Risk management is the process of identifying, analysing, accepting, mitigating or transferring uncertainty in investment decisions. Fund managers apply risk management by analysing and attempting to quantify the potential loss of an investment and then acting accordingly.

Institutions are being transformed thanks to the integration of new technologies. This vision represents a corporate change with a social impact, reducing costs, simplifying processes and procedures, and raising awareness of the importance and benefits of this transformation.

The virtual web-based assistant of the IPS National Social Insurance Fund (IPS Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS CNPS) was launched in May 2022. Available on the institution’s website for insured persons, whether employees, employers or self-employed workers, this assistant is the new on-demand advisor. In the space of a few clicks, it gives the insured person information on the modalities and payment of social security contributions and guides them through their claims and document requests.

Article 12 of Law No. 5508 on the Promotion, Protection of Maternity and Support for Breastfeeding establishes that maternity allowance should be paid to employed women by the social security scheme of Paraguay’s Social Insurance Institute (Instituto de Previsión Social – IPS). This amount is equivalent to 100 per cent of her salary at the time of delivery, and is paid for the prescribed months of rest. This used to be given to women in a single payment.

The State Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) of Latvia has introduced a new e-service “SSIA information and services” (hereinafter dashboard) in August 2022, which is available on the unified state and local government service portal www.latvija.gov.lv.

The issue of population growth and social security planning is one of the biggest challenges facing governments today, and is a key part of a good social security system that instils confidence in its members.

The Retirement and Pension Fund for Employees of Banks and Related Institutions (Caja de Jubilaciones y Pensiones de Empleados de Bancos y Afines) (Bank Fund, hereinafter) is in constant communication with its members. It therefore continuously updates its databases, in order to have a better understanding of members’ current realities, experiences and needs.

Digital transformation is happening in institutions through the integration of new technologies. This vision represents an institutional and social change, optimizing available resources, reducing costs, shortening processes and procedures, and raising awareness of the importance and benefits of this transformation.

Good practice in health – service quality.

As health-care systems have evolved to become more complex and due to the resultant increase in patients coming to harm in health care settings, patient safety has emerged as a health-care discipline.

The Actuarial Advisory Office (Asesoría Actuarial) of the Social Insurance Institute (Instituto de Previsión Social – IPS) carried out an actuarial valuation of the Common Retirement and Pension Fund (Fondo Común de Jubilaciones y Pensiones). The valuation looks to comply with international best practices and observe the guidelines and standards of the International Standards of Actuarial Practice 2 (ISAP 2), and the ISSA-ILO Guidelines on Actuarial Work for Social Security, with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Like most of the world’s countries, Paraguay has adopted lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These steps taken by the government have impacted the productive sector, leading to mass suspensions of employment contracts for persons insured with the Social Insurance Institute (Instituto de Previsión Social – IPS) of Paraguay.

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.

Paraguay’s Social Insurance Institute (Instituto de Previsión de Social – IPS) used to make sick leave payments at its administrative offices, which had associated administrative costs and meant beneficiaries had to visit the IPS service counter in person.

The aim of the e-assistant is to create equal access to state and municipal services for all social groups, enabling everyone to receive services electronically. An e-assistant is an employee of the Local Government Unified Customer Service Centre (Service Centre), to whom the client entrusts to apply for the Latvian State Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) service in his/her own name.

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.

Prior to 2019, the IPS National Social Insurance Fund (IPS Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS CNPS) of Côte d’Ivoire had 412 rented printing facilities (printers, fax machines, scanners) and copiers. The maintenance and rental of this equipment, as well as the purchase of consumables, entailed considerable costs.

The IPS CNPS therefore wished to reduce and control these costs by implementing a policy to rationalize printing facilities on the basis of an audit that has been carried out.

As part of the establishment of its web platform e-CNPS, the Social Insurance Institute - National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale - Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) of Côte d’Ivoire has developed an app called “e-Cotisations”. This is a tool that allows an employer to declare social security contributions and, at the same time, display the names of the workers concerned and their remuneration.

This app is largely a response to the following requirements:

The system for managing public pensions in the Côte d’Ivoire underwent an extensive and far-reaching reform in 2012.

As a result, the legal status of the body in charge of managing the said system changed from that of a public company to a provident fund. As a member of the ISSA since 2014, the Social Insurance Institute – State Employees’ General Retirement Fund (Institut de prévoyance sociale - Caisse générale de retraite des agents de l’Etat – IPS-CGRAE) was obliged to align its operations with the principles and fundamentals governing ISSA member organizations.

In September 2018, the State Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) in cooperation with the State Revenue Service (SRS) sent personalized letters to a group of people aged 18–42 using the SRS electronic declaration system (EDS). The letters contained information on each person's salary from which were made contributions in the previous year, as well as information on the length of social insurance and the retirement capital. The letters were followed with an information campaign. Based on its success, the SSIA plans to repeat the initiative.  

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.

In the course of its activities, the medical board of Côte d’Ivoire’s Social Insurance Institute – National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale – Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) found itself facing a number of significant problems:

As part of its policy of constant improvement and in an effort to reduce dependence on physical media, the National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale - Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) introduced in September 2016 computerized processes for a number of major activities involved in its procurement processes.

The new processes offer numerous advantages:

Since April 2014 the Social Insurance Institute - State Employees' General Retirement Fund (Institut de prévoyance sociale - Caisse générale de retraite des agents de l'Etat (IPS-CGRAE)) has been the object of a major reform which aims notably at ensuring ongoing improvements in the quality of services provided to insured persons by accelerating payment of the first pensions after retirement.

The system for managing public pensions in Côte d’Ivoire underwent a major reform in 2012.

As part of its role of managing the contribution history of its insured members, the Social Insurance Institute – National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale – Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) has developed a computer-based tool, termed “e-DISA”, to encourage employers to communicate workers’ individual data (length of service and remuneration). Introduced in 2013, e-DISA enables employers to produce workers’ Individual Declarations of annual earnings (DISA) electronically and securely.

Since April 2014 the Social Insurance Institute - State Employees' General Retirement Fund (Institut de prévoyance sociale - Caisse générale de retraite des agents de l'Etat (IPS - CGRAE)) has been the object of a major reform which aims notably to ensure continued improvements in the quality of services provided to insured persons by setting up an efficient reception structure.

The pension management system for officials and civil servants managed by the Social Insurance Institute – State Employees’ General Retirement Fund (Institut de prévoyance sociale – Caisse générale de retraite des agents de l’Etat – IPS-CGRAE) experienced serious difficulties for a long time, leading to a cumulative deficit of more than francs CFA 288 billion as at 31 December 2012. This was largely due to the non-payment or partial payment of contributions by affiliated government agencies over a number of years.

Since April 2014 the Social Insurance Institute - State Employees' General Retirement Fund (Institut de prévoyance sociale - Caisse générale de retraite des agents de l'Etat (IPS-CGRAE)) has been the object of a major reform which aims notably to ensure continued improvements in the quality of services provided to insured individuals by monitoring beneficiary populations and ultimately, reducing the technical expenses of the Institute.

The pension scheme for civil servants and State employees (fonctionnaires et agents de l’État – FAE), created in 1962, has been subject to a number of difficulties relating to its structural balance, the culmination of which came at the end of the decade 2000–2010. In order to re-establish the balance and ensure compliance with social security principles, a reform touching on several parametric and non-parametric components was carried out to ensure the long-term sustainability of the scheme.

Information is easily available: it facilitates people's interest in their social insurance situation and understanding of social security benefits.

The National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale - Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) receives clients (insured persons, employers, and others) at its Social Insurance Agencies. To improve client satisfaction, a reception service has been introduced, referred to as “EM-Reception”.

The timely and efficient handling of the many varied requests thus constituted an important issue in the overall IT management of activities.

The Social Insurance Institute - National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale - Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale (IPS-CNPS)) Côte d'Ivoire faced with problems related to payment of social benefits, including:

• the bank's failure to comply with the time limits for crediting the organization's accounts;
• the bank's failure to comply with the time limits for social insurance payments;
• the lack of transparency concerning the status of bank payments;
• lack of access to the rejections register.