How can female informal workers in the Arab region's middle-income countries be effectively protected against life-cycle risks like old age and ill-health?
To identify practical and scalable policy solutions, ESCWA, with support from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), facilitated a cross-regional study tour to Brazil and Uruguay from 22 to 30 September for social policy decision makers and practitioners from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia . The delegation also included the Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa of the International Social Security Association (ISSA). The delegation explored policy solutions and innovative digital approaches to expanding social insurance coverage among female informal workers.
The study tour, organized within the framework of the collaboration of ESCWA with Germany's Development Cooperation through GIZ's regional Hiya MENA project, also enabled participants to engage directly with Brazilian and Uruguayan institutions and learn about policy designs and digital approaches that reduce informality by addressing administrative, financial and other barriers to social insurance access.
Key lessons highlighted the effectiveness of tailored benefits, flat-amount contribution payments, simplified procedures and integrated data systems in making social insurance more accessible to informal workers, particularly women.
Participants also examined Brazil's national care programme and Uruguay's policies to formalize domestic work, both of which aimed at expanding women's access to formal employment while reducing vulnerability in the workplace.
Through such initiatives, ESCWA continues to support member States in advancing inclusive social development and strengthening social protection systems that respond to evolving labour market realities.
