The event was attended by the Minister of Labour and Social Protection and other government officials, UN Resident Coordinator in the Kyrgyz Republic, representatives of other international agencies, officers of the Trade Union Federation of Kyrgyzstan and employer associations, as well as civil society representatives and independent experts. 

Mr. Ozonnia Ojielo, UN Resident Coordinator in the Kyrgyz Republic, said in his welcome address that a working group on social protection floors was established as part of the efforts to promote Sustainable Development Goals. The group includes representatives of seven UN agencies dealing with social protection. To encourage further work in this area, it will support the Kyrgyz Government’s priorities identified in the course of the nationwide dialogue. 

Ms. Karuna Pal of the ILO Social Protection Department in Geneva noted in her presentation that only 45 percent of the world’s population were covered by at least one type of social protection while other 55 percent were not. Moreover, only 29 percent of the world’s population had access to a comprehensive system of social protection.

Starting from February 2014, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has been implementing in Kyrgyzstan a project “From the Crisis Towards Decent and Safe Jobs” aimed in particular at developing social protection floors jointly with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

Under a resolution adopted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development to implement the Social Protection Development Programme for 2015-2017, an interagency technical working group was established for holding nationwide consultations on social protection floors.