• Name: Barbara Obonyo
• Position: Senior Relationship Manager
• Employer: National Social Security Fund
• Country: Uganda

Why did you register for the ISSA e-learning course, organized by the ITCILO?

I joined the ISSA e-learning course to seek knowledge and find value about good governance practices as well as to benchmark from other good practices around the world.

Which of the ISSA Guidelines did you learn about, and why did you choose this topic?

I chose to learn about the ISSA Guidelines on Good Governance because I wanted to compare it with what we practice in my social security organization and check whether what we practiced was in line with the ISSA Guidelines.

What were your expectations from the course and how were they met?

My e-learning expectations were well met; we had tutorials as well as interactions with our tutors, chat rooms, discussion groups and platforms on which to network with different participants from around the world, which was a wonderful experience. All ideas were welcome and different opinions shared out for discussion. We were given an opportunity to use our skills in terms of presentations, live chat and how to encourage the use of different ways of meeting and discussing online. The amount of time and effort was enough in view of the fact that we were learning during the COVID-19 period, which made it challenging at times to balance both work and learning at the same time.

I learnt from this e-learning experience that there was a lot of individual sacrifice and effort to ensure that all tasks were done in the set timelines whilst multi-tasking at our different jobs.

How will what you have learnt be useful in your daily work and for your institution?

I have learnt that in my daily work as a leader, I am accountable for my team’s performance and mistakes. Further through the module on Human capital policies, Development and retention, I learnt how to manage properly those that I supervise, through coaching and mentoring them and knowing what steps to take should there be any disagreements amongst them that need escalation.

For my institution, I learnt to value why it is necessary for our Managing Director to work with the Board. I also understood why there is always the need to communicate any new developments that pertain to the organization however small or big with the employees as well as with the beneficiaries and members through different media channels. In addition to that, I learnt why it is important to have a Customer Service Charter, and why checks and balances towards its adherence are put in place within the organization.

Would you recommend this course to other social security professionals and why?  

I would definitely recommend the course on good governance to other social security professionals. If the ISSA Guidelines are properly adhered to and followed, it would encourage more people to join social security, and it would encourage beneficiaries and members to trust their social security organizations for good service delivery.