The German Social Accident Insurance Institution for foodstuffs and catering industry (Berufsgenossenschaft Nahrungsmittel und Gastgewerbe ‒ BGN) developed an AI-solution which automatically extracts ICD-10 codes from natural language text written by doctors in accident and emergency departments. These extracted codes allow derivation of Weller-Keys, which allow to predict the extent of incapacity for work and are of central importance for performance assessment and quality assurance of recovery processes.

The “Complemento Solidário para Idosos” (CSI) is a social assistance programme in Portugal designed to provide financial support to elderly individuals who are in a situation of economic vulnerability. The programme offers a financial supplement to the pension with the goal to help low-income elderly citizens meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life.

Risk management is the process of identifying, analysing, accepting, mitigating or transferring uncertainty in investment decisions. Fund managers apply risk management by analysing and attempting to quantify the potential loss of an investment and then acting accordingly.

The URSSAF National Fund (URSSAF Caisse nationale) of France is currently carrying out a data science project aimed at evaluating the potential contributions of artificial intelligence on the production and quality of forecasts for the collection of social security contributions, necessary for its cash management.

It is widely recognized that a procurement policy, which considers the safety culture of a contractor can significantly impact on the occupational health and safety (OHS) level of a workplace.

The KDD tool (KDD stands for Knowledge Discovery in Databases) is an application developed by the data science team of the Central Control Service (CCS) of the National Employment Office (NEO). The tool was developed in cooperation with the social inspectors to (1) improve fraud detection, (2) be able to prepare and treat their investigations more efficiently and faster, (3) improve follow-up on their results for reporting purposes and (4) to improve the feedback cycle for the data science team so their fraud detection models can be ameliorated.

From November 2022 to April 2023, the Social Insurance Bank (Sociale Verzekeringsbank – SVB) of the Netherlands conducted a pilot programme to address the underutilization of the AIO supplement among eligible households. This initiative aligned with the SVB’s crucial mission of providing citizens with social security.

The creation of artificial skin is an innovative technological development that has the potential to revolutionize the education and learning process. It is a tool with a new and exciting approach that makes it possible to create realistic and authentic products that imitate the feel of human skin. This is particularly important in health education where students need to have a deep understanding of the functioning of the human body.

A family leave reform was introduced in Finland in 2022. The aims of the reform included a more even distribution of family leave and childcare responsibilities between parents and better equality on the labour market. In support of these aims, we created an easy-to-use online calculator that parents can use to get an idea of the impact that sharing the family leave between parents is likely to have on the family’s income. Sharing the entitlement to family leave can often prove financially worthwhile.

Spain’s General Treasury of the Social Security (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social – TGSS) remains committed to improving citizen services. It has therefore defined a new service model based on user experiences and the implementation of new technologies. Creating this model required an in-depth analysis of the service provided to citizens. We needed to establish a system to measure how often each channel is used, which are the most common requests, and assess which groups interact with the TGSS.

The Single Reimbursement System (Sistema Único de Reintegros – SUR) was created in 2012 with the introduction of Resolution 1200/201. It aimed to handle requests from health-related social security organizations efficiently and in a timely manner, partially compensating the payment of benefits with high economic impact or that cover chronic diseases.

National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Inail), the Italian Institute who runs the insurance against accidents at work, has supported the adoption of Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OSH MS) in Italian companies since 2001. In order to verify if support to OH&S MS and the relevant use of public funds brings social benefits, Inail regularly monitors the efficacy of its policies calculating the difference between the injury index in a certified company with the rest of Italian companies.

According to Decision no. 751, date 01.12.2022 of the Council of Ministers “For a special protection from the state, for unemployed women with three or more children until age 18”; as well as Directive no. 670, dated 13 December2022 on the procedure for applying and benefiting from the special protection programme from the state, for unemployed women, with three or more children until age 18.

People with disabilities are one of society’s most excluded groups and usually have the most difficulties in accessing health, education, employment, and social security. Current policies are either not inclusive, or are still in the initial stages, and thus do not protect the rights of this group. We need rules and regulations that support us in taking action to better protect their rights. Even more importantly, we need to properly understand their needs in order to provide quality care.

Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) is a key strategic goal for the government of Zambia. In pursuit of UHC, the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA) is extending health insurance coverage to the poor and the vulnerable. This extension requires robust estimates of the cost and fiscal implications to the government, and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

To expand the income opportunities of the population and reduce the number of low-income families, Azerbaijan introduced the so-called Targeted State Social Assistance (TSSA) in 2006. TSSA is allotted to low-income families with monthly earnings falling below a specific threshold due to uncontrollable circumstances.

Institutions are being transformed thanks to the integration of new technologies. This vision represents a corporate change with a social impact, reducing costs, simplifying processes and procedures, and raising awareness of the importance and benefits of this transformation.

Panama’s Social Insurance Fund (Caja de Seguro Social de Panamá – CSS) has put in place operational models that use and develop new communication technologies through mobile devices to offer high-quality care to members. This is part of its vision to be a leading guarantor of social security in Panama and to ensure efficient, agile and timely management, for the benefit of Panamanian people.

Publishing open data is an important practice to strengthen citizens’ trust in their institutions. It facilitates access to information and creates the necessary conditions to improve the quality of public services. In this context, social security institutions must ensure the reliability of data and provide accessible spaces to generate value for the public while also guaranteeing the confidentiality of personal data.

Mexico’s National Commission of the Retirement Savings System (Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro – CONSAR) aims to transform the Retirement Savings System (Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro – SAR) to put workers at the heart of decision-making.

Nowadays, the state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan are simplifying methods of providing public services to the population in the field of social security by developing digitalization.

Lack of protection leaves workers vulnerable to the vagaries of the labour market, undermines their rights and dignity, exacerbates poverty and inequality, and jeopardizes the implicit social contract of modern societies (ISO, 2019). As the world of work is evolving, shaped by global trends such as digitalization, automation and globalization, as well as socio-demographic changes, social protection systems need to adapt to changing contexts and demands (ISO, 2017).

Costa Rica’s Pension and Retirement Board of the National Teachers’ Union (Junta de Pensiones y Jubilaciones del Magisterio Nacional – JUPEMA) runs the Collective Capitalization System (Régimen de Capitalización Colectiva – RCC), exclusively for the education sector. To ensure the actuarial sustainability of the system, it invests the financial resources contributed by members in various alternative investments.

South Sudan Pensions Fund (SSPF) is in the process of receiving the contributions from Khartoum for all the pensioners who worked in Sudan before South Sudan was given autonomy in 2005, and subsequently, became independent in 2011. This is in line with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and South Sudan Pensions Fund Act, 2012.

South Sudan, as sovereign nation, has the Constitution and Pension Fund Act, 2012 mandate to follow up and ensure the contributions for the civil servants who worked in Sudan before independence was transferred to South Sudan.

The Dopflux procedure is an innovative approach developed by the National Employment Office (NEO) – Office national de l’emploi – ONEM – of Belgium to address the challenges posed by evolving career trajectories and their impact on social security programmes. This procedure enables the collection and analysis of comprehensive longitudinal data on employment situations and related socioeconomic factors among benefit recipients, offering valuable insights into the effectiveness of social security policies.

The URSSAF National Fund of France, in partnership with the health, family and retirement branches, organizes the detection of self-employed workers in fragile situations. In fact, the analysis of individual situations shows that the identification of vulnerability in one particular area can lead to the identification of other weaknesses or needs, which require an overall approach on a medical, economic and social level.

This work aims to present the National Social Security Institute (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social − INSS) of Brazil Mentoring Programme, instituted on 20 April 2021, through the Ordinance INSS/PRES No. 1295/2021.

The programme was designed and instituted to manage knowledge at the INSS, value public servants who reach the institution’s goals and support public servants who do not reach their goals.

In times of increasing digitalization and dependence on IT, we see a war for talent in tech, while budgets are simultaneously facing ever-increasing pressure. Because of this, the efficient use of money and resources becomes increasingly important to allow for further growth in the realm of digitalization.

To qualify its employees, the National Social Security Institute (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social – INSS) of Brazil has opened an internal selection for 125 vacancies in master’s courses and 180 vacancies in MBA’s courses at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Fundação Getulio Vargas – FGV).

The Seychelles Pension Fund (SPF or the Fund) undertook an extensive review of its investment management framework and related practices in 2021 and 2022. The exercise focussed on improving the institution’s Investment Policy framework, so that operations are aligned to international best practice and the prescriptions of the ISSA Guidelines.

Having easy access to accurate and up-to-date information on social security is important to all levels of government as well as the private sector and the media. The Social Insurance Institution (Kansaneläkelaitos) – Kela, as a key institution on social security in Finland, produces such information and wants to maximize its usability for interested parties. To achieve this strategic goal, a new web service, Kela’s Info Tray, was launched in September 2022.

The work of a farmer is binding, physically demanding and exposes to accidents. Farmers in Finland feel that their work ability is lower than many other professional groups. Farmers also have to resort to disability pensions more often than other professional groups. In response we developed an online service which is first of its kind.

The issue of population growth and social security planning is one of the biggest challenges facing governments today, and is a key part of a good social security system that instils confidence in its members.

The Retirement and Pension Fund for Employees of Banks and Related Institutions (Caja de Jubilaciones y Pensiones de Empleados de Bancos y Afines) (Bank Fund, hereinafter) is in constant communication with its members. It therefore continuously updates its databases, in order to have a better understanding of members’ current realities, experiences and needs.

The project, “Care plan management for psychological illnesses following accidents” (Steuerung des Heilverfahrens bei psychischen Erkrankungen nach Unfällen), involves three components: the extension of case management to cover psychological disorders, the development of an e-learning seminar to train case workers, and the development and evaluation of a diagnostic algorithm. This comprehensive approach aims to bring about an overall improvement in the quality of care for patients who develop psychological disorders following a work accident.

The royal project to expand social security coverage in Morocco was launched in accordance with Framework Law No. 09-21 on social protection. The implementation of the royal project to expand social security coverage has been entrusted to the National Social Security Fund (Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale – CNSS), a major player in social protection in Morocco and will take place in line with a staggered implementation schedule.

For the population groups:

Since 2020, Costa Rica’s economy has been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the resultant drop in household income generating other financial needs. For this reason, the Pension and Retirement Board of the National Teachers’ Union (Junta de Pensiones y Jubilaciones del Magisterio Nacional – JUPEMA) has developed a credit line to purchase debts at very favourable conditions.

Morocco’s Supervisory Authority of Insurance and Social Welfare (Autorité de contrôle des assurances et de la prévoyance sociale – ACAPS) has developed a simulation software package specifically for basic medical coverage in order to strengthen its supervisory mission, to support bodies charged with managing basic compulsory health insurance (CHI) schemes, and to respond to requests for technical advice from other institutions.

In order to put its beneficiaries, especially those most vulnerable, at the heart of everything it does, the National Social Insurance Fund of Chad (Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – CNPS) has established a mechanism for paying bedridden people (pensioners and annuitants) in their own homes.

When payments are due, a team made up of social workers and an accountant visits the homes of these bedridden people to make the necessary payments.

The German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the energy, textile, electrical and media products sectors (Berufsgenossenschaft Energie Textil Elektro Medienerzeugnisse – BG ETEM) is one of Germany’s social accident insurance institutions. As such, it has a duty to support the treatment and rehabilitation of victims of occupational accidents through all appropriate means (para. 1, No. 2 of Book VII of the German social security code (Sozialgesetztbuch – SGB)).

The National Serious Fraud Prevention Service (Service national de lutte contre la fraude à enjeux – SNLFE) of France’s National Family Allowances Fund (Caisse nationale des allocations familiales – CNAF) is an investigative service which supports the detection and handling of serious fraud. This work is based on two essential components, namely:

The poorest citizens are mostly single recipients of old-age and invalidity pensions. The government wants to reduce their risk of poverty. The State Social Insurance Fund Board of the Republic of Lithuania under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Sodra) wants to help in particular those who are often not even aware that they are entitled to the new benefit, or those who are unable to come to claim and unable to use the electronic claim form.

The Actuarial Advisory Office (Asesoría Actuarial) of the Social Insurance Institute (Instituto de Previsión Social – IPS) carried out an actuarial valuation of the Common Retirement and Pension Fund (Fondo Común de Jubilaciones y Pensiones). The valuation looks to comply with international best practices and observe the guidelines and standards of the International Standards of Actuarial Practice 2 (ISAP 2), and the ISSA-ILO Guidelines on Actuarial Work for Social Security, with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Since the crisis started at the beginning of 2020, businesses have been experiencing lower activity levels. The hope of a quick recovery leads them to try, as much as they can, to keep on their employees, favouring part-time work and temporary lay-offs over letting people go entirely.

Inadequate minimum old-age pensions and insufficient social security contributions were the challenges that the Social Security Fund (SSF, hereafter the Fund) of Libya had to overcome by consulting the Libyan Centre for Research and Actuarial Studies, which resulted in an increase in the contributions rate from 15 per cent to 20.5 per cent, thus enabling the Fund to raise the minimum old-age pension by 100 per cent.

The EsSalud - Social Health Insurance Institute (EsSalud - Seguro Social de Salud) of Peru is a critical actor with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, as it watches over the well-being of nearly 12 million insured persons. The information produced by the recently created Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Unit (Unidad de Inteligencia y Análisis de Datos – UIAD) has underpinned the strategic, tactical and operational decisions of EsSalud’s senior management and other entities, as well as other aspects of the institutional response to the health emergency.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirements of the services responsible for providing care during said pandemic, the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social – IMSS) implemented a data governance strategy designed to provide key areas with valuable information on aspects such as health, staff management, training and the monitoring of materials and supplies The aim is to facilitate decision-making through a single information source.

With many entities shifting their data from hard copies to digital computer systems in the early 1990s, there was a heavy reliance on human labour that was required to do the data entry process. This process however, did not come without consequences some of which included digitisation of existing errors, human error in the data capture, creation of suspense balances and subsequent loss of data. These challenges culminated into poor quality data, a critical matter that many entities are still facing to date. The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) of Uganda is no exception.

In response to the major socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis and France’s lockdown of 17 March 2020, the General Assembly of the Council for the Social Protection of Self-Employed Workers (Conseil de la protection sociale des travailleurs indépendants – CPSTI) decided, on 2 April 2020, to put the financial reserves of the Compulsory Supplementary Old-Age Pension for the Self-Employed (Retraite complémentaire vieillesse obligatoire des indépendants – RCI) to unprecedented use in establishing its special RCI CPSTI COVID-19 aid.

During the pandemic, the Government of Brunei Darussalam introduced measures to address the impact of COVID-19 in the country. This was carried out with a “Whole of Nation Approach” – United in addressing the impact and challenges arising from the spread of COVID-19 in Brunei Darussalam. The steps undertaken are focused on three main components, namely, maintaining the well-being of the public, protecting jobs, and providing support for individuals as well as supporting and assisting businesses.

In March 2020, the Social Insurance Fund of Costa Rica (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social – CCSS) consolidated an innovative automated tool for tracking the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among the population and the relevant care provided in the CCSS’s health establishments.

Intelligent health analytics solutions were developed for the clinical and administrative management of services, with timely, high-quality information in means accessible by decision-makers, thereby boosting the effectiveness of the management of the pandemic and other pathologies.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on South Africa’s economy and the livelihood of its citizens. Many South Africans lost their incomes as a result of the pandemic and subsequent lock-down regulations. In an effort to provide relief, South Africa introduced a special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant (cSRD) to address income support gap and food insecurity.

The first case of COVID-19 in Fiji in March 2020 followed by the closing of its borders had widespread impact on the Fijian economy. The pandemic triggered one of the worst job crisis that Fiji has ever seen, bringing with it massive unemployment and pay reduction. Without a coherent national social security system and lack of government funds, government relied on Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) for assistance and as its reliable arm for cash distribution to affected workers.

The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF, hereafter the Fund) of Botswana’s mandate is to promote road safety and compensate those affected by road traffic accidents in the form of benefits (medical and rehabilitation costs, funeral costs, loss on income, loss of support and other necessary social support services). The total benefits payable by the Fund are limited by 1 million Botswanan pulas (BWP).

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), in El Salvador the Directorate General of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social – ISSS) put forward a new form of care. This was authorized by the ISSS board in agreement No. 2020-0651 ABR. This made it possible to implement virtual care through telemedicine, known as Dr. ISSS en línea (Dr. ISSS online).

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pension Services Sector at The Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) of Kuwait required the in-person attendance of anyone requesting official certificates and documents. Thus, PIFSS is keen to keep pace with ongoing developments and provide its services by utilizing the best available technology.

The project for the execution of the Auxílio Emergencial (Emergency aid), created by Law No. 13,982, of 2 April 2020, with the objective of guaranteeing minimum income to Brazilians in a vulnerable situation during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed more than 100 million people to be assisted by public policy in a timely manner.

To help meet the protection needs of chronic patients and older adults of the Social Insurance Fund of Costa Rica (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social – CCSS) in the COVID-19 context and to avoid them having to travel to the health establishment to ensure their adherence to treatment, the following strategies were promoted:

Given the growth of the community of the Civil Servants Pension Fund (CSPF) and the numerous needs of this community in various areas such as social, economic, healthcare, etc., designing products and services, providing economic and customized start-up-based solutions are considered as a fundamental necessity. Therefore, the CSPF has established the Saba Innovation Centre (Saba) with two goals:

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential increase in unemployment that will be brought about by the almost certain recession that will follow, the Government of Grenada (GOG) announced a series of stimulus measures including the introduction of an Unemployment Assistance Benefit (UAB) programme to be administered by the National Insurance Board (NIB) in the amount of 10 million East Caribbean dollars (XCD). The UAB administered by the NIB will cater to insured employees and self -employed persons who are affected.

Law No. 27.546 on the reform of the special schemes for magistrates and Argentina’s Judiciary and Foreign Office officials is part of the initiatives promoted by the Argentinian Government in order to reinforce the redistributive and fair nature of the pension system, considering the various schemes that it comprises as a single system.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Executive Office (Poder Ejecutivo Nacional – PEN) created, by Decree 310/2020, the Emergency Family Income (Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia − IFE), a non-contributory benefit of an exceptional nature. The recipients are households composed of casual workers, unemployed people, workers in private homes and those taxed under the regime for small taxpayers from the lowest categories.

Namibia has experienced significant high rates of unemployment that have needed the involvement of all stakeholders. To this end, the Social Security Commission (SSC) moved to create a platform through which, in collaboration with other key players, would address the challenge of unemployment. This is now known as the Development Fund of the SCC.

In 2019, the National Occupational Union for Employment in Industry and Commerce (Union nationale interprofessionnelle pour l’emploi dans l’industrie et le commerce – Unédic) chose the path of socially responsible investment (SRI) in a bid to better guarantee funding for targeted projects and provisions, and to measure their social and environmental impacts.

Expanding its services from assisting up to 1,200 jobseekers with employment injuries or illnesses annually in 2008, Social Security Organization (SOCSO) now delivers employment services to all categories of job seekers in Malaysia through the establishment of the MYFutureJobs National Employment Services, a framework similar to the Public Employment Services defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Responding to rapid changes in the socio-economic environment, the legal framework for social security is constantly changing. This raises the need for quick and high-quality amendments to the software that provides services to insurers and insured. Three types of knowledge are required to ensure the quality of software: Business and legal knowledge, information technology (IT) knowledge and practical experience in working with the information system. It is desirable that all these competencies in the right proportions are possessed by every employee involved in software modification.

The national social security system in Indonesia can be divided into two social security administering bodies (BPJS), namely Social Security Administering Body for the Health Sector (BPJS Kesehatan) and National Social Security Administering Body for Employment (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan). BPJS Kesehatan organizes health insurance programmes and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan provides work accident insurance, old-age savings, pension benefits, and death benefits.

Paraguay’s Social Insurance Institute (Instituto de Previsión de Social – IPS) used to make sick leave payments at its administrative offices, which had associated administrative costs and meant beneficiaries had to visit the IPS service counter in person.

At the operational level, fatal and serious occupational accidents in trade and goods logistics occur rarely, so most companies fortunately lack concrete operational experience.

The project Escuta (escuta means “to listen” in Portuguese) of the National Institute of Social Security (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social – INSS) was conceived and developed by a team from the southern region of Brazil, the Health and Quality of Life at Work team, to meet the needs of employees who, in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, have to observe social distancing to perform their professional activities.

The Medical Board of the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) is a group of medical professionals that is responsible for performing impairment evaluation and determining the social security benefits due to employment injury or invalidity filed by Malaysian employees (insured persons) with SOCSO.

Morocco’s CDG Prévoyance ensures the technical and financial management of more than 25 pension schemes and solidarity funds that are extremely diverse in terms of groups covered, size and technical make-up.

This diversity makes the effective management of data a prerequisite in the financial management of these schemes and funds, which involves a wide range of information emanating from a variety of sources.

Panama’s Social Insurance Fund (Caja de Seguro Social de Panamá – CSS) has put in place operational models that use and develop new technologies to offer high-quality care to members. This is part of its vision to be a leading guarantor of social security in Panama and to ensure efficient, agile and timely management, for the benefit of Panamanian people.

In response to COVID-19 pandemic, the Social Security Corporation (SSC) of Jordan launched the Sustainability Programme (Istidama) in accordance with the Defence Law, issued by the government in 2020, represented by a package of procedures, aimed at securing workers in the activities and sectors most affected; providing temporary income that enables them to meet their living requirements because of the decrease in their wages.

The Department of Legal Medicine and Evaluation of Disabilities (Departamento de Medicina Legal y Evaluación de Incapacidades) is the technical-administrative body of the Social Security Institute of Guatemala (Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social – IGSS). Its main objective is to prepare reports, which are used to support different types of evaluations related to the provision of services and economic benefits.

In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic broke out in Israel.

What began as a health crisis soon turned into an economic crisis, which led many workers to go on forced unpaid leave and went to the National Insurance Institute (NII) for assistance. There was a need to find creative solutions within the limits of the law and the data available to the NII, and to find workable and quick solutions that would allow the payment of unemployment benefits to unpaid workers.

In 2019, the State Social Protection Fund of under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SSPF) introduced the unique artificial intelligence (AI) driven proactive assignment mechanism for the assignment of social benefits. This self-starting assignment system is a modern approach to delivering a social service that uses big data and technology to identify and reach out to eligible individuals and assign social benefits from a single center to families without them having to visit any institution.

Each year in June (as required by law), the Board of the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) makes two determinations:

• Determining a crediting rate for the financial year just ended, which would adjust member balances accordingly on 30 June.
• Determining a pro-rata crediting rate (or interim crediting rate), which will apply to full withdrawals during the financial year ahead.

A Distribution Policy was developed to guide the Board’s crediting rate determination process and which was built on the following principles:

The ISSA Guidelines on Investment of Social Security Funds is anchored on a robust investment philosophy that is centred on high investment returns to the scheme and consequently to the members. In addition to this, social security institutions have a social responsibility to its membership and the environment to promote environmentally conscious investment.

The mission of Morocco’s CDG Prévoyance is to honour, as effectively as possible, the financial commitments of the schemes it manages. This necessarily involves the definition of an investment strategy capable of achieving the return and risk objectives that have been set. Roll-out of the strategy requires benchmarks to be established and shared with the external managers who have been charged with its implementation.

Human rights and dignity stay at the top of the Agency for Sustainable and Operational Social Security (DOST) of Azerbaijan values. Considering its mission to provide the population with operative and smooth access to labor and social protection services, the Agency developed and implemented social innovations that increased citizen satisfaction. The position of the front office for citizens and mid office for ministerial and third-party organizations allows DOST the best coordination between citizens and service providers.

Analysis of citizens’ appeals revealed that the definite groups of people due to their growing number and specific physical and mental conditions, required different approaches.

The Agency for Sustainable and Operational Social Security (DOST) Volunteer Programme in Azerbaijan is a crucial part of the DOST Agency’s activities and applies a new innovative approach to Government to Citizen (G2C) communication. DOST volunteers act as an intermediary within the Agency and beyond it. The programme is focused on the day-to-day operations at the DOST centres, such as guiding citizens, assisting people with disabilities and older persons, conducting satisfaction surveys, and participating in CSR projects of the Agency.

In Côte d’Ivoire, less than 10 per cent of the population is formally covered by the social security system and around 95 per cent of jobs belong to the informal economy. The Social Insurance Institute – National Social Insurance Fund (Institution de prévoyance sociale – Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale – IPS-CNPS) has therefore begun to extend social security coverage to self-employed workers by creating a specific framework tailored to this group.

The need for the Gabon National Social Security Fund (Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale – CNSS) to make its own actuarial valuations, thereby reducing the cost of outsourcing to actuarial firms, led the General Directorate to provide the services in charge of actuarial work with a modelling tool so it can make actuarial valuations to provide better support for forthcoming reforms. This particularly concerns the sector of old age benefits, where the deficit is accelerating every year.

Since 1996, the Members Investment Scheme (MIS) has provided an option for members of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) of Malaysia to divert retirement savings to investments outside EPF for the purpose of maximising their retirement savings. These investments are managed by third-party Fund Management Institutions (FMIs), and promoted through their agents.

In Mexico, the Institute of Social Security of the State of Guanajuato (Instituto de Seguridad Social del Estado de Guanajuato – ISSEG) has gained in financial strength over the past 20 years. Its actuarial viability is currently projected up to 2082, assuming a real annual return on its reserves of 4 per cent.

Typically, the insurance funds need financial balance evaluation between their revenues and expenditures in different schemes according to certain upstream fund regulations. In the Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO), though the long-term benefits have been actuarially assessed several times, the actuarial valuation on healthcare sector has not been performed.

The Pension Services Sector of The Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) of Kuwait provides its services to its clients by personally attending to complete transactions, either at the headquarters or at its branches spread throughout the country.

The service performance presents the challenge faced by the National Social Security Institute (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social – INSS) of Brazil in the accumulation of the stock of Continuous Provision Benefit (Benefício de Prestação Continuada – BPC) requirements for Persons with Disabilities (BPC-PwD) since 2019. It describes the strategy applied to improve responsiveness and service performance, based on user experience, interoperability and continuous process improvement. This strategy resulted in the implementation of the BPC Qualified Requirement.

Over the past 20 years, Mexico’s Institute of Social Security of the State of Guanajuato (Instituto de Seguridad Social del Estado de Guanajuato – ISSEG) has successfully managed to consolidate its actuarial viability. Currently, projections suggest the viability of ISSEG activities is ensured until 2082, if the organization achieves a 4 per cent real rate of return per annum on its reserve. If this return is 100 basis points lower (3 per cent real rate of return), viability is projected to the year 2055, a difference of 27 years.

The Proactive Disability Payments Mechanism of the Agency for Sustainable and Operational Social Security (DOST) of Azerbaijan simplifies the rights of disabled citizens by eliminating the need for explicit requests and paper-based documentation. The mechanism automatically identifies disabled citizens’ entitlement, verifies their information, and, if eligible, calculates and assigns the relevant social benefit or pension. This approach ensures a citizen-centric process, removing the requirement for citizens to initiate requests and simplifying access to vital services.

The effect of climate change is already a measurable reality posing significant social, economic, and environmental risks globally. For a developing country like South Africa, the risks associated with climate change are exacerbated by high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The World Bank’s Climate Risk Country Profile for South Africa (2021) states that climate change is expected to increase the risk and severity of water scarcity and drought across South Africa.

The Local Authorities Pension Trust (LAPT) actively seeks to create sustainable value through our business activities – for our customers, employees, shareholders and society. We have embraced sustainability as a value that motivates and inspires our business undertakings. It is owing to this reason that LAPT signed up to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact initiative, a call to companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance societal goals.

In 2020–2021, the State Social Protection Fund under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Azerbaijan (hereafter the Fund) initiated the optimization policy of the corporate governance framework pertaining to social security in Azerbaijan, which represents a pivotal undertaking aimed at refining and streamlining the operational dynamics of the social security apparatus. This initiative involves a comprehensive optimization strategy designed to elevate the efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance of the existing social security governance.

A particular feature of Morocco’s Deposit and Management Fund (Caisse de Dépôts et de Gestion – CDG) is that it performs financial management activities both on its own account and on behalf of the provident funds and schemes that it manages through its provident fund, CDG Insurance (CDG Prévoyance), which directly manages social security funds for the CDG group.

On the subject of insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases, Italian legislation (Law 144/1999; Legislative Decree 38/2000) provides suitable coverage for biological damage and impairments of psycho-physical integrity between 6 per cent to 15 per cent. A one-off lump sum indemnity is provided, independent of the salary of the injured person, increasing with the severity of impairment and variable according to age and gender of the injured person.

Arterial hypertension has been identified as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Pharmacotherapeutic monitoring is the professional practice where the pharmacist is responsible for meeting the patient’s medicine-related needs.

The impact of the pharmacotherapeutic monitoring programme was measured via a sample comparison using Student’s t-test. Blood pressure values were compared as well as adherence to treatment for the patients in the study, before and after receiving the programme.

The main objective of investing social security funds is to generate returns that help to finance payment of benefits and services to members. Apart from maximizing returns, investment by social security schemes aim to create positive social-economic impact to the Community. The Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF), hereafter also referred to as the Fund, being the leading social security scheme in United Republic of Tanzania, has made investments in four industrial projects apart from the traditional investments.

The mission statement of the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund (ADPF) of the United Arab Emirates highlights a key priority to maintain financial sustainability in the provision of future benefits. To achieve that, the Fund regularly monitors its liability and identify different factors affecting it.

One factor identified to negatively impact liabilities was changes to pensionable salaries done by employers. The fund operates a Final Salary Defined Benefit (DB) system, which by definition can be vulnerable to such changes.

Chile’s Mutual for Safety CChC (Mutual de Seguridad CChC) has formed a multidisciplinary team to develop and implement a care model for its patients with sequelae. Tailored to the needs of chronically ill patients, the model allows appropriate monitoring of related risks with a view to preventing bio-psychosocial complications that can affect how such patients maintain their residual capacity in the long term.