It is estimated that in 2020, 281 million international migrants were living abroad worldwide. This represents a 63 per cent increase from the same information in 2000 and there is no doubt that the migration numbers will continue to rise.
To improve the social protection of migrant workers during their working life and at retirement, and following the principles set by the International Labour Organization (ILO), countries have been establishing bilateral and multilateral social security agreements to rule the portability and exportability of the rights acquired and the rights being accrued.
The mandate of the ISSA Working Group on International Social Security Agreements and Data Exchange is to support member institutions in their efforts to effectively manage an increasing number of international social security agreements and their implementation.
The Working Group will focus on the operationalization of these agreements and in particular work towards a standardized technology-based solution allowing for the effective and efficient international exchange of data between social security institutions to reduce processing times and diminish the costs of implementing individualized systems for each bilateral or multilateral exchange.
The Working Group consist of senior representatives of ISSA member institutions from different regions, and the ISSA General Secretariat will provide technical and logistical support to the activities of the Working Group.