Said Ahmidouch, Director General of the National Social Security Fund

The ISSA Liaison Office for North Africa was established as a further stage in the ISSA strategy to reinforce the exchange of technical expertise and management experience, and to respond to the common needs and priorities of social security organizations at the sub-regional level. Together with Morocco, the Office will work with the ISSA member organizations in Algeria, Mauritania and Tunisia.

Welcoming the opening of the Liaison Office, the ISSA Secretary General Hans-Horst Konkolewsky pointed to some of the significant challenges facing social security institutions in North Africa.

“Social security in the North African region faces a series of common concerns, including the increased migration of workers, the expansion of informal economies, the future of health-care coverage, governance and investment strategies,” Mr. Konkolewsky said.

“This Liaison Office can facilitate a new dimension of cooperation among social security institutions in the region, leading to more effective solutions and the greater individual and collective viability of the schemes involved,” he stated.

The Liaison Office was opened during a ceremony in Casablanca, Morocco on 15 April in the presence of Jamal Rhmani, Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, representatives of the Moroccan authorities, Said Ahmidouch, the Director General of the National Social Security Fund which is the host organization of the office, Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, the Secretary General of the ISSA and leaders of social security institutions in the region.

The inauguration of the Liaison Office will be followed by a seminar on the theme of the extension of coverage, including pension reform, involving directors from several social security organizations in North Africa.

During the last two years, the ISSA has created Liaison Offices for Southern Africa and West Africa, and similar offices have been established in several other regions.

The forefront of administrative and operational developments

Moroccan social security organizations have been at the forefront of administrative and operational developments of social security systems in the region. The National Social Security Fund received the ISSA Good Practice Award for Africa in 2008 for the introduction of an integrated information and communication technology project entitled DAMANCOM Web portal, which enables enterprises to submit their salary declarations and pay their social contributions online.

Morocco has hosted a series of ISSA initiatives since the National Social Security Fund joined the ISSA in 1962, most notably the 26th ISSA General Assembly in 1998. Over a decade later, the ISSA is again planning to hold its most important event on the African continent: the World Social Security Forum, which will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, 29 November – 4 December 2010.

ISSA Liaison Offices >>