Tuesday 15 / April / 2025
Muscat: The Technical Seminar of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) began on Monday under the title “Innovative Social Security Reforms to Address Emerging Challenges.”
Organised by the Social Protection Fund at Al Bustan Palace Hotel, the two-day event is held in collaboration with the ISSA, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the ISSA Liaison Office for the Arab Countries.
Dr. Faisal Abdullah Al Farsi, CEO of the Social Protection Fund, emphasised that the seminar comes at a time when social protection, insurance, and pension systems worldwide are undergoing fundamental transformations due to accelerating, multidimensional challenges.
These include demographic shifts—particularly population aging—alongside economic and social changes, labor market developments, and the aspirations of younger generations for fairer, more flexible, and sustainable systems.
In his speech, he highlighted the seminar’s significance as a platform bringing together elite experts, policymakers, and representatives of international organisations to review inspiring developmental experiences and discuss ways to enhance social protection, insurance, and pension systems.
The goal is to improve their ability to respond to future risks and evolving societal needs while fostering the exchange of insights, ideas, and successful practices.
The seminar focused on presenting national reform experiences within two structural themes of critical importance to the region.
The first addressed reforms tackling challenges related to social security financing, population aging, climate change, and shifting labour markets.
The second centred on reforms aimed at expanding population coverage, broadening social security systems through new branches and benefits, and enhancing benefit adequacy.
The event opened with an in-depth presentation on Oman’s comprehensive social protection system reform, which has garnered global attention and earned the Omani Social Protection Fund the ISSA Good Practice Award for Asia and the Pacific in 2024.
This was followed by a strategic analysis and perspectives from key international organisations on the state of social security reforms, regional trends, and challenges.
The first day’s agenda featured a session titled “Social Security Reforms in Oman – A Roadmap to Comprehensive Social Protection,” where Sayyid Shabib Abdullah Al Busaidi, Deputy CEO for Social Protection Affairs, delivered a detailed presentation on Oman’s pioneering experience in social protection system reforms.
The second session, a roundtable titled “Where Do We Stand in Social Protection in the Region? Trends, Challenges, and Macroeconomic Balance – Building Sustainability,” examined the relationship between social protection and economic policies, with participation from representatives of the ILO, ISSA, World Bank, and UNICEF.
The third session, “Reforms and Measures to Address Financing Challenges, Climate Change, Population Aging, and Evolving Labor Markets,”* showcased inspiring international case studies.
The second day will include sessions on “Reforms to Expand Coverage and Enhance Benefit Adequacy,” along with a high-level roundtable featuring representatives of regional social security institutions.
Discussions will focus on developing these institutions to implement reforms, sharing experiences, and identifying facilitators and barriers to institutional change.
