international social security standards, Laos launching its first social security mobile application, and Angola raising social protection spending to more than 6 per cent of the national budget.
The programme is entering its third phase (2026–2030), aiming to extend legal coverage to an additional 20 million people, achieve effective coverage for 30 million more, and improve comprehensiveness for 10 million others. Development partners, including the European Union and Ireland, pledged continued support to accelerate progress toward universal social protection.
“For the European Union, continuing to strengthen cooperation with the ILO and partner countries remains essential to advance our shared goal of universal social protection for all,” said the Team Leader for Social Protection, Inequalities and Persons with Disabilities at the Directorate-General for International Partnerships, European Commission, Laure Rogès. “The Flagship Programme in its phase III is fully aligned with the European Union Global Gateway strategy, acknowledging that economic transformation and social development must go hand in hand to achieve a virtuous circle.”
“The Flagship Programme is essential to build lifecycle social protection systems that are firmly rooted in government policies and social dialogue and have lasting impacts on people, even if this is not something that happens quickly,” noted Paula Nolan, the Social Protection Policy Lead at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland.
Strengthening strategic partnerships, including through the United Nations Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, delivering as One UN on social protection, deepening collaboration with workers’ and employers’ organisations, and promoting investment in social protection jointly with international financial institutions will be essential to achieving these targets.
The Flagship Programme’s annual Development Partners meeting brought together representatives of governments, as well as workers’ and employers’ organisations. Participants reviewed progress to date, discussed the strategic direction for the programme’s third phase, and explored ways to accelerate progress towards universal social protection by 2030.
