Background

The official opening of the Liaison Office took place on 24 May 2005 in Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

Hosted by the Social Security Corporation of Jordan (JSSC), the Liaison Office serves 20 member organizations from 15 countries and has become a model for ISSA Liaison Offices worldwide.

The Liaison Office covers the following countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestinian National Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The working languages of the Office are Arabic and English.

The Office implements the ISSA's mandate to develop and promote social security schemes in Arab countries, while highlighting their needs and priorities. It acts as an interface between the ISSA General Secretariat and its member organizations. The work plan of the Liaison Office is established in coordination with the Steering Committee in close cooperation with the ISSA General Secretariat. The Steering Committee is made up of the Chief Executive Officers of the Social Insurance Organization of Bahrain, the General Organization for Social Insurance of Saudi Arabia and the National Social Security Fund of Lebanon.

Objectives

The main objective of the Liaison Office is to enhance and increase the number and scope of activities and communication channels between member organizations and the ISSA. The Office works to achieve this through providing authoritative information concerning social security developments in the region; contributing information for the ISSA Newsletter Update ; Translating into Arabic: "Update" 10 issues, ( translation and production), "Social Policy Highlight" issues, "Annual Review"; and for the ISSA Website; providing member organizations with information on various ISSA activities, projects and events; representing the International Social Security Association at sub-regional, regional and international meetings; maintaining and updating the ISSA network for Arab countries; enhancing knowledge exchange using the Extranet;  prospecting for new members and providing technical expertise at events being organized by the Liaison Office and other selected events; organizing two events annually; cooperating with certain ISSA Technical Commissions and facilitating progress of projects undertaken by them; developing a roster of experts in the region identifying areas of expertise; and enhancing the input from members of the network of contact persons representing ISSA member organizations in Arab countries in Asia and Africa.

Structure

Each region/subregion which has adopted the new regional structure has established its own workplan formulated by a Steering Committee in close cooperation with the ISSA General Secretariat. The Steering Committee is made up of Chief Executive Officers from member organizations in each region/subregion whose work is guided by a chairperson selected by the committee.