oecd (20.05.2020) This policy brief discusses the measures countries have taken to support the livelihoods of those who cannot access unemployment benefits or short-term work schemes. It examines the raft of new programmes introduced across the OECD and beyond, including means-tested assistance, new cash transfer schemes, and direct support for those struggling to meet their expenses. It also discusses how to close social protection gaps beyond the crisis to ensure inclusive growth post-COVID-19.Supporting livelihoods during the COVID-19crisis: closing the gaps in safety nets

sbs.com.au (19.05.2020) Up to a million Spanish families could soon receive an ongoing monthly payment to help them through the coronavirus crisis as the country’s government looks set to approve a €3 billion ($A5 billion) basic income scheme. The program, targeting low or no income families, will likely remain beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to push the unemployment rate to more than 20 per cent in the country of almost 47 million people, according to the International Monetary Fund. 

Le HuffPost (20.05.2020) Le gouvernement va proposer la création d’une cinquième branche de la Sécurité sociale pour faire face aux dépenses liées à la perte d’autonomie

The japanese company IDEC, an Vision Zero Supporter who signed up on the Vision Zero website to promote safety, health and wellbeing, has developed this interesting tool to manage wellbeing in times of COVID-19. Leveraging the Vision Zero philosophy to ensure Safety, Health, and Wellbeing, this checklist tool is based on the 7 Golden Rules. It focusses on the Vision Zero aspects of wellbeing, such as a ‘lack of control’ or a ‘lack of social support’ while working remotely, as well as other factors that define wellbeing at home. It is designed around IDEC’s core values being integrity, innovation, communication, passion and harmony. A first test was conducted and the checklist was sent to over 1300 employees that currently work from home. The initial survey result showed a gradualpositive trend in the overall wellbeing of its employees, but also helped IDEC to identify areas of improvements.

Download the tool here.

gobierno.aw (23.04.2020) During these difficult times, the Government allows businesses to reduce working hours to 0 or pay employees for the hours worked. This means that even if an employee has not been laid off, the employee can see a decline in income or lose income.

bayer.es (08.05.2029) El Gobierno de España ha puesto en marcha un asistente virtual llamado “Hispabot-Covid19”, que permite a los ciudadanos realizar preguntas relacionadas con la COVID-19 vía WhatsApp.

seg-social.es (20.03.2020) La Seguridad Social ha puesto a disposición de ciudadanos y trabajadores su propio asistente virtual para proporcionar información útil y orientar a los  ciudadanos sobre los servicios más demandados de la Seguridad Social. Este servicio “chatbot” está accesible desde la portada de la página web de la Seguridad Social pinchando sobre una ventana flotante con el texto “¿te ayudamos?” en el margen inferior derecho de la pantalla siendo la interacción por escrito en lugar de mediante la voz.

iustel.com (23.04.2020) Para poder dar respuesta a la necesidad de presentación de escritos, comunicaciones o solicitudes de carácter urgente e imprescindible, en aquellos casos en los que el ciudadano no dispone de medios de autenticación electrónicos (certificado digital y cl@ve), se ha habilitado una opción a través de la web de forma que cualquier interesado puede presentar escritos y solicitudes mediante el  acceso  “sin certificado”.

seg-social.es (22.04.2020) Para reforzar la atención que se presta al autorizado RED con el fin de proporcionar una asistencia acorde con las necesidades de este colectivo y que potencie la utilización del canal telemático, se ha puesto a disposición de los autorizados RED un nuevo servicio denominado CASIA  (Coordinación, Atención y Soporte Integral al Autorizado RED) que está disponible en la Oficina Virtual del Sistema RED y a través del cual se pueden plantear consultas, comunicar errores o incidencias, así como presentar solicitudes de trámites.

COVID-19 Series: Fumigation or Disinfection, they are not the same.

We have seen people jostle for fumigation in the phase of the pandemic. Is this what we really need? Our Vision Zero Profiler  Ehi Iden doesn't think so. Fumigation is for vectors while disinfection is for micro organisms, it is as simple as that. You have the right to disinfect your offices or houses if you so desire but be careful not get swindled by pest control control agents in the name of disinfection. You might want to watch this video for more information and clarity on this.

UN Secretary-General Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the need for action on mental health

Key messages:

The problem:

• COVID-19 has the seeds of a major mental health crisis.
• The mental health and wellbeing of whole societies have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are a priority to be addressed urgently.
• A long-term upsurge in the number and severity of mental health problems is likely.
• Specific populations groups are showing high degrees of COVID-19-related psychological distress.
• People caught in fragile humanitarian and conflict settings risk having their mental health needs overlooked entirely.
• Because of the size of the problem, the vast majority of mental health needs remain unaddressed.  The response is hampered by the lack of investment in mental health promotion, prevention and care before the pandemic.

Strategic shift (“theory of change”):

• The historic underinvestment in mental health needs to be redressed without delay to reduce immense suffering among hundreds of millions of people and mitigate long-term social and economic costs to society.

Public policy solution:

1. Apply a whole-of-society approach to promote, protect and care for mental health.
2. Ensure widespread availability of emergency mental health and psychosocial support.
3. Support recovery from COVID-19 by building mental health services for the future.

• Policy Brief - https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief-covid_and_mental_health_final.pdf
• Video address by the UN Secretary General  - https://youtu.be/XLJlqcFYfeM

• Video address by WHO Director General - https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898292105449472?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
• UN press release - https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063882
• WHO press release - https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/14-05-2020-substantial-investment-needed-to-avert-mental-health-crisis
• WHO tweets:
  • https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1260916164143783937?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1260902802957664258?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898296094171136?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898294663954433?s=20
  • https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1260898292105449472?s=20

prensalibre.com (18.05.2020) Bono Familia: Habilitan sitio web de inscripción para obtener ayuda por coronavirus. Los datos que se piden es el número de DPI del solicitante, un número de celular, el número de correlativo (se encuentra en la factura de energía) y el código del Bono Familia, que también viene impreso en la factura de consumo.