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.

lse.ac.uk (10.05.2021) Like other low- and middle-income countries, Colombia introduced changes to its cash transfer programmes so as to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. But without extending and carefully redesigning these programmes, many families and young people will face a precarious future once the pandemic is over,

ec.europa.eu (07.05.2021) Partners have signed up to the three 2030 headline targets set in the Commission’s European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan in a joint Porto Social Commitment.

ec.europa.eu (10.05.2021) The PES Network has added a fresh selection of six national initiatives developed by Public Employment Services (PES) in Europe to the PES Practices database. Take a moment to check out the latest inspiring examples!

ilo.org (20.05,2021) This policy brief introduces the multi-tiered social security systems to enable universal coverage with a focus on families. A coherent and well-designed family support system within the emerging social security system is truly rights-based, fair and equitable proposal; it has a high potential to attract workers to the social insurance system; and it is the most likely to be politically — and therefore financially- sustainable over time.