The IPC-IG, FAO and ILO  held  a workshop on  agricultural workers in the NENA region

By IPC-IG
Agriculture in Egypt

 

The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the International Labour Organization (ILO) held the first ‘structured discussion’ of a Policy Dialogue series focused on the project “Expanding ‘social insurance’ for agricultural workers in Near East and North Africa (NENA) countries: identifying key constraints and discussing policy options”.  

 

Rural populations have much more limited access to comprehensive social protection than urban populations. In developing countries, one of the main gaps in social protection remains the limited coverage of contributory schemes among agricultural workers, especially in regions where the agricultural sector is essential for livelihoods, such as in the NENA region. To contribute to the reform and expansion efforts of social protection in rural areas, the IPC-IG, FAO and ILO have been developing projects that build on the expertise of the agencies in the field.  

 

This first workshop focused on identifying the main risks to which agricultural workers in the NENA region are exposed and how they can be addressed by different social insurance benefits (such as old age and maternity benefits, unemployment insurance, health insurance, etc). Additionally, there were discussions on the trade-offs between different forms of programme implementation: separate or unified, voluntary or mandatory.  

 

The IPC-IG, FAO and ILO will hold two additional workshops to discuss ‘financing social insurance schemes for agricultural workers’ and ‘improving administrative mechanisms and incentives for agricultural workers to contribute to social insurance schemes’. 

 

Photo: Jeremy Bezanger / Unsplash 

  

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