Jolanta Fedak, Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Poland

Speaking in the wake of the financial and economic crisis, the International Social Security Association’s (ISSA) President Corazon de la Paz-Bernardo recognized the timeliness of the Forum for social security institutions.

“Your participation at this Regional Forum underlines that you share our view that social security is needed now more than ever in this region, which is the cradle of social insurance,” she stated.

Common threats, common responses

At the opening ceremony, Polish Minister of Labour and Social Policy Jolanta Fedak underlined that social security systems in Europe were facing a number of “common threats”, including the consequences of demographic changes and the impact of the economic crisis.

Ms. Fedak called on social security leaders to expand their exchange of good practices and reforms, and enhance institutional cooperation, in order to develop “long-term responsible policies”.

The President of the Polish Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and host of the Regional Forum, Zbigniew Derdziuk, welcomed the participants and underlined the “difficult and important” responsibilities of social security institutions, which could be better shared by the sharing of information and knowledge.

“The financial crisis has accelerated a number of problems facing social security schemes,” said Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, Secretary General of the ISSA. “This Forum provides policy-makers an opportunity to analyse lessons learned during the crisis, including the role of governance and risk management strategies, and to prepare the post-crisis situation.”

The Forum, which meets until 5 March, will also consider demographic challenges, labour market issues and governance of social security institutions.

The Forum sessions are broadcast on a daily basis on the ISSA Website.