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ILO trains civil servants from INSS and MAPTSS of Angola on Communication for Social Protection
António Gonga, Comms and Partnerships Officer, Angola
With funding from the European Union, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) held a training course in Luanda from 7 to 10 May for staff from Angola's National Social Security Institute (INSS), the Ministry of Public Administration, Labour and Social Security (MAPTSS) and partners.
The training was attended by communication officials, managers, technicians, advisors, and communication consultants from the INSS, MAPTSS and partners, totalling 47 people, 24 of whom were women. The training was also attended by a representative of the National Police's Social Protection Fund.
During the opening session, the ILO's project manager in Angola, Denise Monteiro, said that the aim was to help improve the communication work carried out by the INSS and MAPTSS and to promote actions aimed at achieving better results in the efforts they have made to materialise their mission in the field of social protection.
The initiative is part of the "Expansion of Social Security to Support the Formalisation of the Angolan Economy (ESSAFE Angola)" project, implemented by the ILO and funded by the European Union, with the aim of supporting the Angolan government's formalisation efforts by expanding social security coverage and benefits.
Legenda: Participants of the event
Foto: © ILO
During the four-day course, participants were given the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences about the communication practices of the INSS and opportunities for improvement and were equipped with relevant knowledge and techniques to improve their relations with journalists and citizens, including media training and communication plans.
Through participatory dynamics, they also presented recommendations for improving communication practices at the INSS in order to reach its target audiences more efficiently, especially workers in the informal economy.
The course was taught by Catarina Almeida Pereira, a Portuguese journalist from Jornal de Negócios, Catarina Duarte, a communications consultant, and Mariana Pereira, a Social Protection Expert from ILO Lisbon.
In his closing remarks, the Secretary of State for Social Security, Pedro Filipe, reminded the participants of the importance of communication training for social protection, within the framework of the public commitment to develop a social protection system that better meets the wishes and needs of citizens.
Training context
This course is taking place in a context where, in Angola, it is estimated that only 10.5 per cent of the population is covered by at least one social protection cash benefit, leaving 89.5 per cent of the population without any kind of support.
This course is taking place in a context where it is estimated that only 10.5 per cent of the population in Angola is covered by at least one social protection cash benefit, leaving 89.5 per cent of the population without any kind of support. Informal employment covers 80.5 per cent of the economically active population, according to a survey by the National Statistics Institute (February 2023). This percentage is higher for women (87.9 per cent) than for men (72.3 per cent) and higher in rural areas (79.5 per cent) than in urban areas (54.4 per cent).
Overall, only around 1 in 10 Angolans is protected by a social protection scheme (10.5%), which compares with 17.4% on the African continent and 46.9% worldwide (ILO, 2020).
This is a situation that the ESSAFE Angola Project seeks to improve, through direct technical assistance to the INSS and the training of its teams, in order to promote a social protection system that is more appropriate to the country's context.