Co-ordination and integration of social security in the SADC region: developing the social dimension of economic co-operation and integration

Abstract

This article focuses on the need for developing a distinct social security paradigm in the SADC region in order to address poverty alleviation at a regional level and to address the challenge posed by the task of coordinating social security systems in the sub-continent. The paper departs from the premise that economic co-operation and integration is not an alone-standing aim, but has to be accompanied by development in the social sense. The contribution highlights the sheer extent of the inadequate social protection provisioning in the SADC region and the apparent failure of domestic social security measures to address poverty alleviation meaningfully and to bring about the social inclusion and participation of large numbers and significant categories of people who have effectively been left out. The article also examines different possibilities for the co-ordination of social security measures in SADC, bearing in mind experiences elsewhere in the world.