ABSTRACT
It is now widely recognised that the objective of sustainable and inclusive growth and development can hardly be achieved without the extension of social security 1 coverage to larger groups of the population. The role of social protection for economic and social development has been emphasised in a number of international policy documents, which acknowledge that the lack of social security constitutes an obstacle to economic and social development and to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. However, more than three-quarters of the global population currently do not have access to comprehensive social security (ILO 2010a).
