Word of the Director General of the FNSS
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The latest reports on the UNDP Human Development showed today, more than worrying situation of developing countries in Africa. At the low level of economic growth and employment, has added an overall decline in living standards, aggravated every day, the population growth. For many Africans, the informal sector seems the only hope for a minimum subsistence level.
The increase of poverty in a globalized environment, which runs counter to the objectives of the Millennium, located today, the importance and need to reflect together on how efficient social security cover to all our populations. The theories of endogenous growth, show indeed, that social security can fight against poverty, security of income it provides each worker and his family on the one hand and redistributing it provides in society as a whole, on the other.
I therefore welcome the initiative of the ISSA, placing on the agenda of the Conference the topic Libreville: "Plans Social Security in Small Countries" has decided to cast a watchful eye on the difficulties of our social security schemes. The term small country did here, nor a pejorative sense, nor an economic sense. It simply refers to those countries that have a level and quality of social protection still low.
In these countries, only private-sector employees said formal and still receive care in terms of social benefits: health care, family benefits, coverage of occupational risks, benefits vieillesses, etc.. The employees in the informal sector which nevertheless represent a large portion of the active population, have no social protection. As the officials, while enjoying relative social protection in most African countries, it is true that for pensions and family allowances. The other benefits such as taking care of medical procedures in public hospitals or private, whose cost is approximately 20 to 70% of their salary remains dependent on them.
The problem of low coverage painted above, added that its funding and means to implement in the context of poverty among small countries, given the weak financial intermediation which characterizes.
Based on Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which are social security, a fundamental human right, which can and I think credit must be given every human being, in addition to the themes selected, I invite you during this conference Libreville to reflect together and consider the following questions:
- How to extend social security to all sections of our populations?
- How to take into account the informal sector?
- How to finance such a social security?
- What are the practical arrangements or arrangements for the effectiveness of such a reform?
- Can we put in place a law on financing of social security?
- How to articulate the financing of social protection with the cost of labour, business competitiveness and employment?
- Is it possible to pool our human and material resources to minimize the costs of implementing an effective social security for our states?
Antoine DANGOUALI YALANZELE
Director General of the FNSS of Gabon