In this episode, we conclude the building block of delivery and provision of social protection from our social protection solar system. After discussing the role of informal workers’ organizations in the delivery of childcare and healthcare, in this third and final episode of the series, we will talk about the role of informal workers organizations in the delivery of social security benefit for workers in the informal economy.
In Costa Rica, an innovative approach to social security has been implemented over the years by the national government to include rural workers and, more recently, informal urban workers. In this policy, grassroots workers’ organizations play a key role not only in the last mile delivery, but in several stages of the delivery chain. To learn more how Collective Social Insurance Agreements work in Costa Rica, their challenges and potential for expansion and replication, I talked to Fabio Durán.
Fabio is an economist and served as Head of the Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics Unit at ILO’s Social Protection Department in Geneva, and has just retired as the ILO’s senior specialist in Social Protection and Economic Development for Central America and Mexico, in their office in Costa Rica.
Learn more:
*ILO Social Protection in Action Brief (2022). “Costa Rica: Extending mandatory contributory coverage to self-employed workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/Media.action;jsessionid=f0DRZHXKIdUdf6eojX2c2lHKIAjQ_ly9Vx3-0XTMVPqdPICPNIgp!1393577045?id=19457#:~:text=These%20agreements%20are%20signed%20by,and%20medium%2D%20scale%20farmers%CA%BC%20organizations
*ILO Report (2013) – “Innovations in extending social insurance coverage to independent workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess/gess/RessourcePDF.action?ressource.ressourceId=42119
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In this episode, we conclude the building block of delivery and provision of social protection from our social protection solar system. After discussing the role of informal workers’ organizations in the delivery of childcare and healthcare, in this third and final episode of the series, we will talk about the role of informal workers organizations in the delivery of social security benefit for workers in the informal economy.
In Costa Rica, an innovative approach to social security has been implemented over the years by the national government to include rural workers and, more recently, informal urban workers. In this policy, grassroots workers’ organizations play a key role not only in the last mile delivery, but in several stages of the delivery chain. To learn more how Collective Social Insurance Agreements work in Costa Rica, their challenges and potential for expansion and replication, I talked to Fabio Durán.
Fabio is an economist and served as Head of the Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics Unit at ILO’s Social Protection Department in Geneva, and has just retired as the ILO’s senior specialist in Social Protection and Economic Development for Central America and Mexico, in their office in Costa Rica.
Learn more:
*ILO Social Protection in Action Brief (2022). “Costa Rica: Extending mandatory contributory coverage to self-employed workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/Media.action;jsessionid=f0DRZHXKIdUdf6eojX2c2lHKIAjQ_ly9Vx3-0XTMVPqdPICPNIgp!1393577045?id=19457#:~:text=These%20agreements%20are%20signed%20by,and%20medium%2D%20scale%20farmers%CA%BC%20organizations
*ILO Report (2013) – “Innovations in extending social insurance coverage to independent workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess/gess/RessourcePDF.action?ressource.ressourceId=42119
And we start the year with the first episode of the second building block of our new season, in which we will discuss the issue of registration. How is digital technology helping to include informal workers into social protection schemes or how is it creating new barriers for these people to access protection? What are the risks and opportunities? What is the role of informal workers organisations in building more inclusive registration systems?
These are some of the questions we will try to answer by looking at some cases of programmes and policies countries are implementing to expand their social protection systems to include informal workers.
We start this new block with the case of the Social Relief of Distress Grant in South Africa. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the government expanded the SRD to reduce the impact of income loss, targeting a much broader population than the ordinary social assistance programmes were covering. The second new aspect is that this policy was that it heavily relied on digital means to register new beneficiaries.
To understand how the implementation of the SRD was rolled out, how digital forms of registration contributed or hindered access of informal workers to the grant, we talked to Hoodah Fayker.
Hoodah holds a Law degree from the University of the Western Cape, and she is the National Advocacy Manager for the veteran human rights organisation Black Sash, which advocates for the right to social protection in South Africa.
*Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons)
References
A Digital Bridge to Social Support https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/social-programs-for-informal-workers-must-bridge-digital-divide-by-laura-alfers-2021-06?barrier=accesspaylog
R350 Covid grant is too little and excludes too many, research report finds https://www.groundup.org.za/article/r350-covid-grant-too-little-and-excludes-too-many-research-report-finds/
Social Protection in a Time of Covid: Lessons for Basic Income Support https://socialprotection.org/discover/publications/social-protection-time-covid-lessons-basic-income-support
Black Sash report reveals extent of issues experienced by Social Relief of Distress grant recipients https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-05-17-black-sash-report-reveals-extent-of-issues-experienced-by-social-relief-of-distress-grant-recipients/
SOCIAL PROTECTION IN A TIME OF COVID: LESSON FOR BASIC INCOME SUPPORT https://www.blacksash.org.za/social-protection-in-a-time-of-covid-lesson-for-basic-income-support/
The Social Relief of Distress Grant: how it stimulated local economies https://www.econ3x3.org/article/social-relief-distress-grant-how-it-stimulated-local-economies
COVID-19 Crisis and the Informal Economy: Informal Workers in Durban, South Africa https://www.wiego.org/publications/covid-19-crisis-and-informal-economy-informal-workers-durban-south-africa
Informal Economy Podcast: Social Protection
In this episode, we conclude the building block of delivery and provision of social protection from our social protection solar system. After discussing the role of informal workers’ organizations in the delivery of childcare and healthcare, in this third and final episode of the series, we will talk about the role of informal workers organizations in the delivery of social security benefit for workers in the informal economy.
In Costa Rica, an innovative approach to social security has been implemented over the years by the national government to include rural workers and, more recently, informal urban workers. In this policy, grassroots workers’ organizations play a key role not only in the last mile delivery, but in several stages of the delivery chain. To learn more how Collective Social Insurance Agreements work in Costa Rica, their challenges and potential for expansion and replication, I talked to Fabio Durán.
Fabio is an economist and served as Head of the Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics Unit at ILO’s Social Protection Department in Geneva, and has just retired as the ILO’s senior specialist in Social Protection and Economic Development for Central America and Mexico, in their office in Costa Rica.
Learn more:
*ILO Social Protection in Action Brief (2022). “Costa Rica: Extending mandatory contributory coverage to self-employed workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/Media.action;jsessionid=f0DRZHXKIdUdf6eojX2c2lHKIAjQ_ly9Vx3-0XTMVPqdPICPNIgp!1393577045?id=19457#:~:text=These%20agreements%20are%20signed%20by,and%20medium%2D%20scale%20farmers%CA%BC%20organizations
*ILO Report (2013) – “Innovations in extending social insurance coverage to independent workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess/gess/RessourcePDF.action?ressource.ressourceId=42119
