ILO | Social Protection Platform

Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

Social protection in Egypt has been gradually increasing over the past 10 years, culminating in the adoption of the Social Insurance and Pensions Law (Law 148 of 2019), which came into force on the first of January of 2020 and unified the regulatory framework, merging into one single legislation the four previous social insurance laws , fostering system coherence and moving the country one significant step forward towards universal protection. This consolidation entailed merging the Government Social Insurance Fund (GSIF) and the Public and Private Social Insurance Fund (PSIF) and brought under the same umbrella four large worker categories : employees with third parties, employers and the like, egyptians working aboard and workers in irregular employment. Law 148 covers the full range of pensions (old-age, disability, and survivors), work injury, unemployment, and sickness benefits. The ILO played a large role in the development of the Law and provides continuous support to the Government for its implementation.

In 2018 the Universal Health Insurance Law was adopted, which aims to achieve universal coverage by 2032 through a mix of contributory and non-contributory elements, financed in part by a new set of taxes. Social assistance is provided through two main cash transfer schemes: Takaful, for poor households, and Karama, aimed at the elderly, the disabled, and orphans. Financed with World Bank loans, in 2018

COVID-19 and other crises

The government of Egypt responded quickly to COVID-19, increasing the budget of the Takaful and Karama cash transfer programmes and adding an extra 160,000 beneficiaries. Pensions were increased by 14%, while workers in the informal economy who lost their jobs were provided with a monthly payment of EGP 500 (US$32) for three months. Workers had to register with the Ministry of Manpower, with the programme reaching 1.6 million beneficiaries.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity also organized consultations on long-term methods to support artists in the informal economy. The new Social Insurance Law provides them legal coverage, with more support now necessary to provide them with effective access to the contributory system.
As the COVID-19 crisis context exacerbating the lack of social protection of informal economy workers, the prime ministerial decree No. 2183 of 2020 created a ministerial committee, headed by the Minister of Social Solidarity with the mandate to implement the extension of social protection to informal workers.

The ongoing war on Ukraine has had a singular impact in Egypt, such as inflation rising (which by March 2022 had already reached 12%) and currency devaluation, increasing energy prices, reducing tourism revenues (as Ukraine and Russia represent approximately 40% of tourist flow to the country), and specially increase food prices and disruption of global supply chains, particularly of wheat, which Egypt imported 80% of its national consumption from Russia (54%) and Ukraine (26%). As responses related to social protection, the government increase the social insurance pensions by 13% on April 2022 and added a total of 450,000 new families to “Takaful and Karama”.

In the context of Egypt’s ongoing efforts to extend social protection benefits to the most vulnerable sectors and also framed by COP27, hosted by Egypt on November 2022, in Sharm El Sheikh, ILO is supporting the ministry to identify the most vulnerable sectors that will be affected by climate change, provide an overview of the existing social protection mechanisms, and provide recommendations regarding their capacity to build resilience and safeguarding vulnerable populations against the socio-economic impacts of climate change-related events and processes

Visit the Social Protection COVID-19 Monitor

Government and social partner priorities

Implement the Social Insurance Law, which involves pension reform and providing effective social insurance coverage to workers in the informal economy.
Implement the Universal Health Insurance law, and reach universal coverage by 2032.
Extend social protection to informal workers.
Enhance the social protection system to become more shock responsive to climate change and other crisis.

ILO Projects and Programmes

Building Social Protection Floors for All - Phase II
13.12.2021 - 31.12.2025 USD 8,316,335 Belgium , Multi Donor , Luxembourg , Germany
PROSPECTS - Inclusive jobs and education for refugees and host communities in Egypt
28.10.2019 - 30.06.2025 USD 12,658,127 Netherlands

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Results

The ILO provided extensive technical support to the Government of Egypt in the drafting of the Social Insurance Law. For more details, please consult the results monitoring tool below.