E/C.12/GC/19
page 2
I. INTRODUCTION
1.
Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the
Covenant) provides that, ‘The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of
everyone to social security, including social insurance.’ The right to social security is of central
importance in guaranteeing human dignity for all persons when they are faced with
circumstances that deprive them of their capacity to fully realize their Covenant rights.
2.
The right to social security encompasses the right to access and maintain benefits, whether
in cash or in kind, without discrimination in order to secure protection, inter alia, from (a) lack of
work-related income caused by sickness, disability, maternity, employment injury,
unemployment, old age, or death of a family member; (b) unaffordable access to health care;
(c) insufficient family support, particularly for children and adult dependents.
3.
Social security, through its redistributive character, plays an important role in poverty
reduction and alleviation, preventing social exclusion and promoting social inclusion.
4.
In accordance with article 2 (1), States parties to the Covenant must take effective
measures, and periodically revise them when necessary, within their maximum available
resources, to fully realize the right of all persons without any discrimination to social security,
including social insurance. The wording of article 9 of the Covenant indicates that the measures
that are to be used to provide social security benefits cannot be defined narrowly and, in any
event, must guarantee all peoples a minimum enjoyment of this human right. These measures
can include:
(a) Contributory or insurance-based schemes such as social insurance, which is
expressly mentioned in article 9. These generally involve compulsory contributions from
beneficiaries, employers and, sometimes, the State, in conjunction with the payment of benefits
and administrative expenses from a common fund;
(b) Non-contributory schemes such as universal schemes (which provide the relevant
benefit in principle to everyone who experiences a particular risk or contingency) or targeted
social assistance schemes (where benefits are received by those in a situation of need). In almost
all States parties, non-contributory schemes will be required since it is unlikely that every person
can be adequately covered through an insurance-based system.
5.
Other forms of social security are also acceptable, including (a) privately run schemes,
and (b) self-help or other measures, such as community-based or mutual schemes. Whichever
system is chosen, it must conform to the essential elements of the right to social security and to
that extent should be viewed as contributing to the right to social security and be protected by
States parties in accordance with this general comment.
6.
The right to social security has been strongly affirmed in international law.
The human rights dimensions of social security were clearly present in the Declaration of
Philadelphia of 1944 which called for the “extension of social security measures to provide a