Summary

This publication, prepared by the Social Security Department of the ILO, is the outcome of the Interregional Tripartite Meeting on the Future of Social Security in Arab States, held in Amman, Jordan, from 6 to 8 May 2008.

The report reflects the major points of the discussions held following the presentations prepared by the representattives of the countries invited to the meeting.

All the presentations dealt with key aspects of social security, therefore the debates of themeeting focussed on managerial, gender and coverage challenges that the schemes of theregion are facing. The participants have also highlighted the need for early investments insocial security in the development process and they recognized the importance of socialsecurity as a powerful instrument to stabilize societies. The ILO conclusions of thismeeting underlined the commitment of the Organization to assist countries in closingcoverage gaps, in particular, in the informal economy, in the access to essential health care for all, in the adoption of social measures for children, the unemployed and the poor and income protection for the elderly and the disabled. This could be done by establishing a basic benefit package in order to guarantee basic social protection for all. In its conclusions, the ILO also committed to continue providing technical support for the ratification of social security conventions in the region.