This book focuses on the role of social protection in the process towards inclusion in economic, social and political life. It presents some of the most innovative and promising experiences worldwide in this field. Various chapters examine the role of new social assistance programmes in the fight against poverty and combating exclusion. They stress the need for the development of social assistance schemes that act on several dimensions of poverty simultaneously. It also explores avenues for extending social protection within local economic development strategies. This is central to further expand protection to vulnerable people in many weakly developed institutional settings or poor areas. Finally, some chapters focus on access to basic social services, such as health care, education, housing and nutrition, which also play a crucial part towards inclusion and empowerment. Three emerging policy issues derive from the book linked with: gearing social assistance towards social inclusion and employment; achieving universal coverage through a plurality of approaches to reach the excluded; and, asserting social security as a human right under changing circumstances in the world of work.
