The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has revealed full details for the i-Sinar program which will allow eligible members to make withdrawals from Account 1. The i-Sinar program was introduced to assist members who are affected by the current pandemic situation. Affected members who wish to take out funds are able to apply online starting from 21st December 2020.

CNNPolitics (21.12.2020) Congress is on the verge of passing a far-reaching $900 billion Covid relief package that promises to accelerate vaccine distribution and deliver much-needed aid to small businesses hit hard by the pandemic, Americans who have lost their jobs during the economic upheaval and health care workers on the front lines of the crisis.

europa.eu (15.11.2020) The German presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional deal on the EU4Health programme for 2021-2027. With a budget of EUR 5.1 billion, the new reinforced programme provides a strong basis for Union action in the health field based on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes at a time when EU citizens still experience the impact of a major health threat and the resulting human suffering and severe socio-economic consequences.

weforum.org  (11.11.2020) COVID-19 has accelerated global efforts to deliver digital healthcare. The move towards value-based healthcare could facilitate universal health coverage and aid post-pandemic recovery. Millions of people living in poverty could benefit directly from new model.

(24.11.2020) China is planning to include new measures to encourage more births and address its rapidly aging population as part of its new 2021-2025 “five-year plan”, state media reported on Monday.

South China Morning Post (29.11.2020) China is planning policies to boost the economic contribution of its elderly citizens, including improving their use of technology In 2019, 12.6 per cent of China’s population was aged 65 or above and that group will hit 300 million by 2025, official data shows

The child care benefit during COVID-19 pandemic will remain available to be used an unlimited number of times until June 2021, as provided by amendments to the Law on Maternity and Sickness Insurance approved by Latvian Saeima’s Social and Employment Matters Committee. The benefit will not be paid if a person is employed, performs economic operations and gains income. The benefit will not be available if the person is paid sick leave, parent, maternity, paternity or idle-period benefits.

Naver (09.12.2020) South Korea will extend its state employment insurance program to artists starting Thursday as the first step toward expanding coverage to all workers by 2025. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday that artists under work contracts who earn monthly income of at least 500,000 won ($460) will be eligible for coverage under the amended Employment Insurance Act. 

UNDP (03.11.2020) Severe long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could push an additional 207 million people into extreme poverty on top of the current pandemic trajectory, bringing the total to over 1 billion by 2030, according to findings released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

OpenGov Asia (01.12.2020) The pandemic has fundamentally changed lifestyles and thought processes across the world. There is a paradigm shift in the way people now interact with each other. With social distancing becoming the new norm, citizens are increasingly becoming dependent on technology to communicate and interact among themselves. In order to help public sector utilise digital applications and APIs to enhance service delivery and get digital transformation right, OpenGov Asia hosted an OpenGovLive!