Framed on the 2020–2022 priorities of the International Social Security Association (ISSA), activities of the Technical Commission on Family Benefits (TC FAM) were geared towards addressing the Role of social protection in promoting inclusive growth and Social security coverage in a changing world, as well as responding to new challenges brought about by COVID-19.
With respect to the role of social protection in promoting inclusive growth, TC FAM intensified and expanded its work on gender equality with the production of the report Gender mainstreaming in social protection policies. This report builds on the earlier work completed during the 2017–2019 on the topic Gender equality and family policies: Factors and implications and highlights the merits of the improved labour force participation of women on the extension of social security coverage and enhancing the financial viability and sustainability of social protection systems.
Faced with the growing phenomenon of single-parent families and orphanhood, the technical commission also engaged on the topic of social security coverage in a changing world through the report L’accompagnement des ruptures familiales: nécessité, approches et impacts (Support to families in cases of family breakdown). The report makes an appraisal of the phenomena and policies aimed at extending social security protection to the most vulnerable clusters of the population. It examines the different social policies put in place by countries across the four global regions – Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe to single out discrepancies and challenges in fulfilling the universal right to social protection with a focus on women-led households, orphans, and the ever-increasing number of vulnerable children.
Other topics that the work of the technical commission addressed were the universalization of social security benefits and services, with a focus on the protection of families of displaced workers in India, as well as an intervention on the promotion of gender equality and the protection of families in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa during the Virtual Social Security Forum for Africa. In addition to the webinar on family and household benefits in Latin America and Europe, TC FAM participated in webinars on topics linked to social security administration, digital inclusion and COVID-19. It also contributed to the production of the ISSA report Digital inclusion: Improving social security service delivery.
TC FAM envisages to accentuate its work on gender equality and strategies to improve provision and extend social security protection to all families and households.
