A technical seminar on innovative approaches to extend social security coverage to micro-entrepreneurs and self-employed workers, brought together nearly 90 participants from the region in Tunis, Tunisia, 12–13 November 2024.
Error, Evasion and Fraud in Social Security Systems
Contribution Collection and Compliance
The Liaison Office for Southern Africa brought together over 70 participants from 17 organizations in 11 countries for a workshop on institutional strategies and innovative approaches for strengthening compliance and improving contribution collection in the region. The event was hosted in Luanda
Investments of funds are becoming a considerable resource for building viable and sustainable social protection systems. This can be drawn from the International Social Security Association’s (ISSA) technical seminar recently held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The International Social Security Association (ISSA) is pleased to announce the release of updated country profiles for Africa. The profiles summarize policy data on the parameters, financing, and administration of mandatory statutory programmes in 50 African countries in a new, more structured
The International Social Security Association (ISSA) organized a technical seminar together with the Liaison Office for North Africa, focussing on preventing social security evasion and fraud, and strengthening contribution, collection and compliance in the region.
The International Social Security Association (ISSA) recently organized a technical seminar with the Liaison Offices for West Africa and Central Africa, focussing on preventing fraud, improving compliance and enhancing the collection of social security contributions.
Error, Evasion and Fraud in Social Security Systems
Contribution Collection and Compliance
Social security administrations in Africa are actively using the ISSA Guidelines to prevent fraud and strengthen compliance. This became evident from a recent technical seminar organized by the ISSA Liaison Office for Southern Africa, and hosted in Ezulwini by the Eswatini National Provident Fund.
While Africa is the region with the lowest formal social security coverage rates, socio-economic security also relies on African kinship and community support systems and mechanisms that play an important role in the protection of people faced with the contingencies of life.
Increasingly, climate change and environmental protection are taking centre stage in the global discourse on social security. This is mainly due to the key role social security benefits and services play in mitigating the negative socio-economic impacts of climate change on individuals and families, as well as the growing strains on social security systems due to the evolving nature of climate related risks.
The Liaison Office for North Africa and the Liaison Office for Arab Countries came together to organize a technical seminar on social security reforms, which resulted in rich discussions and exchanges of experiences between member institutions covered by these offices.
The International Social Security Association’s (ISSA) Liaison Office for West Africa has been transferred to Ghana. The opening ceremony was accompanied by a technical seminar on digitalization to extend social security coverage.
With over 500 registered participants, the Regional Social Security Forum for Africa (RSSF Africa) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire became the most attended for this region. Important discussions took place, along with the sharing of best practices and examples of innovation. The knowledge shared will
During the Regional Social Security Forum for Africa (RSSF Africa), Certificates of Excellence were awarded to social security institutions from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Zambia.
The International Social Security Association’s (ISSA) has launched its new report Social security developments and trends – Africa 2023, which spotlights innovations and practices that contribute to expanding and improving social security in the region.
The ISSA Good Practice Award for Africa 2023 has been awarded to the Department of Social Development in South Africa for the Child Support Grant and its role in the gradual extension of social security coverage to vulnerable children.
Extending social security coverage is a key challenge for the quasi-totality of members of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) in Africa. Social security coverage for a diverse workforce is therefore one of four topical priorities for ISSA in the 2023–2025 triennium. This follows from extensive work on extending social security coverage in the previous triennium culminating with new guidelines on extending health-care coverage launched in October 2022.
The extension of social security coverage is a key topic for the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and its members. It is one of the main ISSA topical priorities for the 2023–2025 triennium, with particular emphasis given to innovations and strategies to extend contributory social security schemes to the self-employed, workers in the informal sector, migrant workers and other difficult-to-cover groups.
The International Social Security Association (ISSA) has opened the Good Practice Award for Africa competition. In addition to the traditional Award and certificates, the ISSA Special Distinction for Innovation will be awarded for the first time. ISSA member institutions are invited to submit their
The ISSA Liaison Office for North Africa has moved from Algeria to Tunisia. The transition was marked by an opening ceremony and a technical seminar on social security reforms in the Maghreb region, organized in Tunis from 24 to 25 May 2022.
Through strategic partnerships and modern information and communications (ICT) solutions, member institutions of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) are strengthening the scope, extent, and adequacy of social security coverage.
The first Virtual Social Security Forum for Africa, was held from 5 to 7 October 2021. With over 500 participants from across the continent joining on the innovative online platform, the event became a rich experience of peer-to-peer sharing, learning and networking.
The Social Insurance Institute – National Social Insurance Fund (IPS–CNPS) of Côte d’Ivoire won the ISSA Good Practice Award for Africa 2020 for developing an app for employers’ social security contributions. The award was announced during the Virtual Social Security Forum for Africa, which took
A new ISSA report explains how innovation in social security has facilitated successful emergency responses to the pandemic while also maintaining and improving service delivery.
African policy-makers and institutions are conscious of the need for the adequate extension of social security coverage on the continent. The adoption of the Recommendation (No. 202) concerning National Floors of Social Protection, 2012, of the International Labour Organization (ILO) has strengthened this determination. Over the past few decades, the scope of legal coverage for social protection has broadened significantly across Africa. However, effective coverage rates remain low, especially among rural and informal labour market workers.
Effective access to adequate social protection plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable development, social cohesion and socioeconomic resilience. In recognition of this, African governments have expressed a renewed commitment to expand the scope and extend social security coverage to the vast majority of the population on the continent during the last decades. However, effective coverage rates remain generally low and vary within countries and across branches of social security due to low labour participation in the formal economy (ILO, 2017).
Africa is the region with the lowest social security coverage rates. Efforts are underway to extend coverage to all workers covered neither by contributory nor by non-contributory social protection. Innovations by social security institutions prove to be instrumental in reaching out to these workers
Service quality is a key priority for member organizations of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) in Africa. Social security institutions in this ISSA region are committed to responding to the public’s increasing expectations for improved social security services. Staff development, innovative practices, research, process re-engineering, partnerships, employing new technologies and improving governance practices are among the main strategies and approaches that are leveraging institutional capacities for better service. E-government is growing in Africa, with more than 34 countries offering online services or at least one portal for public information. By taking advantage of new developments in various administrative areas, Africa is simultaneously raising the bar on service quality, transparency and good governance.
Improved service quality is a key priority for social security organizations in Africa. To this end, strategic management and the digital transformation of social security organizations facilitates enhanced customer services and the greater efficiency of internal processes.
Error, Evasion and Fraud in Social Security Systems
Contribution Collection and Compliance
Preventing and detecting error, evasion and fraud (EEF) is crucial for social security systems. Error, evasion and fraud have a direct impact on different aspects of social security. On the one hand, the economic impact related to non-collection of contributions and undue delivered benefits may undermine the economic sustainability of the schemes. On the other hand, the non-economic impact concerns the loss of social rights by workers and their dependents, undermining the fair economic competition through social dumping and the loss of trust in the social security system (Goveia and Sosa, 2016).
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