Tuesday, 22 March 2022, 10:00−11:30 (UTC/GMT+1 or CET)

Languages: Simultaneous interpretation in English, French, German and Spanish
(Simultaneous interpretation – Frequently Asked Questions)

This webinar is organised in collaboration with the ISSA Technical Commission on Old-age, Invalidity and Survivors’ Insurance.

Survivor benefits are an essential component of social protection, promoting income security for widows/widowers and surviving children in difficult times after the death of the main breadwinner. Survivor benefits can also help to reach the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by increasing gender equality and lowering income poverty.

More than ever, the COVID-19 crisis has brought survivors’ benefits into the spotlight as a major measure to ensure income protection for those who lost their partner during the pandemic. Beyond the current crisis, a global study of the ISSA Technical Commission on Old-age, Invalidity and Survivors’ Insurance presents key socio-economic changes, which call for a rethinking of the design of survivor benefit systems. This includes rising female labour market participation and declines in marriage rates. The study led by Austria and Germany analyses how countries have reacted to these changes and compares survivor benefit rules across 47 states worldwide, describing policy and administrative options. The webinar will present the key findings of this global study enriched by experiences from Australia, Finland and Oman.

Join us for this ISSA Webinar on survivor benefits that will provide a broad overview of national strategies, challenges and priorities that need to be addressed beyond the COVID-19 crisis. It will bring key takeaways for countries and institutions that need to implement or adapt survivor benefit schemes to new conditions of life.

Speakers

	Gertruda Uścińska, President, Social Insurance Institution(ZUS), Poland and Chair of the ISSA Technical Commission on Old-age, Invalidity and Survivors’ Insurance
	Christoph Freudenberg, Senior Adviser, German Federal Pension Insurance (DRV Bund), Germany
	Verena Zwinger, Senior Adviser, Main office, Department for National and International Fundamental Issues, Pension Insurance Institution, Austria
	Hervé Boulhol, Senior Economist, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
	Muzna Yahya Al-Toubi, Researcher, Studies and Statistics Department, Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI), Oman
	Suvi Ritola, Special Adviser, Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK), Finland
	Alfred Opoku, Director, Department of Social Services, Australia

This webinar will examine the following questions:

• What have been the countries’ main strategies on survivor benefits to support income security?
• How have countries adapted survivors’ social protection to socio-economic changes and the needs of the elderly?
• What are the key lessons learnt from managing survivor benefits, in order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its delivery?
• What remains to be done and what are the new challenges beyond the context of COVID-19?

Agenda

• Welcome by Marcelo Abi-Ramia Caetano, ISSA Secretary General
• Introduction by the Chair of ISSA Technical Commission on Old-age, Invalidity and Survivors’ Insurance
• Presentation of the report (Austrian Pension Insurance Institutions and German Federal Pension Insurance)
• The view of the OECD and discussion
• The country experience from Oman
• The country experience from Finland
• The country experience from Australia
• Q&A – Discussion
• Next steps & conclusions

 

Moderated by Guillaume Filhon, Senior Officer in Social Security, Social Security Development Branch, ISSA

Practical information

The webinar is open to delegates of ISSA member organisations and invited institutions without registration fee.