ILO (29.01.2019) Social protection and the right to social security have been an integral element of the mandate of the International Labour Organization (ILO) since its creation
in 1919. Since then, the ILO has supported its Member States in building their social protection systems and extending coverage. While few countries had social protection systems in place a century ago, today virtually all countries have them. From the early steps taken in a number of pioneering European countries, the scope of social security, measured by the number of areas covered by social protection systems, has expanded at an impressive pace. These systems have in many cases been developed based on guidance from  the ILO’s international social security standards.