The members of INSP!R – trade unions, mutual health organisations, organisations of women, young people, older persons, migrant or precarious workers – all contribute to decent work in their countries. Among the 4 pillars of the Decent Work Agenda, INSP!R mainly promotes the pillar related to (universal) social protection rights, through the creation of decent work, labour rights and social dialogue. These strategies enable the multiplication of practical and policy changes for the final beneficiaries: formal and informal economy workers in vulnerable and precarious work situations, their families and precarious social groups.
We work on a multitude of issues that are tools to fight against universal social protection :
Social and solidarity economy (SSE)
Social and solidarity economy (SSE) is composed of enterprises and organisations which have the specific feature of producing goods, services and knowledge while pursuing both economic and social aims and fostering solidarity. According to ILO, the SSE is a viable solution to re-balancing economic, social and environmental objectives. SSE organisations have value-driven, human-centred approaches in addressing the challenges in the changing world of work and can therefore help build a new economy strives for social justice and decent work.
Access to employment
Practical and political changes achieved by INSP!R provide sustainable access to decent jobs, ensure labour rights, access to universal social protection for all with effective social or structural dialogue with social partners and civil society. It is committed to cooperate with trade unions who implement and monitor in their countries the decent work standards. Within INSP!R network, tools are shared with other member organisations to help respect these standards in their intervention and partnership strategy.
Access to health
As one of the four components of the social protection floor (ILO R202), equal access to quality health care is an essential component of INSP!R’s action. It gathers multi-actors like trade unions, social movements of women, elderly, people with disabilities or people living with HIV/AIDS with other stakeholders at national, regional and international level. The network also carries out structural exchanges with the Belgian health mutuality which pays great attention to the determinants of health and promotes Health in All Policies (HiaP). Mutual health organisations are actively involved in the development of basic health care and the availability of essential pharmaceutical products in the context of their country's policy. They also advocate on behalf of their patients for access to quality health care. By strengthening the capacities of civil society organisations and developing INSP!R networks, a more representative, independent participation of civil society is guaranteed, with the ability to contribute to the development of stronger health systems in the longer term. The goal remains universal health coverage, through adequate legal support and subsidies for certain groups to ensure no one is left behind.
Gender equality
For INSP!R, gender equality is essential to ensure the sustainability and inclusiveness of development. It therefore commits to contribute to the implementation of existing international, European and Belgian legislation in this field, such as SDG 5 aiming to ‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. The network uses a rights-based approach that leaves no one behind, which builds on the relevant ILO conventions such as Conventions C100 and 111 prohibiting all forms of discrimination, as well as the most recent C190 regarding gender-based violence.
Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD)
Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) is a model allowing to hold businesses accountable for their impact on people and the planet. These rules on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence should require all companies, from fossil fuel giants and agribusiness to fashion retailers and electronics makers, to establish effective policies to make sure human rights and the environment are not being harmed in their global operations and supply chains. It is a crucial action point for INSP!R, in its strive to promote decent work and social protection rights all over the world.
Environment
INSP!R promotes decent life and work on a viable planet, leaving no one behind. Therefore, the economy needs to be at the service of the well-being of people, while respecting the ecosystems of our planet. It should also value cooperation and equitable redistribution instead of competition and profit maximization. To achieve this, solutions require a broad global alliance between civil society, business and political leaders to transition to a low-carbon economy that values people and the planet in the production and consumption process. Social protection and environmental protection are two inseparable and mutually reinforcing objectives.
Advocacy
To achieve systemic change, INSP!R must exert all its weight on political decisions concerning social protection rights at national, regional and international level. To do this, it acts as an expert on the subject, drawing on the experience of the hundred or so organisations in the field that it represents. Its advocacy work is also based on the many alliances it has been able to forge with recognised civil society organisations and international bodies.
Social security
According to the ILO, social security is a human right which responds to the universal need for protection against certain life risks and social needs. Social security is the formal social protection system in countries that have developed a system of social coverage worthy of the name for its citizens. Generally It provides compensation in cash and/or in kind in the event of absence or loss of income (illness, pregnancy, old age, widowhood, etc.)
Vocational training
The defence of social protection rights implies offering decent job opportunities giving access to comprehensive social protection. Hence the importance of quality and affordable vocational training for all, provided by competent specialists, towards promising sectors, with professional integration strategies in accordance with the realities of the labour market, in favour of gender equality and respect of the environment.
Capacity building
Strengthening the members’ and beneficiaries’ capacities is a key strategy to achieve technical, social and financial sustainability of the network and, ultimately, the defence of social protection rights for all. It can take the form of awareness-raising actions or internal training, but also reciprocal capacity interactions between INSP!R member organisations within a same country, continent or internationally.
Investigation
In order to demand respect for the social protection rights of workers in the world, INSP!R needs to be able to base itself on concrete and objective data which reflect the reality on the ground of the people to be represented and to defend.
