A National Social Security Strategy & Action Plan AP) is a political and technical process that aims to extend social security in a country. Various models may be used to finance extending social security: contributive, tax financed or a combination of social security contributions, subsidies and direct participation by the client (e.g., health care co-payments). NaSSSAPs can prioritize various contingencies (health, old age, maternity, unemployment, work injury etc.) or target specific population groups.
Various institutions (government agencies, social security institutions, employers, micro-insurance schemes) may take part in the process of extending social security. The NaSSSAP should therefore precisely define each institution's role as well as the models to be used.
Developing an ASSAP is not possible without a strong political will. The main responsibility for the establishment of the strategy and for the Action Plan lies with the Member State concerned. Both the Strategy and the Action Plan have to be accepted by the Government and by Parliament, because it has important financial, administrative and other political implications.
Other factors are important preconditions: consulting social partners and representatives of the civil society or encouraging them to take an active part, as well as obtaining support from social security experts and specialists at all stages in order to find technical and financial options adapted to the country's situation. NaSSSAPs therefore integrate various dimensions (political, social dialogue, legislative, technical, financial).
A National Social Security Plan will help:
To identify coverage gaps (in terms of contingencies and populations) and therefore identify priority targets for the extension of social security.
To draw lessons from pre-existing experiences of extension conducted by various actors in the country (strengths and weaknesses) and to learn from these experiences (e.g., it may be useful for instance to adapt some of existing models and procedures or link institutions together in order to increase their effectiveness).
To form a consensus or at least a clear majority of those who are in favour of building up step by step schemes of social security.
To optimise the use of parts of GDP for social security purposes.
To design and prepare the implementation of an extension model that is well-suited to the needs of the population, its characteristics, socio-economic context and to the country's past experiences in terms of extension. Starting an NaSSSAP with an open mind and without any preconceived notions as to the type of administrative or financial model to use or the type of contingencies to cover in priority is therefore important. Indiscriminate copying of other models of extension (in other countries) should be avoided.
- To bring more coherence in the picture of the extension of social security in a given country through the linkages of various institutions, their integration in a coherent framework. Coherence may be important in order to create economies of scale or in order to design and implement mechanisms of redistribution (cross subsidies between various segments of the population).
Various tools exist to provide input for the NaSSSAP at each step:
Advocacy tools: although the final decision to conduct an NaSSSAP is made by governments, it is important to promote awareness among decision makers, social partners and actors from the civil society on the importance of NaSSSAPs and boost the decision process.
Guidance, tools and technical advise to be used by actors involved in the NaSSSAP process (at political and technical levels): on the use of social dialogue in an ASSAP process, on the use of legal instruments, on actuarial practices, on the development of integrated Management Information Systems, on the development of capacities, on the development of administrative linkages between several social security institutions, etc.
Information on key experiences and innovations, through links to the knowledge map and workspaces.
STEP 1: The first step should be to take stock of the socioeconomic situation and enquire into existing formal and informal social security mechanisms and institutions (social security institutions, micro-insurance, social assistance programmes, etc.) thus screening every mechanism and identifying the gaps in coverage. It should also be an aim to focus on the reasons for the proposed extension, which can be numerous and are not always obvious (preventing potential poverty, reducing existing poverty, improving equitable distribution of income).
STEP 2: The second step should be to design a national strategy to build up and extend social security schemes, including a timetable for implementation. Governments and Parliaments must — following input from social partners and other pertinent social groups — finally approve the strategy. The ILO and other international institutions can then decide about their personal and financial contribution within the technical aid. The general population should also be informed and involved from the very beginning. This is important in order to help gain acceptance for the new social security scheme and especially for everyone's expected financial burden. A crucial point is to elaborate a development strategy which sets clear priorities, combined with a timetable for commitment and when and how the new schemes should be introduced in a stepwise manner.
STEP 3: The third step could be elaborating and explaining an action plan for implementing the strategy.
STEP 4: The fourth step is the creation and/or reinforcement of a transparent, impartial, client-oriented and efficient administration. The administrative costs must be reasonable in relation to the outcome.
STEP 5: The fifth step should be the implementation of the action plan including a system of monitoring and evaluation of the scheme.
STEP 6: The sixth step may be an evaluation of the results (as far as possible).
