AMMAN — Experts urged the
Social Security Corporation (SSC) to make extensive efforts for developing a comprehensive
social protection system, inclusive of all workers to provide them with
benefits and social insurance on equal basis.
اضافة اعلان
Their call followed an SSC announcement that its
Estidama++ program will be launched soon, setting the stage for establishments
and the self-employed to submit applications for benefits through the program.
Beneficiaries
include establishments operating in the agricultural sector, and micro, small,
and medium enterprises which employ 10 workers or less, regardless of their
nationality, as well as self-employed individuals, whether Jordanians or non-Jordanians,
in the tourism and transportation sectors.
The SSC announced that its original
Estidama program, which provided assistance to workers during the COVID-19 pandemic,
will expire at the end of June. The corporation and the International Labor
Organization (ILO) signed an agreement on May 24, paving the way for the
emergence of the new initiative, entitled Estidama++ Fund.
The corporation said the fund will promote
formalization in the most vulnerable sectors in the Jordanian economy by
providing income support and subsidizing contributions of Jordanian and
non-Jordanian workers, including refugees, to encourage their participation in
the SSC. It said the first phase will be implemented over 18 months and it is
expected to benefit 13,000 workers in key sectors.
Mazen Al-Maaytah, head of the General Federation of
Jordanian Trade Unions, stressed the importance of the Estidama++ program in
supporting the labor sector, especially those working in the informal economy
sectors.
He said the program provides data on workers in
small and micro economic enterprises, which contributes to the transition to an
organized economy.
Maaytah maintained that violation of workers’ rights
is increasing in the unorganized labor sector, which requires strict measures
to protect workers.
He said that the program differs from previous ones
introduced by the SSC during the COVID-19 pandemic because “this one allows the
self-employed workers to benefit from it”.
Maaytah pointed
out that the “SSC has a great responsibility towards developing the social
protection system to include all segment of workers, and to provide them with
the benefits and social insurance provided by the Social Security Law.”
He noted that the participation in social security
is a right for the worker, whether those in the organized or the unorganized
economy. “It is one of the decent work standards guaranteed by domestic
legislation and the ILO’s conventions,” he explained.
Mousa Al-Subaihi, an insurance and social protection
expert, said Estidama++ must expand the base of those covered by the SSC “by
including groups that suffer greatly from the low level of regulation, some of
which are included in the informal labor sector and the informal economy”.
He emphasized that “it should extend to wider
sectors of agricultural holdings and transportation, and include self-employed
workers in other sectors such as trade, stall sellers, street vendors, workers
in various professions and services, in addition to the workers of the
construction sector.”
Head of the
Jordanian Workers’ House Hamada Abu
Nijmeh said that “Estidama++ aims at “improving the situation of the most
vulnerable workers in Jordan by expanding their coverage with social security,
and facilitating their access to income support by registering them with the
SSC.”
He said that the stated goal “is important, but the
lesson is how would it be implemented”.
“It is important that the worker would not be bogged
down by any additional burdens at a time when the pandemic exhausted him
financially,” he said. “Also, the right of a worker to access a comprehensive
insurance shall not be prejudiced.”
Read more Features
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
