Dynamic Social Security for the Americas: Social Cohesion and Institutional Diversity , identifies and interprets the most important developments in social security in the Americas region. The report analyses the efforts of institutions to extend social security coverage and improve performance in the region, despite complex social and economic constraints, and growing public expectations and political demands.

The ISSA Secretary General, Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, welcomed the publication, which completes a series of studies covering each of the world’s regions.

“The contribution of the Americas region to the development of social security internationally has been significant,” he stated. “The report confirms how the countries in the region are engaged in efforts to better realize social cohesion and more equitable economic growth, despite the scale of challenges in the Americas.”

The Americas region has experienced sometimes radical reforms to its social security systems in recent decades, notably in the area of pensions and health care, which have often challenged conventional international norms, according to the report. Dynamic Social Security for the Americas analyses the consequences of some of these policies, and gives particular attention to recent efforts to better combine contributions-financing and tax-financing in the provision of pensions and health care.

The report underlines that the diverse institutional forms of social protection in the region, and the innovative capacities of its social security organizations, provide a strong basis for the sustainable development of programmes. The report points to the need for the greater integration of social security systems within national social protection strategies, and underlines that efforts to extend coverage must be combined with the needs for greater political legitimacy, social equity and financial sustainability.

Regional Social Security Forum for the Americas

The report will be presented at the Regional Social Security Forum for the Americas, a gathering of up to 200 social security leaders and policy-makers, which opens in Brasilia, Brazil on 24 May 2010.

News, photos and documents will be published on a daily basis during the event, together with video recordings of the main Forum sessions, and information will be available in English, Spanish and Portuguese on the ISSA Website: www.issa.int/rssf-americas