Social Security to Achieve Sustainable Development in the Views of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and of Islam

Achieving sustainable development requires the utilization of a variety of financial, human, technical and scientific resources. In this vein, social security can be utilized as a means of resource procurement. It is not, however, explicitly mentioned in any of the documents on sustainable development. Recruiting a descriptive, analytical and comparative design, the present study investigates the bases, scope and mechanisms of social security in achieving sustainable development in the views of Islam and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (hereinafter the UNCESCR). Social security has been identified and addressed frequently in the verses of the Quran and the Hadith. Yet, despite the provisions of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (hereinafter the Covenant), social security has not been properly addressed at the international level. Finally, the Covenant’s approach to social security and the actions taken by the UNCESCR as the oversight body of the Covenant to link social security and sustainable development, how social security can be utilized in so doing, and the eminence of social security in Islam are further analyzed in the study.