The European Commission, the OECD and the World Bank have launched an innovative new project (see 2-page project flyer) to shed light on the barriers that individuals face in securing good-quality jobs. The main objective is to assist policymakers in designing, tailoring and targeting activation and employment- support policies. This will help, for instance, avoid targeting costly training programmes on individuals whose main employment barriers are care responsibilities or financial disincentives, which training does not solve.

capitalfm.co.ke (02.11.2017) National Hospital Insurance Fund beneficiaries will no longer be required to choose an out-patient healthcare facility to access services.

rfi.fr (27.10.2017) Le Rwanda est souvent cité en exemple pour son assurance maladie obligatoire, suivi par d’autres pays, qui restent cependant minoritaires et ont du mal à couvrir l’intégralité de la population. Tour d’horizon, de la Côte d’Ivoire au Ghana, en passant par le Rwanda, le Kenya et le Gabon.

ILO (03.11.2017) The annual United Nations Climate Change Conference will be presided by Fiji and held in Bonn, Germany from 6-17 November 2017. This twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) will meet with the aim to advance the aims and ambitions of the Paris Agreement and achieve progress on its implementation guidelines.

El Economista (01.11.2017) El gasto social es una de las piedras angulares del plan económico de Cambiemos, tal como había sido con el kirchnerismo y como ocurre, en rigor, en gran parte del mundo (incluso en países desarrollados). Aquello que el mercado no otorga, es el Estado el que pone la diferencia para garantizar la paz social y un piso de ingresos. Muy lejos del ajuste que proyectaban algunos, según un estudio de la Asociación Argentina de Presupuesto y Administración Pública Financiera (ASAP), difundido ayer, en 2018 Cambiemos destinará nada menos que 68,3% del Presupuesto en gasto público social.

employeebenefits (01.11.2017) More than one in 10 (15%) of respondents state that their organisation currently has a return-to-work programme in place, according to research by Hays. Its Hays UK gender diversity report 2017, which surveyed 5,400 UK respondents, also found that 70% of respondents believe that there would be greater gender equality if more return-to-work programmes, or similar initiatives, were introduced.

II Foro Internacional Sostenibilidad Financiera de los Seguros Sociales -  4 y 5 de setiembre  2017

newsweek (31.10.2017) While American politicians quarrel over the Affordable Care Act, the United States—one of the few industrialized countries without universal health care—still spends twice as much per person per year on health expenses as the U.K. and Canada. For all the debates over Obamacare, however, America boasts 38 MRI machines per one million people: Nigeria, a country of 180 million people, has only four. Across Africa, the ratio of doctors to patients is painfully low. The continent accounts for 25 percent of global disease cases, but has only 2-3 percent of the doctors in the world.

afro.who (26.10.2017) With Africa currently undergoing a digital revolution, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) today signed a Cooperation Agreement in Geneva, on using digital services to save lives and improve people’s health.

Le Monde (31.11.2017) Après quatre jours de débats, le projet de loi de financement de la Sécurité sociale pour 2018 devait être adopté, mardi, par un vote solennel des députés.  Après quatre jours de débats parfois houleux, le projet de loi de financement de la Sécurité sociale (PLFSS) pour 2018 devait être adopté, mardi 31 octobre, par un vote solennel de l’Assemblée nationale. Ce premier et copieux PLFSS du quinquennat d’Emmanuel Macron acte de profonds changements du système de protection sociale français.

Lexology 30.10.2017)  Healthcare technology is at a pivotal moment in its development. The healthcare industry is primed to take advantage of the innovative tools that technology can provide and governments are positive as to the potential healthcare cost savings that are expected to follow. Regulators around the world are increasingly starting to acknowledge that conventional approaches to regulation may act as an impediment to digital innovation in healthcare and are looking to modernise health regulation. But we are still a long way off an environment where regulation has caught up with technology.

Lexology (30.10.2017) Healthcare technology is at a pivotal moment in its development. The healthcare industry is primed to take advantage of the innovative tools that technology can provide and governments are positive as to the potential healthcare cost savings that are expected to follow. Regulators around the world are increasingly starting to acknowledge that conventional approaches to regulation may act as an impediment to digital innovation in healthcare and are looking to modernise health regulation. But we are still a long way off an environment where regulation has caught up with technology.

HuffPost (30.10.2017) Egypt is about to offer all of its citizens health insurance for the first time in the North African country’s history. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail approved on Wednesday a new comprehensive health insurance bill after meeting with the Minister of Health, Ahmed Emad, to review final details of the law. The new health care program will cost L.E. 140 billion Egyptian pounds ($8 billion) and will be implemented gradually across the country between 2018 and 2032, starting with the cities of Port Said and Suez, and ending with expansion to Cairo and Giza. Subscription to the universal policy will be mandatory and will cost each citizen, depending on income, between 1,300 pounds ($74) and 4,000 ($227) pounds annually. The government has committed to providing the policy free of charge to those citizens who cannot afford it— an estimated 23.7 million Egyptians (approximately 25% of the population).

Observer (30.10.2017) The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has won the 2017 International Social Security Association (ISSA) Good Practice Award and Financial Literacy initiative.

Infomédiaire (26.10.2017) Une pléiade de pays africains sont intéressés par l’expérience et l’expertise avant-gardistes marocaines en matière de sécurité sociale et ses outils de gestion, a affirmé le DG de la Caisse Nationale de la Sécurité Sociale (CNSS), Said Ahmidouch.

ILO (24.10.2017) Representatives of more than a dozen multinational enterprises met in Geneva to highlight the importance of investment in social protection floors for growth in emerging markets.

OIT (19.10.2017) En un nuevo informe conjunto, CEPAL y OIT indican que en el contexto de un bajo crecimiento económico regional las condiciones laborales se deterioraron, aunque existen algunos signos de recuperación.

AVERT (26.10.2017)  E-health can play an important role in making services more accessible and person-centred, as well as improving the operations and financial efficiency of health systems.

• Unequal access to technology means not everyone can benefit from e-health initiatives, so addressing its limitations is also important.
• E-health interventions can benefit clinicians, enabling them to reach key populations and improving the exchange of information between health service providers.
• User-involvement is key for successful implementation of technology and e-health-related HIV programmes

Le Temps (26.10.2017) La Suisse doit faire face aux effets des progrès de la médecine et du vieillissement de la population sur ses assurances sociales. Pour notre chroniqueur David Hiler, il faut augmenter la part du financement public

euractiv.com (14.09.2017) European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wants to set up a new EU institution to monitor how labour law is applied in member states. The Commission will outline its plans for the supervisory authority by the end of 2018.

europa.eu (06.10.2017) This marks a new political commitment at EU level on significant priorities towards ensuring high quality, user-centric digital public services for citizens and seamless cross-border public services for businesses.

euractiv.com (24.10.2017) After lengthy negotiations, EU member states found a compromise on Monday (23 October) on the reform of posted workers, one of the pivotal issues for the EU reform pushed by Emmanuel Macron. 

diode.network  (12.09.2017) Policy makers in the Global South have discovered digital labour platforms (e.g. Upwork, Freelancer) as a potential source for employment.