To date, the ISSA has addressed the issue of coverage extension in a variety of ways: as a cross-cutting issue for plenary sessions, a conference topic, a theme for publications, including a special edition of the International Social Security Review (2007) and, more prominently, a key component of the ISSA Initiative that culminated in Vancouver in 2002. This issue is also the basis for collaboration with other international organizations, in particular the International Labour Office’s Global Campaign on Social Security Coverage for All.

To further strengthen activities in this regard, 2008 commenced with the ISSA Bureau initiating a “Task Force on the extension of coverage”. To be chaired by the renowned international expert on social security, Professor Carmelo Mesa-Lago, a central aim of the Task Force is to provide the ISSA Secretariat with guidance on how best to help extend coverage in relation to its own institutional capacities. A related aim is to identify ways to enhance ISSA members’ capacities to improve coverage under their respective national programmes.

In support of the Task Force, a role of the ISSA’s Policy and Research Unit will be to identify and analyze current challenges to coverage extension in order to frame today’s major policy questions confronting social security administrations. Importantly, the research will also examine the institutional scope of social security administrations and the existing breadth and depth of the benefit programmes they deliver. Equally important will be work to examine the potential of, and opportunities for, existing institutional structures to improve coverage.

In practice, coverage can be extended successfully using many different instruments. As a case study, European social security history provides a useful model: mandatory social security institutions were preceded by a great variety of social and mutual assistance schemes, cooperatives, non-governmental and faith-based organisations, trade unions and, what we now refer to as “corporate social responsibility”. The development of social security was a dynamic and highly context-specific process that took many forms and progressed through innovation, lessons-learned from good practices and public sector coordination and regulation in the interest of equality and maximal risk-pooling. Sure the world, including Europe, has since changed considerably. But the lessons are here for all countries.

Today in developing countries social protection is being extended in a similar manner. In some countries, ISSA’s members play an active role. Elsewhere, their role is more discreet, but still far from insignificant. In the latter cases other key drivers are, variably, the government, civil society, faith-based organizations, traditional funeral societies, cooperatives, mutual societies, microfinancing institutions, trade unions, corporations, foreign donors, development banks and national legislatures.

Of course, the obstacles to extending social security coverage are great. For many developing countries, only a minority have access to cash benefits and health care: labour market and legal realities often mean that the vast majority are excluded. Those most often excluded are agricultural workers, urban workers in the informal economy and family workers, with women figuring disproportionately among these.

In such contexts, realizing coverage extension requires strong political will. It also requires professional competence within social security administrations and government. But often this may not be sufficient; in lower income countries particularly, the responsible administrations and ministries often struggle with resource and capacity constraints.

The greatest challenge is to design and manage the link between contributory and tax-financed programmes and to do so within a broad socio-economic policy framework. Such a framework should consider, among others, family support systems, individual savings and other assets, such as housing.

Integrating formal and informal schemes into a coherent national system must progress step by step. Promising linkages can be found in joint risk-pooling and re-insurance, improved administrative procedures, joint negotiations and co-contracting with service providers, in integrated and coherent policy planning and, no less important, in fostering public awareness for national social cohesion and a commitment, at the very least, to basic universal coverage.

Finally, there is a strong belief that ISSA member organizations can and should play an active role in helping extend coverage. Nonetheless, in order to assist member institutions, there remains a pressing need to define a strategy on coverage that delineates the ISSA’s niche and priorities. In essence, this defines neatly the mandate and mission of the Task Force.

Due to the urban bias of the existing schemes and a clear urban-rural divide sustained through the household register (Hukou) system, most domestic migrant workers have been left outside the scope of social protection in spite of rapid economic growth over the last 30 years.

Initiated in 1996 with the promulgation of “Experimental Measures on Work Injury Insurance for Enterprise Employees”, the Chinese WII scheme has developed into one of the biggest in the world: it covered a total of 121.55 million people in 2007 (of which around 40 million are farmer-turned internal migrant workers), compared to 45.75 million in 2003.

China’s WII Coverage Expansion 2003-2007

Source: 2003-2006 data is based on the annual statistical communiqués published in Chinese on the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MoLSS) website (www.molss.gov.cn); 2007 figures come from a news release on the national WII workshop held in January 2008 in Zuozhou city (www.molss.gov.cn) and estimates by a senior MoLSS official.

With the fund pooled and administered mostly at county and municipal level, the scheme is financed solely by employer contributions (around 1 per cent of payroll) according to a differential rate (0.5, 1 and 2 per cent for sectors 1, 2 and 3, respectively) and a floating rate (by enterprise, to be adjusted every one to three years according to the accident rate of the enterprise in the previous period*). The aim is to establish a three-pronged system in which compensation is combined with prevention and rehabilitation.

In June 2004, six months after the implementation of the new “Regulation on Work Injury Insurance”, the Chinese Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MoLSS) issued “The Circular concerning the Participation of Farmer-turned Workers in Work Injury Insurance”, which proposed a series of relevant policies and measures.

In May 2006, the MoLSS launched a national campaign called the “Ping An (Peace and Safety) Programme”, which aims to cover all farmer-turned workers who work in high-risk occupations (such as mining and construction) under the WII within three years. A nationwide phased quota was designed and allocated among different provinces and regions in an effort to expand coverage steadily. In 2007, there were 14.29 million more farmer-turned workers covered under the WII scheme compared to the previous year.

In 2008, the last year of the programme, the government plans to extend coverage to all farmer-turned workers engaged in construction. In addition, about half of the provinces or regions have formulated enforcement measures with regards to coverage for single proprietorships with hired workers, and those which have not are being urged to do so.

According to a senior MoLSS official, the target for the WII is to cover a total of 128 million people by the end of 2008, including 46 million farmer-turned workers.

* In the MoLSS Circular on Work Injury Insurance Premium Issues promulgated on 15 February 2006, all trades and industries are categorized into three sectors: Sector 1 for low-risk occupations such as banking, post and telecommunication services and urban public transport; Sector 2 for occupations with medium-level risks such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, textile industry and pharmaceutical manufacturing industry; and Sector 3 for high-risk occupations such as petroleum processing, the manufacturing of chemicals and mining. A floating rate is applicable for Sectors 2 and 3, but not for Sector 1.

Sources (in Chinese only):

http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/news/2008-02/18/content_225029.htm;
http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/news/2007-05/18/content-178167.htm;
http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/zwxx/2006-06/12/content-119277.htm;
http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/ywzn/2006-02/15/content-106778.htm;
http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/zwxx/2005-12/14/content-99533.htm;
http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/zwxx/2005-12/14/content-99534.htm

In Kenya, it is reported that overall poverty rates have been on the increase and less than 15 per cent of the work force is covered by a pension scheme. This combined with an aging population, increasing longevity and changing family structures has raised concerns about the elderly poor. At the same time, the country has seen a dramatic increase in economic growth, thus increasing government revenues.

According to the pension package, all Kenyans irrespective of income or employment history, who reach the maximum statutory retirement age of 55, would be eligible to receive monthly cash benefits for life at the level of 70 per cent of the absolute poverty line, which in October 2007 was around KES 2,300 per month. Thereby, under the Universal Pension scheme, citizens would receive around KES 1,600 per month from the Government, with an estimated total annual cost of around KES 32 billion. In order to curb the increasing financial burden on the Government that this package would imply, a modest increase in taxes either through a general levy or charging employees and employers is proposed. In addition, Kenya is faced with a growing pension bill for close to 171,000 pensioners that will reach an estimated KES 24 billion in the present fiscal year.

According to the RBA, the new modest pension package would be practical, affordable and sustainable. Moreover, tax-financed guaranteed pensions are considered by many to be the best tool to reduce chronic poverty among the elderly population in developing countries.

Source:

Retirement Benefit Authority, Kenya, www.rba.go.ke
all Africa.com, 31 October 2007, http://allafrica.com/

Currently, the pension system for employees provides benefits consisting of two or three elements. The basic element is the national flat-rate Basic Pension for all residents as well as overseas Japanese. The second element is an earnings-related benefit for employees; specifically, the MA and the EPI provide earnings-related benefits for their respective insured persons. The third element comprises voluntary corporate pension plans for private-sector workers, which pay benefits through employees’ pension funds and occupational-based pensions provided by the MA for government employees and private school teachers.

The main items of the proposed bills are as follows:

• Government employees and private school teachers would participate in the EPI, which covers the majority of employees regardless of whether they are in the public or private sector.

• Different provisions between the MA and the EPI (e.g. maximum contributory age and eligibility conditions for the disability pension) would be aligned to those of the EPI.

• Beginning in 2010, the MA contribution rates, which are set at 14.1 per cent for government employees and 11.3 per cent for private school teachers, would be increased gradually every year to eventually reach parity with the EPI contribution rate of 18.3 per cent. The MA reserve funds would be transferred to the EPI reserve fund to be utilized as a common fund for all public pension schemes for employees.

• From the standpoint of maintaining efficient business operations, the current two MA administrations would continue to be responsible for the collection of contributions and administrative operations relating to the assessment and payment of benefits.

• The third element of the MA (voluntary corporate pension plans) would be eliminated.

• The bills also aim at expanding social insurance coverage to part-time workers who are not eligible to enrol in the pension system for employees under the current laws.

If the bills are approved, the stated aim is for the implementation of measures to harmonize public pension schemes for employees to come into force from 1 April 2010. The expansion of coverage for part-time workers would be implemented from 1 September 2011.

Source:

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work
29.06.2008 - 02.07.2008 | Seoul, Korea
Safety and health at work: A societal responsibility

The World Congress on Safety and Health at Work is the world's largest international event in occupational safety and health. It is aims at contributing to the prevention of occupational accidents and the protection of workers' health through the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences on new technologies related to safety at work, on preventing occupational diseases, and on safety and health cooperative projects.

ISSA Regional Social Security Forum for Africa
18.11.2008 - 20.11.2008 | Kigali, Rwanda

The first Regional Social Security Forum for Africa will be held in Kigali, from 18 to 20 November 2008, at the invitation of the Social Security Fund of Rwanda.This Forum provides the key platform for information and exchange on the most important regional social security trends and priority issues in Africa.

The Congress, which meets every three years, is the largest international event of its kind and will address the current state of safety in the world of work and global efforts to improve it. In addition, it will also unveil pioneering new research on occupational safety and health as a key factor in environmentally-sustainable economic growth and development.

The Congress will also host a high-level Safety and Health Summit involving 50 decision-makers from around the world, including government ministers, CEOs of leading multinational companies, senior safety and health and social security experts, and representatives of employers and workers.

The Summit is expected to adopt an unprecedented Declaration on Safety and Health at Work, that will provide a new global reference point for addressing occupational safety and health issues around the world.

"In a number of countries, prevention is still regarded as a cost factor which negatively impacts competitiveness in a globalized economy," said the Secretary General of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Hans-Horst Konkolewsky. "The World Congress will showcase how investing in prevention significantly impacts productivity, reduces the burden on health systems and on other social security spending, and, more importantly, avoids human suffering."

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has estimated that more than 2 million people die each year from work-related accidents and diseases, with a cost to the world economy of up to 4 per cent of global GDP. A new report to be launched at the Congress will provide the most recent revised estimates of the global impact of occupational accidents and disease, as well as examine what can or is being done improve safety at work.

Congress participants will focus on key issues in risk management, including the impact of the informal economy and migration on work safety; action for the elimination of asbestos-related risks; the potential risk of nanotechnologies; gender differences in hazardous industries; the improvement of work environments using ergonomics; HIV/AIDS and the world of work; and a wide range of other topics.

The Congress includes an International Film and Multimedia Festival with dozens of short films and multimedia presentations on occupational safety. An International Safety and Health Exhibition will run in parallel to the Congress, and will showcase safety technologies and products from over 600 companies.

Technical visits will be organized to see first-hand how safety and health issues are managed in major industries, including Samsung Electronics, SK Incheon Oil Refining Company, KIA Motors and the Incheon Bridge construction site.

Jointly organized every three years by the International Labour Organization and the International Social Security Association, the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work aims at contributing to the development of a "preventive safety and health culture" through the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences. The XVIII World Congress is hosted by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), under the theme "Safety and health at work: A societal responsibility".

Daily reports, photo and video coverage of the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work will be available on the Websites of the World Congress and of the co-organizers:

XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work:
www.safety2008korea.org

International Labour Organization:
www.ilo.org

International Social Security Association:
www.issa.int