October 24, 2015 is World Development Information Day, established in 1975 by the UN to raise global awareness of development problems and the need to strengthen international cooperation to solve them. In its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN wants to ensure that “all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.” They propose to do this through 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which, if backed internationally, will transform the world into one without inequality and poverty. According to the UN and the ILO, the time to act is now.
Social protection policies have a role to play here, as they can be a tool for boosting human capital and supporting inclusive growth. Our author Lisa Cameron highlights the pressing need to design social protection programs to benefit poor women in developing countries. Women are more likely than men to work in the informal sector and to drop out of the labor force for a time, often due to childbirth. Although many developing countries have introduced social protection programs to protect those in poverty, the programs are generally less accessible to women than to men despite the often greater need of women. Visit IZA World of Labor for more articles on labor economics and development.
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