Supporting the Implementation of Sustainable Social Protection Floors for the Workers and their Families in ASEAN – Phase ¿

Despite recent progress, there are still significant gaps in social protection systems in Asia and the Pacific. In Lao PDR, the social protection system is relatively new and the extension of coverage relatively limited. With the contributory system covering a small share of workers in the formal sector and the non-contributory system having very limited coverage and being mostly donor-run and donor-funded, the number of people with access to social protection is still minimal. Nevertheless, in recent years, countries were able to make important steps towards the development of more ambitious social protection systems and the recent COVID-19 crisis demonstrated how important the development of these systems is. In Lao PDR, the government announced that unemployment insurance benefits would be provided to affected workers registered with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), however, many could not receive benefits due to various administrative barriers. This showed that the immediate need in the country is to extend social security coverage to more workers, especially the self-employed and workers in rural areas, and to simplify administrative and accessibility issues. At the regional level, the COVID-19 job losses and related economic slowdown underlined the lack of measures to support unemployed workers in many countries in the region. This has led to demands by the ILO constituents in the region to assess the feasibility of establishing unemployment insurance schemes in their respective countries (e.g. Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar) or strengthen existing unemployment insurance schemes (e.g. Philippines). However, the extension of unemployment insurance schemes in many of these countries is hindered by the labour market structure, including high levels of informality and underemployment, large share of short-term, seasonal, part-time and multi-employer employment, as well as self-employment, especially for women, as well as weak or missing employment policies and accompanying employment services. Without resolving these challenges, unemployment insurance schemes are likely to face sustainability problems and will miss the objective of protecting those who are at risk of being unemployed, and cultivating a virtuous cycle of decent employment. The key stakeholder is the Lao Social Security Organisation. The Direct beneficiaries include policy makers, managers, technical staff of ministries and government agencies, and employers’ and workers’ organisations. The Project will focus on creating conditions in the target country and the region to gradually build comprehensive sustainable social protec tion systems for all by increasing the system coverage and increasing its effectiveness and efficiency. Outcome 1: Comprehensive and sustainable social protection for all with increased coverage in Lao PDR; and Outcome 2: Better understanding and increased awareness on the importance of social protection.

Project symbol

RAS/21/52/KOR

Admin unit

RO-Asia and the Pacific

Start date

01/06/2021

End date

31/07/2024

Total allocation

921149

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

914829

Development Partners

Republic of Korea, Ministry of Labour

Country/Countries

Asia and the Pacific - regional

Outcomes

Output 9.1. Improved coherence in multilateral support for the development and financing of integrated policy responses for social justice through decent work