In Argentina, Decree No. 90 of 23 February 2023 amends Law No. 26,844, which establishes the Special Employment Contract Scheme for Domestic Workers (Régimen Especial de Contrato de Trabajo para el Personal de Casas Particulares), and Law No. 24013 (Employment Act), to grant unemployment insurance and access to family allowance benefits for domestic workers.

The “Complemento Solidário para Idosos” (CSI) is a social assistance programme in Portugal designed to provide financial support to elderly individuals who are in a situation of economic vulnerability. The programme offers a financial supplement to the pension with the goal to help low-income elderly citizens meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life.

As the responsible accident insurance institution, Social Insurance for Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture (Sozialversicherung für Landwirtschaft, Forsten und Gartenbau – SVLFG) is developing targeted prevention measures specifically aimed at seasonal workers (SW) in the agricultural sector. The development of a social media strategy for seasonal workers is a promising strategy for conveying workplace-related health and safety information.

As part of the roll-out of health coverage to the entire Togolese population – an estimated 10 million people – Togo’s National Institute of Health Insurance (Institut nationale d’assurance maladie – INAM) set out to provide rapid access to health care facilities to insured persons across the country.

To help disabled people to be more independent, the way the Disabled Adult Allowance (Allocation aux adultes handicapés – AAH) is calculated was changed on 1 October 2023. We produced a video to offer support to those who receive the allowance. The communication methods used have been adapted to the target audience; as some recipients have hearing impairments, this video has been dubbed in French sign language (langue des signes française – LSF).

We were predicting that a large number of persons who had fled the Russian aggression in Ukraine to Finland and are under temporary protection would become customers of the Social Insurance Institution (Kansaneläkelaitos – Kela) after residing in the country for one year and thus getting broader entitlement to Kela benefits. The risk was that our customer service would get strained by many new customers seeking assistance and that our benefits processing would get overloaded with a large number of new applications under a relatively short period.

As part of the agreement on objectives and management signed with the State for the period 2023–2027 (COG), the French National Family Allowances Fund (Caisse nationale des allocations familiales – CNAF) wishes to bolster its innovations and progress in the area of community listening. The decision was therefore made to set up a “LabParentalité” (parenting lab) based on an initiative launched in the French Department of Isère.

To help parents and future parents find their way around the different services and support available to them in parenthood, an interactive tool on having children has been set up on the caf.fr website, which can be accessed from the “I’m expecting a child” (“J’attends un enfant”) page.

According to Decision no. 751, date 01.12.2022 of the Council of Ministers “For a special protection from the state, for unemployed women with three or more children until age 18”; as well as Directive no. 670, dated 13 December2022 on the procedure for applying and benefiting from the special protection programme from the state, for unemployed women, with three or more children until age 18.

The Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) provides social security to more than 21 million workers linked to more than 1 million registered employers. These employers must register their workers with the IMSS and pay social security contributions. The collection of such contributions accounts for 93 per cent of IMSS revenue, i.e. its operating funds.

Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) is a key strategic goal for the government of Zambia. In pursuit of UHC, the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA) is extending health insurance coverage to the poor and the vulnerable. This extension requires robust estimates of the cost and fiscal implications to the government, and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

To expand the income opportunities of the population and reduce the number of low-income families, Azerbaijan introduced the so-called Targeted State Social Assistance (TSSA) in 2006. TSSA is allotted to low-income families with monthly earnings falling below a specific threshold due to uncontrollable circumstances.

Due to the armed conflict in Ukraine, the Social Insurance Institution (Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych ‒ ZUS) of Poland has been obliged to provide financial support to refugees from Ukraine. This support is provided within the framework of government programmes: Good Start 300+; Family 500+; Family Care Capital; Co-financing of Nursery Fees.

The expected large number of benefit claims, the heavy burden of social responsibility, as well as the tight timetable to prepare for the processing of new claims, forced ZUS to take quick and efficient measures.

Lack of protection leaves workers vulnerable to the vagaries of the labour market, undermines their rights and dignity, exacerbates poverty and inequality, and jeopardizes the implicit social contract of modern societies (ISO, 2019). As the world of work is evolving, shaped by global trends such as digitalization, automation and globalization, as well as socio-demographic changes, social protection systems need to adapt to changing contexts and demands (ISO, 2017).

Gabon’s National Health Insurance and Social Guarantee Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance maladie et de garantie sociale – CNAMGS) is made up of four funds that cover different categories of members. When the CNAMGS was created, the Gabonese authorities committed to making the system of mandatory health insurance and social guarantee a reality, starting with cover for the most vulnerable population sectors who are not able to directly contribute to funding their own health care.

South Sudan Pensions Fund (SSPF) is in the process of receiving the contributions from Khartoum for all the pensioners who worked in Sudan before South Sudan was given autonomy in 2005, and subsequently, became independent in 2011. This is in line with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and South Sudan Pensions Fund Act, 2012.

South Sudan, as sovereign nation, has the Constitution and Pension Fund Act, 2012 mandate to follow up and ensure the contributions for the civil servants who worked in Sudan before independence was transferred to South Sudan.

The URSSAF National Fund of France, in partnership with the health, family and retirement branches, organizes the detection of self-employed workers in fragile situations. In fact, the analysis of individual situations shows that the identification of vulnerability in one particular area can lead to the identification of other weaknesses or needs, which require an overall approach on a medical, economic and social level.

Uruguay’s Social Insurance Bank (Banco de Previsión Social – BPS) manages the National System of Labour Certification, (Sistema Nacional de Certificación Laboral – SNCL), which centralizes the register of medical leave certificates for active workers for social security purposes.

The Statute of the Cultural Professional was introduced through a legal diploma in order to provide a new social security regime to a particular group of professionals in Portugal. The diploma stipulated a completely different approach in terms of calculating social security contributions, introduced a new typology of persons interacting with social security, defined a new approach to calculating benefits and created a new fund in order to provide the social security protection to the Cultural Professional.

In 2022, the National Social Security Fund (Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – CNPS) entered into a three-year partnership with Cameroon’s Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (Ministère de l’Élevage, des Pêches et des Industries animales – MINEPIA) to extend social security coverage to workers in the informal economy of the livestock and fish farming, aquaculture, animal and fisheries industries sub-sector.

With a view to increasing social security coverage among non-salaried workers and ensuring contributor loyalty, Algeria’s National Social Security Fund for Non-Salaried Workers (Caisse nationale de la sécurité sociale des non-salariés – CASNOS) launched a portal centred on a workflow of human interaction, digital processes and technology.

In Argentina, joint trade union–employer agreements (Convenios de Corresponsabilidad Gremial – CCG) encourage the formalization of employment relationships, primarily in rural areas. They are agreements between workers’ representative bodies with trade union status and employers, which aim to facilitate social security access for workers and their families.

Social security is such a fundamental human right that it is absolutely vital for any responsible government to put in place mechanisms to ensure it for all.

The State can proceed by sector of activity. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there was one category of public-sector employees – career civil servants – who benefitted from a good social protection system as part of a contributory scheme. Other types of public-sector employees, such as the military, police, teachers and magistrates, were not covered.

Ireland’s Budget 2022 included an announcement that those suffering from alopecia and cancer could avail of a 500 euros (EUR) grant towards the cost of a hair replacement product subject to meeting certain Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) criteria. Other changes to treatment benefit qualification were also announced with an implementation date of May 2022.

Crèches are the preferred form of childcare for young parents in France, but there is currently a shortage of places for young children, with a shortfall of around 200,000.

The body’s poor assimilation of food leads to a pathological state known as malnutrition, which can take varying degrees of severity and have different clinical manifestations. It is considered a disease with high morbidity and mortality rates.

The royal project to expand social security coverage in Morocco was launched in accordance with Framework Law No. 09-21 on social protection. The implementation of the royal project to expand social security coverage has been entrusted to the National Social Security Fund (Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale – CNSS), a major player in social protection in Morocco and will take place in line with a staggered implementation schedule.

For the population groups:

Creating “user pathways” is central to strengthening access to rights for Family Branch users. It allows us to provide comprehensive support at specific key moments in users’ lives, such as having children and during a separation.

Setting up managed entry agreements for innovative medicines is a step forward in Improving access to innovative and costly medicines. They give the Tunisian National Health Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance maladie – CNAM) considerable leverage to negotiate with pharmaceutical laboratories to ensure access for the maximum number of people eligible for the treatment, whilst also guaranteeing the budgetary sustainability of the system.

Since unregistered employment among women in Türkiye is very high compared to developed European countries, the EU-supported “Operation on supporting registered women employment (Women-Up)” has been started by the Social Security Institution (Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu – SGK) in 2021.

Vietnam Social Security (VSS) is a governmental agency that has the functions of implementing social and health insurance (SI, HI) policies; implementing the collection and payment of unemployment insurance (UI); managing the social security funds, namely, SI, UI, HI funds; inspecting the contribution and payment of SI, UI and HI in compliance with the law.

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) of Ireland provides an income support payment to people who had to remove themselves from work due to restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19. The scheme was designed over a weekend and available within days to support a large portion of the Irish labour force. Within weeks some 600,000 people representing around 25 per cent of the workforce were in receipt of the payment.

The Working Family Payment (WFP) scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) of Ireland provides an income support payment to families in work. The scheme supports low-income families, some in part-time employment, to remain in work through the provision of supplementary income, based on family size (the number of dependants).

International students are eligible for universal health insurance if they request it within three months of their first registration with the school.

These requests, which were previously made by submitting three different documents to Turkish Social Security Institution (Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu – SGK) units, are now made online without any documents.

The pace of development of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social and economic life took everyone by surprise. Lockdown of entire sectors of the economy and restrictions in everyday functions caused serious disruptions of economic processes and had a significant impact on the condition of many enterprises and the labour market situation. To minimise the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy, the government introduced the aid programme known as the Anti-Crisis Shield (ACS).

Prior to 2020, less than 10 per cent of the active Ivorian population had suitable social security coverage. This deficiency has prompted the State of Côte d’Ivoire to develop a national social protection strategy aimed at ensuring inclusive social protection and human development.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on South Africa’s economy and the livelihood of its citizens. Many South Africans lost their incomes as a result of the pandemic and subsequent lock-down regulations. In an effort to provide relief, South Africa introduced a special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant (cSRD) to address income support gap and food insecurity.

France’s Council for the Social Protection of Self-Employed Workers (Conseil de la protection sociale des travailleurs indépendants – CPSTI) was created in 2019.

The internal monitoring and control of its activities is entrusted to the general scheme social security bodies (the branches working on old age, sickness and social security collection) and is based on the organization, reference systems and control plans of each branch.

Since 2020, France’s Family Branch has been committed to simplifying and harmonizing its funding for children and young people. Comprehensive Territorial Agreements (Conventions territoriales globales – CTG) are being put in place across the board and, in parallel, it is rolling out a new funding model, the territorial bonus payment. Any facility located in an area covered by a CTG and supported by local authorities that have signed a CTG will receive this territorial bonus payment. The amount varies according to the wealth of the area and its population.

The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF, hereafter the Fund) of the United Republic of Tanzania has a goal of extending membership coverage to large part of the population. Most of the members covered are those from formal sector of the economy, specifically public servants.

Despite the significant growth of workers in the social security system during the last decade, more than 7 million workers still remain unintegrated.

Investments in operational and technological management to simplify and facilitate declaration and contribution collection, which have contributed to the results achieved, have not been sufficient to change this situation.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Executive Office (Poder Ejecutivo Nacional – PEN) created, by Decree 310/2020, the Emergency Family Income (Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia − IFE), a non-contributory benefit of an exceptional nature. The recipients are households composed of casual workers, unemployed people, workers in private homes and those taxed under the regime for small taxpayers from the lowest categories.

The Secretariat for Social Security (Secretaría de Seguridad Social - MTEySS) presented the improvements introduced to Unemployment Insurance as good practice, in the context of the health emergency declared in Argentina due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These improvements include the extension of coverage and the increase in the money paid as Unemployment Insurance for its current beneficiaries, as well as the implementation of the remote processing of applications, to facilitate access for those who are unemployed and are eligible for the benefit.

Expanding its services from assisting up to 1,200 jobseekers with employment injuries or illnesses annually in 2008, Social Security Organization (SOCSO) now delivers employment services to all categories of job seekers in Malaysia through the establishment of the MYFutureJobs National Employment Services, a framework similar to the Public Employment Services defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Chapter II of Law No.

The Medical Board of the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) is a group of medical professionals that is responsible for performing impairment evaluation and determining the social security benefits due to employment injury or invalidity filed by Malaysian employees (insured persons) with SOCSO.

Following the re-establishment of the State Social Protection Fund of Azerbaijan (SSPF) as a legal entity under public law, the SSPF embarked on a transformative journey aimed at the incorporation of digital frameworks into its governance structure. This strategic initiative sought to optimize operational efficiency, enhance transparency and promote robust stakeholder engagement.

The Department of Invalidity, Old-Age and Bereaved Families (Departamento de Invalidez, Vejez y Sobrevivencia − IVS) is the technical and administrative body of the Social Security Institute of Guatemala (Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social – IGSS) set up to grant pensions for Invalidity, Old-Age and Bereaved Families. The old-age risk accounts for 51.3 per cent of the people protected.

In the wake of the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic, the Social Security Board (SSB) in Anguilla (population 15,000) was mandated by the Government of Anguilla to provide new avenues of support, e.g. direct unemployment/underemployment benefits to a large number of customers − with administrative efficiency, a high level of service, and in a manner that was safe to both its employees and customers, in accordance with the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) social distancing protocol.

In 2019, the State Social Protection Fund of under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SSPF) introduced the unique artificial intelligence (AI) driven proactive assignment mechanism for the assignment of social benefits. This self-starting assignment system is a modern approach to delivering a social service that uses big data and technology to identify and reach out to eligible individuals and assign social benefits from a single center to families without them having to visit any institution.

Health is a fundamental right in Colombia. However, there are certain segments of the population that because they live in geographically remote regions, have difficulties accessing health services in areas such as prevention, treatment and sourcing quality medicines. In general, the country’s health and medicine-dispensation services are located in the municipal capitals, which can be hard for rural dwellers to reach.

To contribute to preventing and reducing serious and fatal accidents, Mutual for Safety CChC (Mutual de Seguridad CChC) in Chile has focussed on adapting training to the real situation of workers, seeking methodologies orientated towards adult learning.

Analysis of citizens’ appeals revealed that the definite groups of people due to their growing number and specific physical and mental conditions, required different approaches.

The Agency for Sustainable and Operational Social Security (DOST) Volunteer Programme in Azerbaijan is a crucial part of the DOST Agency’s activities and applies a new innovative approach to Government to Citizen (G2C) communication. DOST volunteers act as an intermediary within the Agency and beyond it. The programme is focused on the day-to-day operations at the DOST centres, such as guiding citizens, assisting people with disabilities and older persons, conducting satisfaction surveys, and participating in CSR projects of the Agency.

According to Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, “Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art”.

The Law on Social Services establishes that the Agency for Sustainable and Operational Social Security (DOST), hereafter referred to as the Agency, provides home-based social services to elderly people living alone without close relatives and legal representatives. Through home-based social services, social caretakers help elderlies with household routines, cleaning, grocery and medicine shopping, payments etc.

The informal sector workers, including youth, are not covered by any regulated savings or social insurance schemes to help cushion the workers from shocks, loss of jobs, etc. In line with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) of Kenya Act No. 45 of 2013 and Government agenda of providing universal social security coverage, NSSF developed a product “haba haba” which has short term maturity period.

In Côte d’Ivoire, less than 10 per cent of the population is formally covered by the social security system and around 95 per cent of jobs belong to the informal economy. The Social Insurance Institute – National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale – Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) has therefore begun to extend social security coverage to self-employed workers by creating a specific framework tailored to this group.

Despite social security being enshrined as a human right by Kenya’s constitution, and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) being the public institution mandated to provide social security coverage to workers, about 80 per cent of Kenya’s workforce is still not covered. Using an integrated strategic shared partnership approach, NSSF together with other public and private institutions seek to extend social security coverage to the workers in the informal economy through the “Haba Haba” digital mechanism.

For more than 18 years, the COLSUBSIDIO - Colombian Family Allowances Fund (COLSUBSIDIO - Caja Colombiana de Subsidio Familiar) has been running educational and cultural programmes to support the comprehensive development of children and young people in rural and urban areas, helping to close social gaps.

In accordance with its mission and vision, Derrama Magisterial (DM) of Peru constantly endeavours to become the mainstay for teachers, offering them a social well-being programme that gives teaching staff access to the institution’s various services and guarantees them a large retirement fund at the end of their working life. Teachers have access to these benefits once they voluntarily join DM.

The refugee crisis triggered by the Syrian conflict has turned into being one of the top priority agenda items of international communities in the last years. Initially seen as a humanitarian emergency case, the mass migration of Syrians into neighbouring countries has brought new questions on their integration, development and burden-sharing.

In 2019, the Local Authorities Pension Trust (LAPT) carried out a digital marketing campaign dubbed “Eneza Pensheni” which is Swahili for “Spread Pension”. The campaign was premised on the fact that less than 20 per cent of Kenyans were covered by a workplace pension plan. Notably, a survey by Infotrack Research & Consulting, commissioned by the LAPT indicated that the number of Kenyans with a pension plan had declined to 10 per cent as most respondents intended to rely heavily on investments such as property to cater for their financial needs after retirement.

Following instructions from the government, in the last quarter of 2018 the National Sickness Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance maladie – CNAM) of Mauritania began preparations for the launch of a voluntary health insurance scheme intended to offer health insurance to individuals in the informal sector and their dependants.

A committee was appointed by the Director General to undertake a study to clarify the circumstances in which the objectives of the project could be achieved and the support measures to be put in place for this purpose.

Twelve years of intensive promotional activities since the launching of the Seychelles Pension Fund (SPF), we now have an appreciation that the importance of pension has well and truly permeated the population; inclusive of the informal sector albeit a slower rate. The key is to maintain member’s interest in their preparation towards retirement – and with a new decade comes a new generation, more IT savvy but with the same need.

In December 2018, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación – SCJN) of Mexico determined that it was unconstitutional for employers to not be required to register domestic workers (DWs) with the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS).

With a view to extending social security coverage to rural women working in agriculture, Tunisia’s National Social Security Fund (Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale – CNSS) launched a pilot project in July 2019 entitled “Protège-moi” (Protect Me) in conjunction with the ministries of Social Affairs, Women, Agriculture and Communication Technologies; a telecommunications provider (TT); and a private tech start-up.

In 2014, the occupational health and safety department of France’s National Sickness Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale de l’assurance maladie – CNAM) launched a programme initially entitled “Fall Risks in the Building and Public Works Sector” (Risques Chutes Pros Bâtiment et Travaux Publics – BTP) which was later renamed the “BTP Sectoral Programme” (programme sectoriel BTP) and expanded after 2018. With this, they aim to reduce the number of accidents in the construction sector.

It remains a challenge for the Seychelles Pension Fund (SPF) to attract members of the public who are in the informal sector. As a means to get this group to contribute towards SPF and later benefit with a pension, the protecting you campaign was initiated.

Supporting Registered Employment of Women through Promoting Educated Childcare Givers Operation (EDU-CARE) is about supporting certified caregivers and promoting registered employment of women. Financial support is provided to working mothers at risk of withdrawing from the labour market and who employ educated nannies. It is designed to promote the childcare giver profession and qualified women employment.

Financial sustainability of a social security scheme is heavily reliant on contribution collection and compliance. Inspired by the ISSA Guidelines, the Local Authorities Pension Trust (LAPT) has identified administrative solutions to improve access to contributory social security programmes for populations that are difficult to reach.

In 2020–2021, the State Social Protection Fund under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Azerbaijan (hereafter the Fund) initiated the optimization policy of the corporate governance framework pertaining to social security in Azerbaijan, which represents a pivotal undertaking aimed at refining and streamlining the operational dynamics of the social security apparatus. This initiative involves a comprehensive optimization strategy designed to elevate the efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance of the existing social security governance.

In 2008, the French authorities created the legal status of “auto-entrepreneur” (small-scale sole trader) with a view to simplifying and promoting free enterprise within an ultra-streamlined fiscal and social security framework.

In Colombia, 47.9 per cent of workers are employed informally and almost half of them earn less than the minimum wage, which is an obstacle to them making social security contributions. The national government has focussed on the Orange Economy, in which workers in the creative industries generate income based on intellectual property. Incomes, however, are predominantly low and employment is occasional, making this a vulnerable sector.

“AV+”, a voluntary insurance (assurance volontaire – AV) management project, is the fruit of the shared determination of Mali’s National Social Insurance Institute (Institut national de prévoyance sociale – INPS) and SAER-EMPLOI, which joined forces to increase the number of people registered with a voluntary insurance scheme. This partnership was founded through the signing of a delegation of management agreement on 10 April 2017 and rendered effective through the creation of a company, SAER-EMPLOI-AV+/SASU.

In order to extend social security coverage to all groups of the society, university students by presenting valid student cards are eligible to contribute to the Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO). Reference earning as a basis for calculating contribution level is not less than the minimum wage approved by the Supreme Labour Council. Students are subject to the Self-employed Law as of 28 September 2018.

EjoHeza is a voluntary digital pension fund managed as a defined contribution system, officially launched by Government of Rwanda on 14 December 2018, with the objective to increase coverage. All Rwandan residents including foreigners with a national identity number have the right to register, save to the scheme and benefit at the age of 55 years.

The growth of domestic work in private homes, a sector responsible for the creation of many jobs, is a significant economic development that meets some of life’s most basic needs child care, elder care or more vulnerable group (particularly those in situations of dependency, disability or illness), helping people to grow old in their own homes, and even reconciling one’s family life and professional life.

As part of its move to extend social security coverage to self-employed workers, the Social Insurance Institute – National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale - Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) has employed a collaborative tool to aid communication between the teams responsible for the roll-out of the fund’s “New Information System” (Nouveau système d’information – NSI) and to enable the effective monitoring of IT developments and application tests.

The previous marketing campaigns of the Seychelles Pension Fund (SPF) for voluntary contributions have given rise to many instances where participating members in the scheme wanted to open an account for their loved ones. The festive season being a time for giving gift, SPF packaged Voluntary Contribution as a gift that members can add to their list to give to their loved ones. As advocates of the Voluntary Contribution, existing participating members thus add leverage to our mission of cultivating a savings culture in our society.

The issue or challenge addressed by our practice: Proclamation No. 715/2003 excluded a majority of private organization employees (definite period employees and management staff) from pension scheme coverage.

In order to achieve universal coverage for the Employment Social Security Programme, the central government continues to encourage local governments and businessmen to protect all workers through it.

Technical aid or support products are among the most important factors in terms of human development for disabled and elderly persons. The objective is to mitigate or compensate for limitations when performing various activities of daily living such as eating, dressing, personal hygiene, mobility for the bedridden, play and leisure time, productivity and work activities as well as improving independence and quality of life.

Within the framework of the Comprehensive Policy on Care for the Elderly (Política Integral de Atención a los Adultos Mayores), and in order to extend training to all those who need to take care of older persons, the State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) offers a multimedia course, which is available in the institutional portal.

Every year, the world is battered by natural phenomena, and their effects disrupt daily human life. Thunderstorms, floods, volcanic eruptions and forest fires are becoming ever more common across all regions of Argentina.

In response to this, a number of presidential decrees have provided for temporary supplements in the amount of 100 per cent of family allowance, unemployment benefit and pension payments to thousands of people seriously affected by natural phenomena to reduce the economic impact of such events.

The Social Protection Longitudinal Survey (Encuesta Longitudinal de Protección Social – ELPS) was part of the “support program for better management of the social protection system”, which aims to strengthen the capacity to formulate and implement policies on social security, education, housing, employment, health, disability, and care among other things. Therefore, the conditions and capacities required to continue with future ELPS phases were generated, with the Social Insurance Bank (Banco de Previsión Social – BPS) as the managing institution.

The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) was created by an Act of Parliament “The NPS Act” No. 40 of 1996 to provide social security cover to all eligible employees in Zambia in case of retirement, invalidity or death. Since commencement of operations in February 2000, NAPSA has largely focused on the formal sector. However, this sector constitutes only 16 percent (950,000 people) of the total employed population of 5.8 million people (Zambia Labour Force Survey Report, 2014). The remaining 84 percent is made up of employees from the informal sector. 

The 21st century advent in our country of the sharing economy, which involves the contracting of goods and services through electronic platforms, has led to the emergence of disruptive enterprises such as the hiring of transport services through mobile phone applications.

Among several other social security benefits, the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) of Zimbabwe pays a funeral grant of USD 300 under the Pension and Other Benefits Scheme. The benefit is paid to provide assistance towards the burial of a member who would have contributed to the scheme for a minimum period of 12 months. The USD 300 payout is insufficient to cover basic funeral expenses. In an endeavour to accord every retirement pensioner a decent burial, NSSA contracted Econet Life to provide funeral services to NSSA retirement pensioners.

The insurance coverage extension to migrants has always been one of the top priorities of the Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO). What makes the issue specific is that Iran is both the host and source of immigration. Currently, around 10 per cent of Iranian population are living abroad; meanwhile more than 3 million foreign nationals are living and working in Iran. Most of both groups are deprived of any social security coverage.

Single tax is an option designed for self-employed workers to pay contributions and taxes in a simplified way. Social security (retirement and health) and tax (VAT and income tax) contributions are collected together as a fixed monthly fee. To join the scheme, one has to comply with billing parameters including business surface area, electricity consumed and rental.

There are 3,373,712 single-tax contributors registered in Argentina.

The National Historical Reparation Programme  (Programa Nacional de Reparación Histórica) was established with the aim of implementing settlement agreements between the National Social Security Administration (Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social ‒ ANSES) and retirees/pensioners to adjust their pensions and to settle pension debts owed to beneficiaries who voluntarily participated and met the criteria laid out in Act No. 27.260.

Maintaining financial balance is a major concern for the National Social Insurance Fund for Employees (Caisse nationale des assurances sociales des travailleurs salariés – CNAS) which covers more than 25 million people in Algeria as insured persons and dependants and manages 350,000 contributing employers.

Unified Accumulative Pension Fund, JSC (UAPF), the national pension fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan, administers fully-funded defined contribution pension systems, which will eventually become the principle source of income for retirees.

The mandatory fully-funded pillar shall cover all working population. However, despite the compulsory membership of UAPF, coverage is challenged by the informal economy, low financial literacy and limited resources of individuals.

The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) provides a monthly non-taxable benefit to Old Age Security (OAS) pension recipients who have low income and live in Canada. In January 2017, guidelines for the GIS changed. As a result, a GIS recipient whose partner was admitted to a long-term care facility would no longer be considered as “single”. This situation left one person to pay both household costs and long-term care facility expenses with less GIS support.

Algeria’s National Fund for Paid Leave and Weather-Related Lay-Offs in the Construction, Public Works and Hydraulics Industries (Caisse nationale des congés payés et du chômage intempéries des secteurs du bâtiment, des travaux publics et de l’hydraulique – CACOBATPH), the only organization of its kind on the African continent and in the Arab world, offers workers in the construction, public works and hydraulics (CPWH) sectors, in addition to paid holidays, coverage for lay-offs owing to bad weather (snow, rain, ice, strong winds and so on) with a view to preserving the health and s

The Housing Fund of the State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (Fondo de la Vivienda del Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – FOVISSSTE), in collaboration with the State Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute’s (Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado – ISSSTE) “National Medical Center November 20”, promoted a pilot program to design an accessible, sustainable and quality housing prototype for people with different abilities.

The Social Insurance Bank (Banco de Previsión Social – BPS), guided by the aim to become more efficient and effective at managing Economic Benefits, has implemented online services to enable a beneficiary in need of eyeglasses to directly bring a prescription issued by an ophthalmologist and an identity card to an authorized optician, who then validates whether the benefit is to be granted or not.

The system verifies beforehand whether the user is eligible for the benefit or not, pending the granting or refusal of the benefit.

The Community Health Fund (CHF) in Tanzania was established in 2001. Due to the dual role of “Provider” and “Purchaser” of health service played by the Council Health Boards (CHBs) such a design setup has faced challenges of poor management of funds, persistent shortage of services and unreliable membership data. CHF members access services from dispensary level up to district hospital within the Council. As such, unsatisfactory performance of the CHF in most of the councils continue to discourage people to enrol with CHFs subsequently sharply dropout rate of members each year.

The mining sector is naturally hazardous and as such it poses significant danger to the health of workers through mineral dust exposure causing occupational lung conditions in extreme circumstances and excessive noise exposure predisposing workers to irreversible hearing impairment. To address this challenge the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) of Zimbabwe through its Occupational Safety and Health Division procured mobile clinic in September 2016.

The goal of the Universal Pension for the Elderly (Pensión Universal para el Adulto Mayor ‒ PUAM) is to guarantee the right to a dignified old age, regardless of individual contributory capacity.