Governance of Social Security Systems: A Guide for Board Members in Africa
This handbook is intended as a practical guide for members of governing boards of social security organizations in Africa. While the structure and mandate of social security boards varies from country to country, they all have important responsibilities: ensuring that social security contributions are used judiciously for intended purposes, providing inputs to policy makers on the scheme’s recent experience, creating transparency in its operations and assuring that its policies and practices comply with the law. They are vital bodies for strengthening democratic governance and representing the interests of workers, employers, pensioners and other constituents in the national social protection system. The ILO has been closely involved in the creation and training of tripartite governing boards, as part of its efforts to promote good governance of social security schemes in Africa. This guide is part of the ILO QUATRAIN AFRICA project which has the objective of improving training in quantitative social security techniques in Africa. Without prescribing precise rules for coping with particular issues, guidance for social security board members in general and on a range of specific issues is provided.