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social policy design and delivery can improvestate responsiveness to women’s needs andaccountability for gender equality.Investing in social protection and social servicesseems daunting in the prevailing economic climate,but it is by no means impossible. In fact, somecountries, such as Argentina and China, havescaled up their investments in social protection inresponse to the recent economic crises. 10 Even forthe poorest countries, providing a basic benefitpackage along the lines of the United Nations SPFis within reach. 11 It has been estimated, for example,that the introduction of universal social pensionswould cost around 1 per cent of gross domesticproduct (GDP) per year in most countries of sub-Saharan Africa. In Viet Nam, a package for childrenunder 16 years consisting of a family allowanceper child equivalent to 50 per cent of the minimumwage plus additional educational services and onemeal per day would cost 0.8 per cent of GDP.In many low-income countries, the introductionof these benefits will have to proceed graduallyand alongside increased efforts to expandfiscal space (see Chapter 4). Governments anddonors need to weigh the immediate costs ofsuch social investments against their long-termbenefits: adequate social protection can preventthe depletion of skills during times of widespreadunemployment and ensure continued investment inchild nutrition, health and schooling. 12Chapter overviewIn line with the building blocks of the SPF, thechapter is divided in two parts. Figure 3.1 providesa visual overview:The first part of this chapter focuses on socialtransfers. These are the typical measures throughwhich governments provide income security totheir citizens throughout their life course. Thesecond part looks in depth at the provision of socialservices and essential public goods. It focuseson health care, water and sanitation and careservices, where significant challenges remain tothe realization of the rights of women and girls. 13These areas are of paramount importance forthe achievement of substantive equality, but theyhave received limited attention from feministscompared to issues such as reproductive rights orviolence against women. In both parts, the chapterscrutinizes existing policies and programmesfrom a gender perspective and highlights ways toimprove their performance for the advancement ofsubstantive equality for women. Specific attentionis paid to the constraints faced by indigenouswomen, rural women, women with disabilities andethnic minority and migrant women, who facemultiple challenges to realizing their rights.This chapter supports the argument—also madeby other United Nations agencies—that the bestway to realize economic and social rights for allwithout discrimination is through a comprehensiveapproach to social policy that combines universalaccess to social services with social protectionthrough contributory and non-contributory transfersystems. 14 While the narrow targeting of socialprotection to the poorest households may seemto be more affordable in the short term, buildinguniversal systems that benefit everyone canactually expand financing options by increasing thewillingness of middle and higher income groups topay taxes for well-functioning education, health orpension systems that they would also use. 15In order to achieve substantive equality forwomen, the challenge is not only to redress theirdisadvantage in access to transfers and servicesalready in place. Existing provision must also betransformed to take better account of genderdifferences in status and needs and to effectivelyaddress stereotypes, stigma and violence. Thischapter highlights promising innovations acrossa range of policy areas that can contribute tosuch transformations. It underlines the vital roleplayed by women’s movements and organizationsin raising new or neglected issues—includingviolence against women and unpaid care anddomestic work—to be addressed through publicpolicies. It also highlights the importance ofwomen’s organizations working with others,including governments, bureaucracies andparliaments, to translate their claims into concretepolicy changes.