Ministry of Social Development (05.08.2020) Apprenticeship Boost is a payment to help employers keep and take on new apprentices. It means apprentices can keep earning and training towards their qualifications as the economy recovers from the impacts of COVID-19. The payment is made directly to employers.

You can get Apprenticeship Boost for a maximum of 20 months from the 5th of August 2020. It's paid in advance monthly. How much you can get depends on whether your apprentice is in their first or second year of training:

• employers of first year apprentices can get $1,000 a month
• employers of second year apprentices can get $500 a month.

worldbank.org (10.08,2020) For all its devastation, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has nonetheless exposed pre-existing health system weaknesses.  It has also given a further boost to the role digital technologies can play in bridging the gaps in care for a range of health needs, including detection and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Government of Georgia (16.08.2020) Registration to receive assistance in the amount of 200 GEL for children through the age of 17 is taking place on a special portal at http://daxmareba.moh.gov.ge/. Registration will be open until 1 December. The disbursement of financial assistance will begin in September this year. The provision of assistance in the amount of 200 GEL for each child through the age of 17 became possible as a result of the mobilization of finances in the StopCoV Fund with the help of Georgian citizens, Bidzina Ivanishvili, and businesses.

Government of Georgia (08.08.2020) Almost 112,000 beneficiaries received discount cards for over 29,000 tons of agricultural diesel. Farmers who have cashed their cards have saved almost 3.6 million GEL. Agricultural diesel discount cards expire on December 31, 2020.

AZERNEWS (10.08.2020) Lump-sum payment in the amount of AZN 190 ($111.7) will be given to unemployed people in 13 cities and regions (Baku, Jalilabad, Ganja, Masalli, Mingachevir, Sumgayit, Yevlakh and in Absheron, Barda, Goranboy, Goygol, Khachmaz, Salyan districts regions)  amid COVID-19, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population has reported. These payments will cover 278,000 people, including the unofficially employed, unemployed and those who lost their jobs during the special quarantine regime in these regions.

The Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) process represents the model by which the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will coordinate the identification, assessment, and determination of "recognized" interoperability standards and implementation specifications for industry use to fulfill specific clinical health IT interoperability needs.

thehill.com (08.07.2020) While social security benefits are secure, the unprecedented conditions of the COVID-19 economic crisis have unearthed a technical glitch. If left uncorrected, a COVID-19 notch will result: Those turning 60 this year – more than 4 million workers – and their families will receive substantially lower Social Security benefits than workers (and their families) with identical earnings who turned 60 last year. Fortunately, the solution is easy and straightforward. But Congress must act. Social Security’s earned benefits are based on each worker’s individual earnings history appropriately adjusted to reflect the growth in aggregate economy-wide wages. This structure is ingenious and fair, has numerous advantages, and works extremely well in almost all economic times. But these are not normal times. Thanks to the pandemic and the economic collapse, aggregate wage levels are highly likely to decline substantially this year. Because this drastic decline in aggregate wage levels is so unusual, our Social Security system does not take that possibility into account. Congress must fix that understandable oversight to avoid the COVID-19 notch. Fortunately, the fix is easy. Congress should enact a simple correction that mirrors other parts of our Social Security system. Social Security’s automatic annual cost of living adjustment, for example, can never result in a decrease in benefits, notwithstanding what is happening with inflation. Similarly, Congress should amend Social Security’s indexing of earnings so that it does not result in lower benefits no matter what is happening with aggregate wages nationwide. That simple fix – ensuring that the decline in overall wages doesn’t produce lower benefits – solves the problem. Those turning 60 this year will not get less than those who turned 60 last year.

blogs.worldbank.org (04.05.2020) One of Pakistan’s initial measures was to expand its national safety net institution, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), to direct additional support to its 4.5 million women beneficiaries. 

senado.leg.br (14.07.2020) The presidential decree increases the maximum deadlines for the two situations (suspension of contract or reduction of wages) to 120 days: For the proportional reduction of working hours and wages, 30 days are increased, going from the current 90 days to 120 days in total; For the adoption of the temporary suspension of the employment contract, there are 60 more days, going from the current 60 to 120 days in total. The decree allows for the fractionation of the contractual suspension in successive or interspersed periods of 10 days or more, subject to the total term of 120 days. The measure also extends the emergency aid of R $ 600 for another month for employees with an intermittent contract signed until the date of publication of law MP 936/2020.

KPMG (26.05.2020) On May 26, the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that transfers R $ 3 billion from the Union for emergency actions aimed at the cultural sector during the pandemic of the new coronavirus, such as the payment of an emergency income of R$ 600 to informal professionals in the field.

agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br (03.07.2020) The federal government issued a decree authorizing the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) to pay prepayments for sickness benefits and the Continuing Benefit Benefit (BPC). The measure, published in an extra section of the Official Gazette (DOU) of this Thursday (2), determines that the advances will be paid until October 31.

Despite the buzz, artificial intelligence (AI) appears to be not finding as much traction in businesses as we would expect. On the surface, it seems most companies do not understand the use cases that would lead them to invest heavily in AI. But the story is more complicated than it first appears.  

AI, as we define it, is not a single technology but several closely-grouped technologies that allow a system to absorb, analyze, and learn from data in order to make a recommendation or take an action. These technologies include rules-based reasoning, machine learning, speech recognition, natural language processing, facial/object recognition, and other capabilities. They are seldom deployed separately and are usually embedded as features or capabilities within business applications.

Some of these technologies are still searching for use cases. Outside of digital assistance and search, for example, natural language processing is not yet finding widespread business applications. But that may soon change, not just for natural language processing, but other AI capabilities as well.

ec.europa.eu (16.07.2020) The European Commission presents Guidelines to ensure the protection of seasonal workers in the EU in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. It provides guidance to national authorities, labour inspectorates, and social partners to guarantee the rights, health and safety of seasonal workers, and to ensure that seasonal workers are aware of their rights. Cross-border seasonal workers enjoy a broad set of rights, but given the temporary nature of their work, they can be more vulnerable to precarious working and living conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has given more visibility to these conditions, and in some cases exacerbated them. In some cases such problems can increase the risk of COVID-19 clusters.

africa.cgtn.com (28.07.2020) Zambia on Tuesday launched an emergency COVID-19 social cash transfer scheme to help vulnerable communities affected by the pandemic. Kampamba Mulenga, Minister of Community Development, said the emergency social cash transfer will help mitigate the impact of the pandemic in vulnerable homes of the elderly, women and their children. The beneficiaries will be given money as well as food hampers for a period of six months, she added. World Food Programme Country Director Jayoung Lee said the United Nations agency will work with the government to distribute food across the country in vulnerable homes.

UNDP (23.07.2020) This paper provides estimates for a Temporary Basic Income (TBI), a minimum guaranteed income above the poverty line, for vulnerable people in 132 developing countries. A TBI amounts to between 0.27 and 0.63 per cent of their combined GDPs, depending on the policy choice: i. top-ups on existing average incomes in each country up to a vulnerability threshold; ii. lump-sum transfers that are sensitive to cross-country differences in the median standard of living; or, iii. lump-sum transfers that are uniform regardless of the country where people live. Unconditional emergency cash transfers can mitigate the worst immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis on poor and near-poor households that do not currently have access to social assistance or insurance protection. A temporary basic income is within reach and can inform a larger conversation about how to build comprehensive social protection systems that make the poor and near-poor more resilient to economic downturns in the future.

The North Africa Post (04.08.2020) Morocco will expand social welfare protection to all its citizens within five years through a gradual approach, said Finance Minister Mohammed Benchaaboun, after King Mohammed VI urged in the State of the Nation speech on July 29 speeding up such a national project. Benchaaboun said the plan will proceed gradually with the first phase (2021-2023) focusing on the generalization of mandatory health insurance and family allowances followed by a second phase (2024-2025) to enlist citizens in pension funds and launch unemployment benefits.

boliviaemprende.com (14.04.2020) Se establece el Plan de Emergencia de Apoyo al Empleo y Estabilidad Laboral, con el fin de otorgar recursos a las empresas legalmente constituidas y que sus trabajadores estén registrados en el Sistema Integral de Pensiones a fin de permitir un apoyo en el pago de los salarios de los trabajadores de las empresas, dada la emergencia sanitaria nacional y cuarentena total.

El Plan de Emergencia de Apoyo al Empleo y Estabilidad Laboral, se realizará mediante la otorgación de créditos a través del sistema financiero, por un monto equivalente a dos (2) salarios mínimos nacionales, por trabajador, por mes, por un máximo de dos (2) meses.

Los créditos serán de carácter concesional, con un plazo de hasta dieciocho (18) meses y con seis (6) meses de gracia.

periodicobolivia.com.bo (01.04.2020) El Decreto Supremo 1293 del 1 de abril, en su artículo 6 (Flexibilidad laboral) parágrafo I señala que, de manera excepcional y temporal, se reducirá la jornada laboral para el sector público y privado y que el Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Previsión Social, emitirá la reglamentación correspondiente.

periodicobolivia.com.bo (14.04.2020) Decreto Supremo 4218 que en su artículo 1 da a conocer la implementación y la regulación del Teletrabajo, como una “modalidad especial de prestación de servicios caracterizada por la utilización de Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación – TIC en los sectores público y privado”. La misma que garantiza y protege el trabajo en sus distintas formas (comunitario, estatal, privado y social cooperativo) “considerando la equidad laboral, de ingresos y medioambiental, así como la igualdad de oportunidades”, según establece el artículo 86 del Decreto Supremo 29894 del 7 de febrero de 2009

eriodicobolivia.com.bo (21.03.2020) De acuerdo al Decreto 4199 del 21 de marzo, durante la vigencia de la cuarentena total, los servidores públicos, trabajadores y todo personal que preste funciones en el sector público y privado en el territorio nacional, tendrán derecho al pago de sus salarios, para lo cual los responsables de su procesamiento tendrán la autorización para movilizarse y realizar las actividades que demande.

elperiodico.com.gt (25.05.2020) La primera estimación del pago del Bono de Riesgo que el Congreso aprobó para el personal del Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social (MSPAS) sería otorgar Q870 para los trabajadores de esa cartera en los renglones 011, 021, 022 y 031. Este bono fue aprobado por el Congreso mediante el Decreto 20-2020, por un monto de Q26 millones para los trabajadores de salud expuestos al COVID-19. El bono, que cubre al personal permanente solamente, aún no se ha desembolsado (07.08.2020).

Según la estimación, este bono se entregaría a 29 mil 885 trabajadores de esa cartera. En el renglón 011 (personal permanente) se cubren 24 mil 308 puestos con un total de Q21.1 millones, en el renglón 021 (personal supernumerario) a 1,734 trabajadores con Q1.5 millones. El personal por contrato y por jornales de los renglones 022 y 031 son 89 y 3 mil 754, lo que equivale a Q77 mil 430 y Q3.2 millones.

CEPAL (Julio 2020) Este Informe Especial es el quinto de una serie que elabora la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) sobre la evolución y los efectos del COVID-19 en América Latina y el Caribe. Esta edición se centra en los efectos económicos cada vez mayores de la pandemia en el mundo y la región en aras de una reactivación con igualdad. Se proponen medidas de protección social como central en la recuperación de la región.

CEPAL (02.04.2020) Esta reunión tuvo como objetivo compartir experiencias sobre el rol de los Ministerios de Desarrollo Social y entidades equivalentes frente a la actual crisis causada por el COVID-19. En especial, interesaba conocer cómo cada institución ha respondido a la pandemia en relación a tres puntos: i) los principales problemas socioeconómicos y prioridades de acción en protección social; ii) las dificultades, desafíos y aprendizajes en la respuesta a la crisis; y, iii) las necesidades de cooperación. Se pudo observar que el foco central de los países ha sido mitigar el impacto en costos humanos, así como evitar la profundización de la pobreza y la pobreza extrema. Para ello, han actuado en conjunto a otros ministerios (economía, salud, educación, etc) y actores (universidades, asociaciones profesionales, sector privado, entre otros).

knowledge.leglobal.org (2020) Resumen de las principales y primeras medidas laborales que se adoptaron en Iberoamérica para mitigar el desempleo en el contexto de la pandemia.

dca.gob.gt (14.04.2020) El Acuerdo Ministerial 825-2020 permite a las organizaciones de padres de familia utilizar los recursos transferidos por el Mineduc para que puedan adquirir alimentos y entregarlos a los padres de familia. Dicho aporte consiste en Q4 por estudiante para un período de 15 días lo que da un total de Q60 por alumno. DIGEPSA destacó que 2 millones 482 mil 475 estudiantes han sido beneficiado con segundo desembolso luego de la suspensión de clases el 16 de marzo cuando se declaró estado de calamidad pública por la pandemia del coronavirus.