The institution develops a strategy to reach out to groups by taking into account their needs, characteristics and local circumstances.

Communication is key to effective outreach to targeted populations, to provide information on the programmes available and to raise awareness of the benefits of social security for them, their family and their community.

The specific guideline in this section is:

• Establishing a communication strategy to make contact and build trust with population groups that are difficult to cover, including informal-economy workers

The institution establishes an efficient organizational structure adapted to the needs and circumstances of difficult-to-cover groups.

The institution develops adequate information and communication technology (ICT) capacity, including infrastructure, software and a team of professional staff.

The institution sets easy-to-measure standards for the various services it offers to difficult-to-cover groups across its service delivery network.

The institution develops partnerships with various organizations for the purpose of reaching potential beneficiaries, reducing administrative costs and increasing service quality and integrity.

The institution develops a long-term social security coverage extension plan subject to the guidance and support of the relevant authority. The inclusion of relevant stakeholders in the development of the plan helps to identify issues early but also helps in securing external support in the implementation phase.

Key capacities – some internal to the institution, some external – enable social security institutions to work towards the extension of coverage. In most cases, the extension of coverage is a horizontal endeavour requiring the collaboration of a variety of institutional players.

The specific guidelines in this section are:

The institution ensures it has the required authority to pursue the innovative administrative solutions it has identified.

The institution is aware of the strategic importance of the enabling environment required to support the extension of social security coverage to difficult-to-cover groups. It identifies the elements that it could leverage and the gaps/weaknesses in coverage that should be mitigated.