Luanda- The Ministry of Public Administration, Employment and Social Security (MAPTSS) launched the Social Security Expansion Project on Wednesday in the Province of Luanda.
The project, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), aims to support the formalisation of the Angolan economy, alongside a set of employment policies.
It establishes four strategic areas of activity which, if correctly designed and implemented, will have a positive impact on the level of social security coverage in Angola and on the formalisation programme.
The first area aims to support the government in formulating a strategy to extend social security coverage, based on a participatory approach and concrete data.
The second is centred on ensuring that the systems are set up to adopt and apply the extension strategy, while the third has to do with strengthening the technical capacities of the relevant public institutions, which will be involved in the process of formulating policies and implementing social protection systems.
The fourth area aims to ensure the active participation of workers, employers and other project stakeholders in capacity-building interventions and social dialogue.
At the time, the minister of Public Administration, Employment and Social Security (MAPTSS), Teresa Dias, said that the Angolan government is prepared and has intensified its efforts to extend compulsory social protection for the inclusion of all citizens.
According to her, in recent years MAPTSS has been working to improve the legal framework with a view to extending compulsory social protection, as well as including all those who are most in need, so that they can also have a system that includes them.
"At a national level, we have huge challenges and one of them is not only to raise awareness among those who are not registered, but also to monitor and supervise those employers who stubbornly fail to register their workers even though they have paid contributions," she said.
In turn, the head of the European Union Delegation to Angola, Rosaria Bento, said that social protection plays a crucial role in promoting inclusive growth, with a focus on social justice and the realisation of human rights, including decent work, adding that for this reason, the project is a fundamental element in the European Union's cooperation relations with partner countries.
LIN/ART/MRA/jmc
