Training Course on Designing and Implementing Unemployment Benefits Linking with Active Labour Market Policies

The training course was organized by the International Training Center of the ILO (ITC/ILO) in partnership with the ILO/Japan Project "Promoting and building social protection and employment services in ASEAN".

Learning Objectives:

The training aimed at guiding policy makers in the design and implementation of integrated unemployment protection programmes and employment support policies. More specifically, the course explored different aspects of the design and implementation of unemployment protection schemes targeting at both informal and formal economy workers. This included international labour standards related to unemployment protection, financial aspects, laws and regulations, options for institutional set-up and importance of social dialogue in developing such measures.

More specifically, the training achieved the following objectives:
  • Understand the place of unemployment benefits and employment support in ILO’s strategy to extend social protection;
  • Learn about the ILO’s Conventions and Recommendations related to unemployment protection;
  • Determine the different parameters that will form an unemployment benefits scheme (contributory and non-contributory);
  • Learn tips from other experiences and good practices to facilitate the dialogue among social partners on unemployment benefits;
  • Calculate a cost estimate of unemployment protection measures by using ILO tools;
  • Envisage linkages between unemployment benefits and employment support services;
  • Provide inputs to draft the legal framework regulating the unemployment benefits schemes and amendments to existing laws;
  • Establish procedures to run a unemployment protection scheme;
  • Define a strategy and targets for the performance of the system;

Participants:

The training gathered representatives of ministries and other government agencies involved at the technical level in the planning, financing and management of social security systems in a country, in particular measures to support the unemployed and underemployed, i.e. Ministry of Labour, Social Security Institutions, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Ministry of Planning, and other Ministries; social protection experts from over 10 countries from Asia and the Middle East.

Contents:

The training followed the main steps of the conduct of a feasibility study that will explore different aspects of the future unemployment protection schemes: analysis of the labour market indicators, financial aspects, laws and regulation, options for institutional set-up and social dialogue. The training methodology was mainly centered on the development of case studies that will accompany each step of the feasibility study. It also included a study visit to the employment service center of CyberJaya in Malaysia.