Building resilient social security
The pandemic boosted focus on the importance of building resilient societies, of which resilient social security is a key component. The ISSA started knowledge exchanges and reflections on this topic and produced new guidelines which go far beyond COVID-19.
- Capacity of the institution
- Continuity of services
- Responses through programmes and schemes
Through ISSA webinars and virtual events organized during the pandemic, ISSA members shared their experiences on how the pandemic was handled from an institutional perspective. This also triggered the development of the new ISSA Guidelines on Continuity and Resilience of Social Security Services and Systems, which were presented at the World Social Security Forum in October 2022.
In social security, being resilient means looking beyond “simply” ensuring continuity of services, or enduring an unexpected event, but to have or build the capacity to quickly respond to the needs of populations.
A shock such as COVID-19 or the social and economic instability that followed can potentially throw everything into disarray, not least human and ICT resources, business processes, programmes and service delivery. The new ISSA Guidelines address all the relevant aspects of how to ensure resilience and being prepared for the unexpected.
“Social security supporting resilience and sustainability” is one of the four key priorities of the 2023–2025 triennium and after the World Forum discussions continued in a dedicated webinar on the issue, a technical seminar organized the ISSA Liaison Office for Southern Africa, and at the Regional Social Security Forum for Africa, all during the first half of 2023.
The ISSA Guidelines on Continuity and Resilience of Social Security Services and Systems offer valuable advice, references and experiences to assist ISSA members.
Cyber security and digital operational resilience are other aspects linked to institutional resilience. The ISSA published the reports Enhancing the protection and cyber resilience of the social security administrations in 2021 and Digital operational resilience: Strategies and approaches to protect social security data and operations in 2022.
In August 2022, the ISSA released the analysis Business Continuity Management for resilient social security in Asia and the Pacific, with cases from the Maldives, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
