Result achieved

31.12.2019 LAO226 Public

Outcome summary

The first National Social Protection Strategy was developed

Outcome achieved

The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MOLW) developed and finalized its first National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS), together with its implementation plan during 2018-2019. The strategy aims to be a guiding document for implementing social protection policies in the Lao PDR until 2025. The ILO convention 102 and Recommendation 202 were used as guiding principles in developing the NSPS. The NSPS defines three major goals aiming to ensure effective universal access to social protection services, and higher levels of protection for those more in need. These goals are (1) the Health Insurance system has been further developed and strengthened; (2) the Social Security system has been further developed and strengthened; and (3) the Social Welfare system has been further developed and strengthened. The overall coverage of health insurance from all schemes including national health insurance scheme, national social security fund, and military and police schemes covered 91% of the poor total population in 2017 and increased coverage to 94% and remains stable until 2019. This will help to accomplish the goal of Universal Health Coverage by 2025. Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare are in the process of merging statutory health insurance schemes under National Social and Security Fund and National Health Insurance. Currently the two ministries are jointly conducting a costing exercise of the health benefit package and health facilities with collaboration with the support of the ILO together with other Development Partners. This initiative has also benefited from ILO Recommendation 202. The NSPS was developed as a gender responsive social protection floor strategy of the country. Women are one of the target groups of the NSPS coverage. For example, providing services and benefits to pregnant women and early childhood benefits are the flagship programme to be implemented at the initial implementation of the strategy. Gender disaggregated data collection is clearly targeted in all 3 components of the NSPS.

ILO's contribution to the outcome

ILO has continued providing technical support to the development of the first national social protection strategy and its implementation plan. In 2018-2019, the NSPS drafting committee and its secretariat were supported through at least three technical meetings and consultations at the national and local level. There were also 4 dedicated discussions between the ILO and senior officials of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to finalize the draft strategy. ILO also provide capacity development to the national drafting committee team during all 4 workshops organized during the strategy drafting process. The NSPS benefits from the results obtained in the Assessment-Based National Dialogue on Social Protection (ABND) process conducted in 2015-2016 and published in April 2017. Based on the results from the ILO’s actuarial analysis of the social security fund and guided by the ILO’s convention 102, the ILO provided technical support in the review of the revised social security law. From 2018, ILO has provided support to the design of the institutional, technical, financial and operational features of the national efforts to merge its existing health insurance. ILO provided technical support on monitoring and supervising the implementation of the merged health insurance scheme piloting in the two provinces (Sekong and Vientiane provinces) where the merging is being piloted. The support also includes the costing of the health benefit package and health facilities with collaboration with other Development Partners, starting from March 2019 to March 2020. ILO provided technical support in the development of the NSPS and ensures that the NSPS was developed a gender-responsive social protection floors to ensure that all rural women have access to essential health care, childcare facilities and income security, in line with ILO Recommendation No. 202 concerning national floors of social protection.

International Labour Standard

The ILO’s convention 102 and the Recommendation 202 were guiding standards in the ILO’s support to the development of the national social protection. Through the process of the development, ILO provided capacity building on these ILO’s instruments to the national drafting team and its secretariat

Social dialogue

The involvement from the workers and employers organizations was significant to the development of the national social protection strategy. The established tripartite drafting committee was a set up for workers and employers to contribute their inputs and concerns to the national policy.