Social security is the protection that a society provides to individuals and households to ensure access to health care and to guarantee income security, particularly in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or loss of a breadwinner

Social security has a powerful impact at all levels of society. It provides workers and their families with access to health care and with protection against loss of income, whether it is for short periods of unemployment or sickness or maternity or for a longer time due to invalidity or employment injury. It provides older people with income security in their retirement years.  Children benefit from social security programmes designed to help their families with the cost of education.  For employers and enterprises, social security helps maintain stable lab our relations and a productive workforce.  And social security can contribute to social cohesion and to a country’s overall growth and development by bolstering living standards, cushioning the effects of structural and technological change on people and thereby providing the basis for a more positive approach toward Development. 

Social security protection is regarded by the United Nations as a basic human right one that a small proportion of the people on our planet actually enjoy.  Broadly defined as a system of contribution-based health, pension and unemployment protection, along with tax-financed social benefits, extending social security to all African sub Saharan should be our challenge in this coming years. The large majority of African sub-Saharan lab our force lacks any kind of social security protection at all.  Those without coverage are usually part of the informal economy – they are generally not protected in old age by social security, and they cannot afford to pay their health care bill.  In addition, many people have insufficient coverage – that is, they may lack significant elements of protection (such as health care or pension).
Social security should promote and be based upon the principle of gender equality – not only with regard to equal treatment for men and women in the same or similar situations, but also concerning measures to ensure equitable outcomes for women. For example, many societies benefit greatly from unpaid care work, particularly which women provide to children, aging parents and infirm family members. Yet, with regard to social security, these family caregivers are often disadvantaged later in life simply because their work occurred in the home and not as paid employment.







The bill to be drafted should be able to offer and guarantee every citizen income security, unemployment, health insurance, maternity or loss of a breadwinner and old age benefits and should be extended to children’s education, housing and skill development.

Every citizen above 18 years (Employed or unemployed) should be able to register themselves to get a social security Number.

The bill should be executed through a central social security authority of each nation.


This bill should seek a participatory structure that will be builds on civil society, government and non government organisation and should be implemented through social security facilitation centres in every village and community.


The principle of constitutional rights to every citizen based on:

   * The principle of solidarity
   * The principle of equality
   * The principle of equity

Constitutional doctrine Contents based on:
•   Social security as a right to every citizen from younger working population to older and nonworking generation.
•   Social security as a fundamental rights per se
•   Pension rights and social rights, material (informal) and formal concepts.

The allocation of certain percentage of GDP to cover social security for all

The obligation to include civil society and non government organisation as partner







This is one of today’s most important issues for African sub Saharan nations in which we have to question ourselves.
At the end of this debate, we should have capacity to draft a bill and proposed it to minimum of 10 African sub Saharan nation legislatures for deliberations.
And hope if really our legislatures are there for the community, the bill will be surely passed into law with support of general participation.

Let this debate colour our talks, discussions and ideals throughout this spring period, and organising a conference after this debate will be step forward.

With these words I declare the debate and discussion about social security for all open.
I wish you all every success.

Kingsley Alani.