social-protection.org (2021) The brief presents the Mozambican practice of preparing and publishing an annual National Statistical Bulletin on Social Protection. This practice demonstrates how this country has successfully developed a tool that harmonizes national data and underpins informed social protection decision-making, based on concrete and comprehensive data.

europa.eu (04.06.2021) The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) has adopted the Commission proposal on establishing a European Child Guarantee. The objective of the European Child Guarantee is to prevent and combat social exclusion by guaranteeing the access of children in need – persons under the age of 18 years who are at risk of poverty or social exclusion – to a set of key services: early childhood education and care, education, healthcare, nutrition and housing.

CEPS (14.06.2021) Digitalisation is not only changing the nature of jobs, workplaces and skills development, but also the way work is allocated. Digital labour platforms (DLPs) are driving innovation in the allocation of work. Check out the latest landscape, trends, and impact on working conditions. The report aims to improve the available data on platform work in the EU.

The Labor Department determined it doesn’t have the legal authority to stop states from opting out of federal unemployment programs early, according to an agency official. The programs have offered unemployment benefits to millions of people since the early days of the Covid pandemic. The American Rescue Plan extended them to Sept. 6. Twenty-five states, all led by Republican governors, are withdrawing early. The earliest are doing so effective Saturday, June 12.

European Commission (14.06.2021) On 14 June 2021, the Council of the EU endorsed the key conclusions of the 2021 reports on long-term care and on pension adequacy, that illustrate the situation of older people in the EU. The two reports analyse the situation of older people in the EU, looking into whether Europeans can maintain decent living standards in retirement, how many older people need support in their daily activities and whether they can access and afford the help they need. 

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) (08.06.2021) Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin says the government is looking to bolster the country’s social safety net programme with a definitive database. Muhyiddin said that he chaired a Malaysian Social Protection Council (MySPC) meeting via video conferencing today, during which the issue of strengthening the national social safety net was discussed. He added it included expanding the protection schemes under the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to groups that were not covered previously.

bdnews24.com (03.06.2021) Bangladesh has expanded its social safety net programmes by increasing the budgetary allocation by 12.5 percent in the fiscal year 2021-22 as part of the efforts to alleviate the plight of lower-income and vulnerable groups which have been hit hardest by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

World Economic Forum (27.05.2021) Innovative solutions have been developed across Africa and Asia to deal with the increasing demand for health workers and services due to COVID-19. These include the use of drones, solar-powered freezers and utilizing Pakistan's unemployed doctors. In a pandemic, these solutions can be the deciding factor between effectively managing the virus and not.

caixinglobal.com (17.05.2021) China will soon launch a new pilot program for private pension funds as part of efforts to overhaul its strained system for retirement savings.

bloomberg.com (14.05.2021) Australia could chip into the pension funds of eligible workers who take up its 18 weeks of paid parental leave, just not yet, amid criticism the government isn’t doing enough to ensure women are financially secure in retirement.