The ISSA Liaison Office for the Andean Countries is hosted by the Derrama Magisterial , the Peruvian teachers’ pension fund, and will work with the five ISSA member institutions in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador to facilitate collaboration, exchange of experience and good practices, and contribute to the extension of social security coverage and enhanced administrative efficiency.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony in Lima, which was attended by representatives of the Peruvian authorities, the International Labour Office and leaders of social security organizations in the region, the ISSA Secretary General Hans-Horst Konkolewsky emphasized the important contribution of Latin American countries to the development of social security.

“Latin American countries were among the pioneers in the establishment of social protection systems, and have played an active international role to promote social security since the first decades of the 20th century,” Mr. Konkolewsky stated.

The Secretary General pointed to priority concerns facing social security schemes in the region, including the extension of coverage, the protection of migrant workers, good governance and secure investment strategies, and expressed his hope that the Liaison Office would facilitate the sharing of sustainable solutions. He anticipated that the Liaison Office would provide a unique platform to promote a culture of social security in the Andean region, as requested by ISSA members in Latin America.

The Minister of Labour and Social Promotion, Ms. Manuela García Cochagne, mentioned that the fundamental right to social security is recognized in the Peruvian Constitution and expressed her hope that the Liaison Office will assist Peruvian organizations to improve adequacy in social security.

César Reyes Valle, Chairman of the Board of the Derrama Magisterial , welcomed the opening of the Office, and underlined the advantages of closer collaboration among social security schemes in the region.

“The globalized economy and the flexibility of the labour market require constant, effective and responsible adaptations of the social security systems to face new requirements, especially in countries like those of the Andean region,” Mr. Reyes Valle said.

“The regional dimension, which we now share with Colombia and Ecuador, is the space that will help us to develop, together with the ISSA, new practices in the administration of social security, ” he concluded.

Latin American social security schemes have been involved in the ISSA since the National Social Security Fund of Peru became a member in 1938, the first non-European organization to join the Association. The ISSA opened its first Regional Office in Argentina in 1968, and has a history of close cooperation with the two regional social security bodies, the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) and the Ibero-American Social Security Organization (OISS).

Additional Liaison Offices are expected to be opened in other parts of the region within the framework of the ISSA’s new strategy targeted at members at a sub-regional level, where institutions often face common challenges.

ISSA Liaison Offices >>