Most people in developing countries derive their main income from work and are expected to move out of poverty through the improvement in their labour situation. However, for most people, especially those living in poverty, having a job is not sufficient because all too often the jobs they have fail to provide sufficient earnings, or to respect basic rights and guarantee safe and healthy conditions. This very challenging context, characterised by high levels of chronic underemployment and unemployment, adverse conditions of employment, and the persistence of high levels of informality, is also a larger problem for women, most of whom suffer the effects of gender-based occupational segregation and have less access to productive resources, including financial services.

A related phenomenon is the low Social Protection (SP) coverage. The World Social Protection Report 2017-19 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that only 45% of the world’s population are effectively protected by at least one SP benefit. In middle-income countries, the elements of a modern SP system are established, with some components of social insurance now in place, which however only benefit the small segment of the population working in the formal economy. They also tend to operate a host of discrete social assistance programmes designed to reach specific groups, such as people in poverty, and increase their access to basic services. In low-income countries (LIC), the provision of SP is often even more constrained by the relative lack of resources and, critically, the weakness of public institutions.

Acknowledging the growing demand for SP in middle- and low-income countries, the 2017 European Consensus on Development aligned the development policy of the European Union (EU) with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and strongly reaffirmed EU commitment to SP and employment, stating that “eradicating poverty, tackling discriminations and inequalities and leaving no one behind are at the heart of EU cooperation development policy,” enshrining the commitment from the EU and its Member States (MS) to support “efficient, sustainable and equitable SP systems to guarantee basic income, prevent relapses into extreme poverty and build resilience […] and support innovative social practices.” The new Consensus reiterates the EU commitment to allocating at least 20% of its Official Development Assistance (ODA) to social inclusion and human development, along with the European Pillar of Social Rights adopted in November 2017 reaffirming its commitments to social rights.

On Employment, the Consensus states that “The EU and its MS will focus on concrete actions to meet the specific needs of youth, particularly young women and girls, by increasing quality employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, supported by effective policies in education, vocational training, skills development, and access to digital technologies and services.” The Consensus also recognises the need to address public policy reform processes as a condition for development and stresses the importance of cooperation between the peers.

The EU Expert Facility on Employment, Labour and Social Protection (SOCIEUX+) has a budget of EUR 15,729,086, funded by the EU up to EUR 14,000,000 (EUR 11,000,000 under the Development Cooperation Instrument and EUR 3,000,000 under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance), and is implemented through a Contribution Agreement by Expertise France (EF), the Spanish Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (FIIAPP), and the Belgium Development Agency (ENABEL). The intervention extends the previous SOCIEUX initiative, widening the scope of the services to include the mobilisation of experts in the sector of Labour and Employment (LE) and a new component on Knowledge Development (KD).