The International Social Security Association (ISSA) is an international organization bringing together national social security administrations and agencies. Founded in 1927, the ISSA has more than 340 member organizations in 165 countries. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the International Labour Office (ILO).
Social security The recognition of social security as a basic human right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The development of social security programmes is considered to be one of the most significant social achievements of the international community, but its enhancement and extension remain one of the main challenges of the 21st century. As per the ISSA Constitution, the term "social security" means any scheme or programme established by legislation, or any other mandatory arrangement, which provides protection, whether in cash or in kind, in the event of employment accidents, occupational diseases, unemployment, maternity, sickness, invalidity, old age, retirement, survivorship, or death, and encompasses, among others, benefits for children and other family members, health care benefits, prevention, rehabilitation, and long-term care. It can include social insurance, social assistance, mutual benefit schemes, provident funds, and other arrangements which, in accordance with national law or practice, form part of a country's social security system. At the World Social Security Forum held in 2016 in Panama the then ISSA Secretary General Hans-Horst Konkolewsky underscored that global trends, including demographic changes and the impact of the digital economy are transforming the context in which social security operates. While there is an unprecedented global political commitment to provide all people with access to social protection, and recognition that social security is a social and economic investment, the future sustainability and extension of social security will require significant innovation.
Aims The constitutional mandate of the ISSA is "to co-operate, at the international level, in the promotion and development of social security throughout the world (...) in order to advance the social and economic conditions of the population on the basis of social justice." The ISSA's aim is to promote Dynamic Social Security as the social dimension in a globalizing world through supporting excellence in social security administration. The ISSA promotes excellence in social security administration through professional guidelines, expert knowledge, services and support to enable its members to develop dynamic social security systems and policy throughout the world. To face the evolving needs of the world's population, the ISSA advocates that social security must increasingly adapt and innovate to foster integrated, coherent, proactive, and forward-looking social security policies with the aim of better ensuring universal access to social security.
History Founded under the auspices of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 4 October 1927 in Brussels (Belgium), as the International Conference of Sickness Insurance Funds and Mutual Benefit Societies - Conférence internationale des unions nationales de sociétés mutuelles et de caisses d'assurance-maladie. The name was changed in 1936, in Prague (Czechoslovakia), to the International Social Insurance Conference - Conférence internationale de la mutualité et des assurances sociales (CIMAS). The present name was adopted in 1947, in Geneva (Switzerland), together with a new Constitution. The ISSA is accorded General Category consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This accreditation by the United Nations has been given in recognition of the fact that the ISSA's work conforms to the spirit, charter and principles of the United Nations. The privileges that come with this title affords to the ISSA the right to attend, and contribute in a substantive manner to, UN General Assembly special sessions, as well as international conferences called by the UN and other intergovernmental bodies. In the space of nine decades, the ISSA has expanded into a worldwide Association, now bringing together more than 340 organizations in 165 countries.
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