Nepal

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Situación y prioridades

Situación de la protección social

The 2015 Constitution recognizes social security as a right to all citizens in Article 43 and the 15th National Development Plan (2019-2025) recognizes social protection as one of the nine drivers for transformation in the country and as a cross-cutting instrument to build an equitable and just society and to guarantee fundamental rights to food security, employment, health, and education. The Plan sets the goal “…to make social security and protection sustainable, universal, and accessible, for the implementation of civil rights and to strengthen the trust of citizens towards the state.

To operationalize the right to social protection, a number of legislations that include provisions related to social protection were enacted such as the Civil Service Act (Third Amendment, 2014), the Labour Act, 2017, the Health Insurance Act, 2017, the Contribution-based Social Security Act, 2017, the Right to Employment Act, 2018, and the Social Security Act, 2018. Furthermore, the National Planning Commission recently formalized an Integrated National Framework on Social Protection with the goal to make the national social protection system more inclusive, flexible, and effective and to ensure access to all citizens.

A recent ILO Report on Extending social protection to all in Nepal: An analysis of protection gaps showed that 32.9 percent of Nepalis had access to at least one social protection benefits, and only 16.9 percent had access to income support. Access to social security for people of working age is the least prevalent form of social protection in Nepal. Only 9.9 per cent (or 1.8 million) of the total population between 15-59 years have access to either income support, in-kind benefits, or active labour market programmes, leaving approximately 16.9 million people unprotected.

Both non-contributory income support and contributory measures have low levels of coverage for those in the working age, reaching 5.3 per cent and 4.3 per cent of the population, respectively. Low coverage of contributory measures can be attributed to the fact that the mandatory social security schemes under the Social Security Fund (SSF) have been recently implemented and coverage is limited to workers in the formal sector only. Non-contributory measures in implementation are targeted to specific categories or groups. Despite existing gaps, Nepal is making robust strides to guarantee the constitutional right to social protection for all in the country.

COVID-19 and other crises

The Government of Nepal has introduced a number of measures to mitigate the immediate and medium-term impact of the crisis:

  • Health spending was increased to ensure an adequate response to the health crisis to include free health care to those that have tested positive for COVID-10. Additionally, an insurance package of NPR 2.5 MM was provided to healthcare and security personnel involved in treating COVID-19 patients.
  • Measures to ensure the viability of the Social Security Fund (SSF) was also introduced. Employers had to pay the salaries of their workers during the lock-down period but could use their welfare fund, in return the government temporarily deposited the contributions to the SSF normally deposited by employees and employers for three months.
  • In response to the spike in unemployment due to the COVID-19 crisis and given the absence of a statutory unemployment benefit, the government relied on the Prime Minister’s Employment Programme (PMEP) which aimed at providing 100-days of waged-employment to the unemployed, including returnee migrant workers and informal sector workers.
  • Measures for vulnerable and low-income households included relief package such as waivers of public utilities’ fees and transportation costs.
  • Other immediate measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on economic development and the labour market include tax deferrals, relaxation on repayment of loans for businesses, support for enterprises in the most affected sectors, such as tourism and transportation, as well as subsidized funding sustaining small and mid-size enterprises affected by the pandemic.
Prioridades del gobierno
  • Extend coverage to 60 per cent of the population with basic social protection schemes by Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24.
  • Extend contribution-based social security to workers in the informal sector, self-employment, and workers in foreign employment
  • Decentralize the administration of the Social Security Fund, and improve its management and information systems.
  • Build a culture of social protection among workers and employers.

Proyectos y programas de la OIT

Brechas en el financiamiento / Apoyar a la OIT

US$ 50.000

Support the extension of contribution-based social security to workers in the informal sector and self-employed

Impact: 200,000 workers - N° of persons effectively covered (related SDG 1.3.1)
US$ 80.000

Strengthened management information system for improved delivery of contribution-based social security

Impact: N° of persons with better access to social protection (single registry, online application, one stop-service)
US$ 50.000

Comprehensive governance and financing strategy of social protection programmes

Impact: N° of persons potentially covered by a strategy

Support the ILO

Expertos de la OIT

IMG
André Felipe Bongestabs
Specialist on Local Strategies
Nita Neupane
Programme Officer
IMG
Mariko Ouchi
Senior Specialist, Social Protection