An overview of the key features of the ambitious reforms which fundamentally reshape the social protection landscape in Oman.

wtwco.com (30.06.2023) Facing an aging population, low birth rate and increased life expectancies, Uruguay’s government acts to shore up its social security retirement system through sweeping reforms.

Benefits Canada.com (06.07.2023) Amid the growing gig economy, as well as workers’ calls for increased flexibility and a volatile labour market, there’s increasing demand for portable benefits. Specifically, portable benefits can provide inclusive wellness supports and access to pensions for all workers; support newcomer integration; remove barriers to employment for people who receive social assistance and are at risk of losing government-provided benefits upon acceptance of a job offer; and help ensure women, who often face more career interruptions than men, have enough money in retirement.

OECD (Jul 2023) This study provides an in-depth examination of the fiscal and governance decentralisation of long-term care (LTC) across OECD countries, offering projections of future fiscal burdens of LTC spending across levels of government. With rapid population ageing and a decrease in the supply of informal care, LTC spending has increased significantly. The paper introduces a novel methodology to estimate LTC expenditures across different government levels, including central and subnational governments. By analysing country cases, it explores the responsibilities assigned to each government level and the implications for service delivery and intergovernmental coordination. The study also discusses the overall anticipated increase of LTC expenditure to 2.3% of GDP by 2040, identifying the most impacted countries. This research contributes to our understanding of LTC systems, highlights the challenges of increasing LTC costs and provides insights for optimising governance and fiscal expenditure.

oecd (Jul 2023) This study sets out a conceptual framework to analyse the impact of climate change and greenhouse gases mitigation efforts on the labour market, migration flows and people’s health, as well as the most important policy levers that can cushion potential negative impacts and maximise opportunities from the climate transition.

ilo.org (29.06.2023) The International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation , has launched a new series of policy briefs examining trends and issues in youth employment, including the impact of COVID-19 in seven sub-Saharan African countries. A webinar on youth employment and school-to-work transitions in Africa , organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO)  and in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, and YouthForesight , provided the platform for the launch of the country briefs and a cross-country review of youth employment, school-to-work transition and the impact of COVID-19 on youth labour market outcomes in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda.

oecd.org (June 2023) This report presents an in-depth cross-country analysis of how long-term care workers fare along the different dimensions of job quality. In the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the applause for care workers was a clear expression of the strong recognition of their hard work and exposure to risks in their job. However, as the applause faded after the peak of the crisis, questions have re-emerged about how to improve the working conditions of long-term care workers in a sustainable way. Over the coming decades, the demand for these workers will increase substantially. Several countries are already facing shortages as the large baby-boom generation joins the older population. To go Beyond Applause, a comprehensive policy strategy is needed to tackle poor working conditions and insufficient social recognition of long-term care work, attract workers in the sector and avoid labour shortages reaching unacceptable levels. Such a strategy should cover several dimensions, with different priorities across countries depending on their specific context, including: direct interventions to raise wages and increase staff requirements; increasing public financing and fostering the leading role by governments; supporting collective bargaining and social dialogue; strengthening training; increasing use of new technologies; and, strengthening health prevention policies.

pensionpolicyinternational.com (19.06.2023) A growing number of pension savers would like to see the oil sector completely excluded from their pension fund’s investments. Some 21 per cent of pension savers say they want oil to be axed from their pension, according to a survey from online pension provider PensionBee. This has jumped from 15 per cent of pension savers last year. Alongside oil, the main investments people want excluded from their pensions are companies contributing to deforestation, habitat destruction and predatory lending. Pension savers also believe alcohol and gambling investments pose long-term financial risks to their pension.

UNICEF India (May 2023) This document aims to present a selection of case studies from India and other countries showing how Shock-Responsive Social Protection approaches have been used in response to disasters and shocks, including climate change induced risks and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Shock-Responsive Social Protection can contribute to strengthening disaster risk management along the four key priorities of the Sendai Framework

worldbank.org (June 2023) Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, limited work opportunities and low-productivity informal work have played a significant role in increasing poverty and vulnerability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While job creation depends on a dynamic, competitive, and vibrant private sector, the new World Bank report, Built to Include: Reimagining Social Protection Systems in the Middle East and North Africa, argues that strong social protection policies are also essential to reducing labor market exclusion by facilitating access to productive employment, protecting workers, and providing a safety net for people that are left behind. However, according to the report, social protection policies in MENA countries are falling short of that role. For example, most of the poor do not receive income support, and most workers are not covered by pensions or unemployment insurance, while labor policies provide limited effective protection to workers and do little to help people gain good jobs. To address these challenges, the report identifies reform priorities to make social protection systems in MENA more inclusive and efficient, including building shock-responsive delivery systems for social protection, expanding income support and opportunities for the poor, expanding social insurance to informal workers, re-designing pension systems to support active ageing, reforming generalized food and energy subsidies, and mobilizing additional revenue for social protection in a progressive manner. But in order to ensure success, garnering political support through clear and consistent communication will be vital, as will the proper packaging and sequencing of reforms.

ids.ac.uk (01.06.2023) The Covid-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the need to ensure equitable access to safe, effective and affordable health services. The very rapid shift to the use of smartphone apps and telephone consultations (telemedicine) has highlighted the potential impact of digital innovations on the capacity of health services to meet this need. It is time to take digital health seriously. In 2021, The Lancet and the Financial Times published a report by a commission of experts entitled Governing health futures 2030: growing up in a digital world. It describes the many ways that digital technologies are affecting health and access to health services (Kickbusch et al. 2021). The report emphasises the changing inter-relationships between the health and digital technology sectors and makes the case for effective governance of digital health. It outlines measures that can be taken to influence the speed and direction of change, with the aims of building trust and ensuring that the needs of poor and vulnerable people are met. Its focus is on global trends and global responses. This report complements that document by focusing on actions that LMICs can take to ensure that digital innovations contribute to their strategies for improving health and access to health services.

The Korea Times (14.06.2023) Income inequality in Korea is likely to accelerate due to a rapidly aging population, according to a report released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday. The report revealed that income inequality among households has worsened by 30 percent over the past 25 years, largely as a result of the aging population. "The aging population is expected to have a significant negative impact on the Korean economy, not only by lowering labor productivity and increasing the burden of care, but also by widening economical inequality," the report noted. Income inequality among those aged over 60 is found to be significantly higher than other age groups. This is because holding assets tend to play a crucial role among individuals over 60, as they see a drastic decrease in earned income after retirement. Korea became an aging society in 2000 when the population aged 65 and over exceeded 7 percent of the total population. The aging trend has accelerated since then, and it is expected that by 2025 one out of five people in the country will be 65 or older.

consilium.europa.eu (12.06.2023) The Council is ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament on a new law that will help millions of gig workers gain access to employment rights. Today, ministers for employment and social affairs agreed on the Council’s general approach for a proposed directive to improve working conditions for platform workers. The proposal introduces two key improvements: it helps determine the correct employment status of people working for digital platforms and establishes the first EU rules on the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

News Ghana (10.05.2023) The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), a product geared towards expanding coverage of the basic national social security scheme to self-employed Ghanaians. Dr John Ofori-Koranteng, Director-General of SSNIT, speaking at the launch of the product in Kumasi, said the aim was to redefine social security in Ghana and give hope to the self-employed to be able to retire in dignity and comfort. In pursuit of this agenda, the management of SSNIT had carried out extensive engagements with various stakeholders across the country, to solicit input and support on how to extend pension coverage to the self-employed.

 OECD iLibrary (May 2023) OECD countries continue to face persistent gender inequalities in social and economic life. Young women often reach higher levels of education than young men, but remain under-represented in fields with the most lucrative careers. Women spend more time on unpaid work, face a strong motherhood penalty, encounter barriers to entrepreneurship and fare worse in labour markets overall. They are also under-represented in politics and leadership positions in public employment. These elements permeate many policy areas and economic sectors – from international trade and development assistance to energy and the environment – in which policy often lacks a strong gender focus. Violence against women, the most abhorrent manifestation of gender inequality, remains a global crisis. This publication analyses developments and policies for gender equality, such as gender mainstreaming and budgeting, reforms to increase fathers’ involvement in parental leave and childcare, pay transparency initiatives to tackle gender pay gaps, and systems to address gender-based violence. It extends the perspective on gender equality to include foreign direct investment, nuclear energy and transport. Advancing gender equality is not just a moral imperative; in times of rapidly ageing populations, low fertility and multiple crises, it will strengthen future gender-equal economic growth and social cohesion.

oecd.org (2023) This second edition of Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean, prepared jointly by OECD and the World Bank, presents a set of key indicators of health status, determinants of health, healthcare resources and utilisation, healthcare expenditure and financing, quality of care, health workforce, and ageing across 33 Latin America and the Caribbean countries. Each of the indicators is presented in a user-friendly format, consisting of charts illustrating variations across countries, and over time, brief descriptive analyses highlighting the major findings conveyed by the data, and a methodological box on the definition of the indicators and any limitations in data comparability. This edition of Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean also provides thematic analyses on two key topics for building more resilient health in the LAC region: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LAC healthcare systems, and climate change and health.

IOM (Janv 2023) This report interrogates country-of-origin measures to extend social protection and broader-based support services to African migrant workers abroad. It reflects on the challenges faced by international migrants in accessing social protection and welfare support, and notes that in many respects and for a variety of reasons, African migrant workers are not able to access meaningful social protection – despite the human rights framework normatively informing the protection of migrant workers.  Note is taken of the important role of bilateral and multilateral agreements, but also of purely country-of-origin measures in the absence of any other meaningful modality of support. Particular attention is paid to the weak social (security) protection received by most African migrant workers in the Gulf countries. The social protection extended by six African countries, representing three African regions, to their workers abroad is reflected upon – particularly in terms of the supportive arrangements developed for this purpose. These are considered in light of the treatment in social security/protection terms enjoyed by (im)migrant workers in these and selected other countries, and against best practice examples.

worldbank.org (2023) As the world struggles to cope with global economic imbalances, diverging demographic trends, and climate change, migration will become a necessity in the decades to come for countries at all levels of income. If managed well, migration can be a force for prosperity and can help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. World Development Report 2023 proposes an integrated framework to maximize the development impacts of cross-border movements on both destination and origin countries and on migrants and refugees themselves.

guardian.ng (25.04.2023) Individuals across the globe, especially in developed countries, are aging at an unprecedented pace, making many countries increasingly reliant on migration to realise their long-term growth potential, says a new report from the World Bank. The ‘World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees and Societies’ identifies this trend as a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people.