Can Global Action Solve the Social Development Crisis?

Source – World Social Report 2024

The world has seen significant progress in social development since the first World Summit for Social Development in 1995, which centred on poverty eradication, employment generation, and building inclusive societies. However, the World Social Report 2024 warns that this progress is now under threat. The global community faces an era where shocks are more frequent and crises increasingly interconnected, jeopardising key social development goals.

A key concern is the potential long-term impact of recent crises, with projections indicating that global output in 2030 will be 7.3% lower than expected pre-2019, amounting to a loss of over $50 trillion. This reduction represents significant lost opportunities for advancing social development globally. The report calls for urgent global action to address these converging crises and build resilient social systems.

Impact of Converging Crises on Social Development

The report paints a stark picture of the cumulative effect of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate-related disasters like droughts and floods. These events have exacerbated food insecurity and income inequality. While the global extreme poverty rate rose for the first time in two decades during the pandemic, many low-income countries are still struggling to return to pre-pandemic levels of poverty reduction.

The rise in inflation, especially in developing nations, has made basic necessities more expensive, trapping households in poverty. In addition to economic shocks, food insecurity has worsened, threatening the health and cognitive development of children​. 

Structural Drivers and Unpreparedness

The report highlights how modern interconnected systems in trade, finance, and transport propagate shocks quickly and amplify them into crises. Global warming and climate change are set to make these disruptions more severe, with predictions of more extreme weather events that will affect agricultural production and food security.

Despite the increasing frequency of these shocks, most countries remain unprepared. Social protection systems and early warning mechanisms have not kept pace with the magnitude of these crises. For instance, only 47% of the global population has access to at least one social protection benefit, leaving more than 4 billion people vulnerable​.

The Role of International Cooperation

Given the transnational nature of these crises, the World Social Report 2024 strongly advocates for international cooperation. As shocks from one region or sector can spill over to others, global solutions are essential. The report points to the success of international cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic, where platforms were created to facilitate knowledge sharing and vaccine development. It calls for similar efforts to tackle other global risks, such as climate change and financial instability​.

Coordinated action is necessary to provide fiscal space for developing nations grappling with rising debt burdens. Half of low-income countries are at high risk of debt distress, a situation that is limiting their ability to invest in social protection and development programs. The report calls for debt swaps and international financial aid to help alleviate these pressures​.

Social Protection and Resilience Building

Building resilient social protection systems is central to mitigating the impacts of future crises. The report estimates that achieving comprehensive social protection systems in developing countries by 2030 will cost $1.4 trillion annually, or about 3.3% of their collective GDP. While this may seem daunting, the pandemic has shown the importance of these systems in shielding vulnerable populations from the worst impacts of crises​.

The report urges countries to integrate social protection into their national legal frameworks, making it a right rather than a discretionary benefit. This would ensure continuity in times of crisis and reduce the need for emergency responses. It also suggests innovative insurance mechanisms, such as parametric insurance, to expand risk coverage for vulnerable populations​.

The World Social Report 2024 offers a clear path forward: countries must bolster their social protection systems, invest in resilience-building, and work together through international cooperation to tackle these global challenges. The stakes are high, but with coordinated global action, there is still time to steer the world towards a more inclusive and equitable future. 

You can read the full report here