As part of the activities of the International Council of Social Welfare (ICSW) Seminar on Social Policy and Social Protection in Africa (28th and 29th September 2023, Windhoek, Namibia), ICSW Africa Region convened local and global social scientists and professionals from state and non-state agencies together in Windhoek to deliberate on social policy and social protection issues in the African Region and to draft a road map towards accelerated progress in achieving the SDGs in the Region.
The participants concluded that social policies and social protection programmes are a necessity for human, social, and economic development and ecological sustainability and issued the ICSW Windhoek Declaration on Social Policy and Social Protection in Africa, endorsed by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Namibia, and ICSW as global organization.
Sang-mok Suh, president of ICSW, stated “The importance of developing an effective social security strategy, especially for African countries with limited economic resources. The Windhoek declaration is the result of a participatory process involving different stakeholders, from representatives of the Namibian government, the African Union, the different African regions of ICSW, international experts, professionals from state and non-state agencies, students and interested individuals. I am confident that it will contribute decisively to a roadmap for increasing social welfare and social protection in Africa.”.
