Over 9 Million People Gain Better Access to Social Protection Through ILO Support

More than 50 representatives from participating countries and development partners joined a tripartite webinar on 23 September to review achievements and lessons.

More than 9 million people have improved access to social protection through measures supported by an International Labour Organization (ILO) project funded by Belgium and Luxembourg, with results ranging from expanded maternity care to health insurance for artisans. The project supported the 2021–25 second phase of the Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for All, helping six countries strengthen inclusive, financially sustainable systems grounded in people's rights. Its work addressed gaps that leave many informal workers without protection when illness, unemployment or other difficulties interrupt their livelihoods.

Bringing protection closer to workers and families

More than 50 representatives from participating countries and development partners joined a tripartite webinar on 23 September to review achievements and lessons. Valérie Schmitt, Chief of the ILO's Universal Social Protection Branch, connected legal reforms, financial assessments and management systems with their practical purpose: helping people access protection during illness, maternity, unemployment, workplace accidents and old age. She stressed that social security remains out of reach for millions of informal workers, making the extension of coverage an unfinished task despite the progress reported.

Country results show how that work translates into services people can use. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the project helped put universal health coverage into operation, improving access to free maternity and newborn care for more than 2 million people. Support for Burkina Faso's universal health insurance scheme helped bring health services within reach of over 400,000 people, and 60,000 artisans in Senegal now have access to health insurance. In Lao PDR, stronger national health insurance management and financing, together with improved social security inspections, contributed to better coverage for the scheme's more than 6 million members.

Reaching informal workers through policy and practical changes

Burundi adopted a new National Social Protection Policy and a roadmap for extending coverage to informal workers with project support. Arcade Nimubona, Permanent Executive Secretary of the country's National Social Protection Commission, credited the ILO with helping establish foundations for better data, coordination and coverage monitoring. Rwanda introduced mechanisms to extend social security to informal workers, with trade union cooperation providing another route to reach people whose jobs can leave them outside established protection systems.

Lea Rukumbage, Second Deputy at Rwanda's construction, wood and craft workers' union STECOMA, reported that membership rose from 78,000 to 80,100 through its partnership with the ILO. Among companies visited, 90 per cent expressed willingness to work with the union and extend protection to construction workers, a sign of employer interest rather than confirmation of completed enrolment. Senegal, Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are implementing approaches to automatic enrolment and easier contribution payments, which can help expand coverage and maintain the financing needed to sustain it.

Sharing lessons and carrying the work into 2030

Regional cooperation gave countries opportunities to learn from each other, and the CONNECT network for social health protection expanded to 18 member institutions across Asia and the Pacific. Tiantong Keogwa, Director of the Planning and Cooperation Unit at the Lao Social Security Organization, highlighted Senegal's lesson that extending coverage requires cooperation across government institutions and better use of existing information. Exchanges during the webinar helped participants identify approaches they could adapt to their own countries, building on the project's support for shared knowledge and learning.

Thomas Barbancey, Luxembourg's Deputy Director for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, described social protection as an investment in people's resilience and fairer societies. The multi-donor arrangement helped resources go further, increased the reach and visibility of Belgium's and Luxembourg's contributions, and opened opportunities for complementary funding, expertise and partnerships. The ILO will continue working with governments and social partners during the Flagship Programme's third phase, covering 2026–30, to sustain these advances and help more people access protection when they need it.