Blog – Friends across frontiers (FXF)

22Jul 2017 by V. de Claro

Reducing fund liability of the Veterans Pension System in Cambodia

Policy Talk

CAMBODIA - The National Fund for Veterans (NFV) was created in 2010 to manage the administration of social security benefits of the armed forces and national police in Cambodia. It was established to centralize the administration and disbursement of benefits for veterans in order to increase efficiency, improve service standards, and strengthen the overall governance of the system. The scheme was originally designed to be contributory but to this day remains to be fully financed by the government. Over the years, the total pension expenditure of NFV continues to rise even breaching the US$80 million mark in 2016. This huge government spending, which accounts for 8.3% of the total government expenditure, only ensures the coverage of 1.4% of the total population. While such spending is laudable, the budget only provides…

06Jul 2017 by V. de Claro

Raising the Next Generation of Social Protection Advocates

Stories on the Ground

PHILIPPINES - More than 70 percent of the world population is not adequately covered by social protection and only 27 percent enjoys access to comprehensive social security, according to the latest report by the International Labor Organization (ILO).This means that about three quarters of mankind worldwide are living without adequate security against individual risks like disease, accident, motherhood, old age and death. Lack of social security leads to catastrophic consequences on macroeconomic costs and economic growth, and the rising health care cost will continue to push more people into poverty. While developed countries are consolidating their social protection systems, many low and middle-income countries on the other hand are trying hard to expand their coverage. Although in many instances, it is still inadequate, fragmented and steeped with inefficiencies. Ms. Joanna…