ILO providing expertise on costing of unemployment insurance and social protection system for Belize
Results expected to serve as basis for social dialogue process to reach consensus.
27 June 2023
As Belize prepares to strengthen its social protection system to become more shock-responsive and resilient, the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean is delivering key budgetary and technical guidance during the planning process.
The support is being provided under the Joint Programme “Building a resilient Belize through universal, adaptive, and sustainable social protection”, financed through the Joint Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Fund, through which the ILO is providing a technical guidance on the design and implementation of the unemployment insurance (UI) scheme and preparation of the social protection strategy (including floors) of the country.
During a recent series of meetings between 19 and 23 June 2023, Ms. Joana Borges Henriques, ILO Caribbean Specialist for Social Protection and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and Ms. Pamela Bradley, ILO National Officer for Belize met with officials from implementing government partners, Social Security Board, the Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Labour and Local Government, Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment, and the Ministry of Human Development, Families, and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs to discuss the drafting of the cost assessment.
During the sessions, Ms. Borges also delivered a presentation to highlight key considerations on the importance of the UI and the process needed to reach implementation. Approximately, 50 stakeholders were reached on this mission with approximately 63 per cent female participation and 37 per cent male participation.
“The ILO is proud to support the formation of a strategy for the development and implementation of a stronger, coordinated and integrated, social protection system in Belize that reaches the most vulnerable,” said Ms. Borges. “It is expected that the results of the cost assessment will serve as the basis for a comprehensive social dialogue process with social partners and key stakeholders to agree on the feasible UI scheme design options to be presented to the Government of Belize for the National Social Protection Strategy, inclusive of a social protection floor.”
“COVID-19 was a real eye opener where lots of people lost their jobs. This also included some of my family members. If UI was available, it would have kicked in to help those persons who lost their jobs. Lots of family had to share the little they had with those family members who had nothing due to the lay-offs,” said Ms. Olivia Dakers, General Manager, Human Resources Services (HRS), Social Security Board, when discussing the need for a stronger social protection system for all in Belize.
Through the SDG Fund Programme “Building a resilient Belize through universal, adaptive, and sustainable social protection”, the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean is working in collaboration with other United Nations (UN) agencies – the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office for Belize. ILO technical contributions build on the consensus that social protection is a human right, and that social protection systems should be comprehensive, adequate and inclusive for all, leaving no one behind.
For more information about the project, please visit the ILO's website.
The support is being provided under the Joint Programme “Building a resilient Belize through universal, adaptive, and sustainable social protection”, financed through the Joint Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Fund, through which the ILO is providing a technical guidance on the design and implementation of the unemployment insurance (UI) scheme and preparation of the social protection strategy (including floors) of the country.
During a recent series of meetings between 19 and 23 June 2023, Ms. Joana Borges Henriques, ILO Caribbean Specialist for Social Protection and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and Ms. Pamela Bradley, ILO National Officer for Belize met with officials from implementing government partners, Social Security Board, the Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Labour and Local Government, Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment, and the Ministry of Human Development, Families, and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs to discuss the drafting of the cost assessment.
During the sessions, Ms. Borges also delivered a presentation to highlight key considerations on the importance of the UI and the process needed to reach implementation. Approximately, 50 stakeholders were reached on this mission with approximately 63 per cent female participation and 37 per cent male participation.
“The ILO is proud to support the formation of a strategy for the development and implementation of a stronger, coordinated and integrated, social protection system in Belize that reaches the most vulnerable,” said Ms. Borges. “It is expected that the results of the cost assessment will serve as the basis for a comprehensive social dialogue process with social partners and key stakeholders to agree on the feasible UI scheme design options to be presented to the Government of Belize for the National Social Protection Strategy, inclusive of a social protection floor.”
“COVID-19 was a real eye opener where lots of people lost their jobs. This also included some of my family members. If UI was available, it would have kicked in to help those persons who lost their jobs. Lots of family had to share the little they had with those family members who had nothing due to the lay-offs,” said Ms. Olivia Dakers, General Manager, Human Resources Services (HRS), Social Security Board, when discussing the need for a stronger social protection system for all in Belize.
Through the SDG Fund Programme “Building a resilient Belize through universal, adaptive, and sustainable social protection”, the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean is working in collaboration with other United Nations (UN) agencies – the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office for Belize. ILO technical contributions build on the consensus that social protection is a human right, and that social protection systems should be comprehensive, adequate and inclusive for all, leaving no one behind.
For more information about the project, please visit the ILO's website.