A panel discussion in progress at the World Social Security Forum yesterday.
DOHA: The International Social Security Association (ISSA) has launched a pioneering Centre for Excellence, which will introduce professional standards for social security organisations worldwide.
The ISSA centre of excellence, a dream project of ISSA was launched at a glittering ceremony at Sheraton Doha yesterday as part of the World Social Security Forum which is underway in Doha.
ISSA centre of excellence will provide knowledge and experience data bank as well as training programmes to upgrade the security administration.
This will enable the members to have a comprehensive and practical guide to achieve excellence through interesting workshops, learning experiences and ambitious and realistic programmes, the meeting was told.
The centre will provide a set of services aimed directly at strengthening the management and administration of social security, across branches and regions.
The most important feature of the initiative is a series of international guidelines, which provide professional standards and benchmarks to support social security organizations to improve governance, enhance service quality and achieve high performance.
The guidelines will be supported by a range of learning and support initiatives, accessible through a dedicated web platform, as well as a calendar of training events, workshops and a technical advice service.
The social security institutions also face complex social and economic changes; improved social security administration is increasingly seen as a key condition for high-performing and well-governed social security systems, according to the ISSA.
“Social security organisations are committed to effective and efficient management, but can find it difficult to assess their performance without authoritative international guidance about good practices and standards,” the ISSA Secretary General Hans-Horst Konkolewsky emphasised at the launch.
“For the first time, the ISSA’s Centre for Excellence will offer an international knowledge and support platform based on recognised professional guidelines, which will provide an unparalleled resource for social security institutions to improve their administrative performance and service quality, which is a condition for the future development and sustainability of their systems,” he added.
Konkolewsky, described Doha as the capital of social security in the world, indicating the materialisation of ISSA Centre for Excellence in Doha , which is considered as one of the most important achievements in the social security systems in the world.
He stressed that the security systems have witnessed better stages in recent years and were able to stand in front of a number of different challenges and economic crises thanks to the efforts and views of the members in the assembly, which have contributed to clearly enforce the infrastructure of social security.
ISSA guidelines cover key areas of good governance, Service Quality, Information and Communication Technology, Contribution Collection and Compliance, Investment of Social Security Funds, Return to Work and Reintegration, Workplace Health Promotion, Prevention of Occupational Risks
The services of the ISSA Centre for Excellence will be accessible to ISSA member organizations, and will be introduced in phases, beginning next month.
The Peninsula
