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The situation is a concern. Only 27% of the world's population has access to comprehensive social security systems.This means that 73% of children and adults around the world are only partially covered or not covered at all. Obviously, social protection plays a key role by reducing economic vulnerability of families.According to the last OECD report, worldwide 2.3% of GDP is allocated to social protection expenditure for women and men who are in working age. But levels are ranging from 0.5% in Africa to 5.9% in Europe.And social protection also plays a key role in ending child labour. Here, the situation is steadily improving. The total number of child labourers throughout the world fell from 215 to 168 million between 2008 and 2012 and is down by a third since 2000! However, significant further efforts are needed to solve this problem. For example in the Indian State of Andrha Pradesh 9% of children aged between 5 to 14 years are employed in various works. Other estimates, in the same age group, give us 12 million children who are working in India. And these are very conservative estimates. But child labour also is a persisting challenge in Europe. In Italy a study dated June 2013 indicates that 5.2% of children younger than 16 are working. But other countries affected by the economic down-turn such as Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria or Russia employ children in large numbers, and especially in hazardous occupations. Seniors are the other face of this challenge: 48% of all people over pensionable age do not receive a pension. But what is also of great concern is that the pension level is not adequate. As a result, today the majority of the world's older women and men have no income security. Although there is still a way to go to achieve the required level of social protection, we are on the right track.

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