"Already from the beginning of the twentieth century, international standards on social securityhave been developed by international organizations. A very active period of standard settingwas the 1950s-1970s, although the focus was primarily on European countries. Since the1990s, few new standards have been developed. Yet, there are still large deficiencies in socialprotection in many countries, and poverty keeps on being an unsolved problem. At the sametime, structural changes are introduced to developed social security systems which seem tojeopardize the implementation of international social standards. On the one hand, the need topromote social protection for all on a global level is still strongly felt. On the other, innovationsin social security in all part of the world seem to lead to new obstacles on the way to itsrealization."