ILO trains INSS and MAPTSS professionals in Communication for Social Protection
During the training days, INSS and MAPTSS staff reinforced their techniques for communicating about social protection.
10 May 2024
With funding from the European Union, the International Labour Organization (ILO) held, from 7 to 10 May, a training course for staff from the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) of Angola, the Ministry of Public Administration, Labour and Social Security (MAPTSS) and partners, in Luanda.
Communication employees, managers, technicians, advisors and communication consultants from INSS, MAPTSS and partners participated in the training, in a total of 47 people, of which 24 were women. The training was also attended by a representative of the Social Protection Fund of the National Police.
During the opening session, the ILO Project Manager in Angola, Denise Monteiro, said that it aims to contribute to the improvement of the communication carried out by the INSS and MAPTSS and to promote actions aimed at achieving better results in the efforts they have made to materialize their mission in the field of Social Protection.
The initiative is part of the Project "Expansion of Social Security to Support the Formalization of the Angolan Economy (ESSAFE Angola)", implemented by the ILO and funded by the European Union, with the aim of supporting the formalization efforts of the Government of Angola, through the expansion of social security coverage and benefits.
In four days of the course, environments were created to share knowledge and experiences on the communication practiced at the INSS and opportunities for improvement, the participants were equipped with relevant knowledge and techniques to improve their performance in the relationship with journalists and citizens, including media training and communication plans.
Through participatory dynamics, recommendations were also presented for improvements in communication practices at the INSS, to reach its target audiences more efficiently, especially workers in the informal economy.
The course had as trainers the Portuguese journalist from Jornal de Negócios Catarina Almeida Pereira, the communication consultant Catarina Duarte and the Social Protection Expert of the ILO Lisbon, Mariana Pereira.
In a closing note, the Secretary of State for Social Security, Pedro Filipe, reminded the participants of the importance of communication training for social protection, as part of the public commitment to develop a social protection system that better meets the wishes and needs of citizens.
Context of training
This course takes place in a context where, in Angola, it is estimated that only 10.5% of the population is covered by at least one cash benefit of social protection, leaving 89.5% of the population without any type of support. Informal employment covers 80.5% of the economically active population, according to a survey by the National Statistics Institute (February 2023). A percentage that is higher in the case of women (87.9%) than in the case of men (72.3%) and higher in rural areas (79.5%) than in urban areas (54.4%).
Overall, only about 1 in 10 Angolans is protected by a social protection scheme (10.5%), which compares with 17.4% on the African continent and 46.9% globally (ILO, 2020).
This is a situation that the ESSAFE Angola Project seeks to improve, through direct technical assistance to the INSS and the training of its teams, in order to promote a social protection system more appropriate to the country's context.