Djibouti’s social security system guarantees pregnant employees covered by the labour code a period of maternity leave for which they have the right to claim benefits. This maternity leave, which seeks to safeguard women’s health during pregnancy and allow them time to breastfeed and care for their baby, originally lasted 14 weeks.

In July 2019, a major reform to provide pregnancy and maternity protection was implemented, extending statutory paid maternity leave to 26 weeks (six months or 180 days).

In 2017, Djibouti’s National Social Security Fund (Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale – CNSS) progressively implemented an occupational risk prevention policy. Prior to this initiative, the CNSS activities in the field of workplace accidents were limited to providing compensation and redress. The important role played by preventive work in averting the causes of accidents instead of allowing these accidents to come to pass, as well as in improving conditions in the workplace, underpinned the choice of this approach.

For some years now, digitization has formed part of Djibouti’s strategic plan so that it keeps pace with the rest of the world. As such, the country’s National Social Security Fund (Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale – CNSS) has launched a number of computerization projects to enable it to provide, both now and in the future, a high-quality service to its various internal and external stakeholders in line with the population’s needs and expectations. Through these ambitious projects, the CNSS has succeeded in modernizing its tools of work.