ids.ac.uk (01.06.2023) The Covid-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the need to ensure equitable access to safe, effective and affordable health services. The very rapid shift to the use of smartphone apps and telephone consultations (telemedicine) has highlighted the potential impact of digital innovations on the capacity of health services to meet this need. It is time to take digital health seriously. In 2021, The Lancet and the Financial Times published a report by a commission of experts entitled Governing health futures 2030: growing up in a digital world.

The Korea Times (14.06.2023) Income inequality in Korea is likely to accelerate due to a rapidly aging population, according to a report released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday. The report revealed that income inequality among households has worsened by 30 percent over the past 25 years, largely as a result of the aging population. "The aging population is expected to have a significant negative impact on the Korean economy, not only by lowering labor productivity and increasing the burden of care, but also by widening economical inequality," the report noted.

consilium.europa.eu (12.06.2023) The Council is ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament on a new law that will help millions of gig workers gain access to employment rights. Today, ministers for employment and social affairs agreed on the Council’s general approach for a proposed directive to improve working conditions for platform workers. The proposal introduces two key improvements: it helps determine the correct employment status of people working for digital platforms and establishes the first EU rules on the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

News Ghana (10.05.2023) The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched the Self-Employed Enrolment Drive (SEED), a product geared towards expanding coverage of the basic national social security scheme to self-employed Ghanaians. Dr John Ofori-Koranteng, Director-General of SSNIT, speaking at the launch of the product in Kumasi, said the aim was to redefine social security in Ghana and give hope to the self-employed to be able to retire in dignity and comfort.

 OECD iLibrary (May 2023) OECD countries continue to face persistent gender inequalities in social and economic life. Young women often reach higher levels of education than young men, but remain under-represented in fields with the most lucrative careers. Women spend more time on unpaid work, face a strong motherhood penalty, encounter barriers to entrepreneurship and fare worse in labour markets overall. They are also under-represented in politics and leadership positions in public employment.

oecd.org (2023) This second edition of Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean, prepared jointly by OECD and the World Bank, presents a set of key indicators of health status, determinants of health, healthcare resources and utilisation, healthcare expenditure and financing, quality of care, health workforce, and ageing across 33 Latin America and the Caribbean countries.

IOM (Janv 2023) This report interrogates country-of-origin measures to extend social protection and broader-based support services to African migrant workers abroad.

worldbank.org (2023) As the world struggles to cope with global economic imbalances, diverging demographic trends, and climate change, migration will become a necessity in the decades to come for countries at all levels of income. If managed well, migration can be a force for prosperity and can help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. World Development Report 2023 proposes an integrated framework to maximize the development impacts of cross-border movements on both destination and origin countries and on migrants and refugees themselves.

guardian.ng (25.04.2023) Individuals across the globe, especially in developed countries, are aging at an unprecedented pace, making many countries increasingly reliant on migration to realise their long-term growth potential, says a new report from the World Bank. The ‘World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees and Societies’ identifies this trend as a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people.