A/HRC/11/9 page 7 III. CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMMES AS A COMPONENT OF SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS 17. As set out by the Secretary-General, social protection systems aim at responding to “levels of risk or deprivation that are deemed unacceptable within a given society”.4 There are substantial differences among societies in terms of how they define social protection. “Differing traditions, cultures and organizational and political structures affect definitions of social protection, as well as the choice about how members of society should receive that protection.”5 Social protection schemes may involve a range of different institutions: central or local governments, civil society (e.g. trade unions, NGOs) or the private sector. They can provide income or direct service delivery to protect individuals in periods of their lives when they are more vulnerable (e.g. childhood, pregnancy, old-age) or to alleviate poverty. 18. There are two predominant subcategories of social protection. Firstly, there is social assistance which encompasses public and private actions designed to transfer resources to groups deemed eligible due to vulnerability or deprivation. Secondly, there are social insurance schemes in which beneficiaries are requested to contribute financially (traditionally referred to as social security). 19. CTPs (whether conditional or not) are a component of social assistance policies which aim to establish “safety net programmes” or “social welfare programmes”. Social assistance policies provide a complement to social insurance (e.g. for private health insurance, unemployment benefits, contributory pensions, etc.) in social protection systems. CTPs as social-assistance schemes can potentially contribute to the realization of the right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living although a number of conditions must be met under international human rights law. 20. International human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights generally do not use the term “social protection”.6 Rather, they set out the right of everyone to “social security, including social insurance”. This non-exhaustive definition of social security led the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to define the right to social security in a broad manner, as encompassing: (a) “Contributory or insurance-based schemes such as social insurance. … 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”; 4 E/CN.5/2001/2, Enhancing social protection and reducing the vulnerability in a globalizing world: report of the Secretary-General, para. 7. 5 6 Ibid, para. 6. An exception is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which sets out a right to social protection (art. 28).