CARICOM Social Securities Aim Always To Share Resources & Initiatives

A call has been made for the continued sharing of resources, skills, knowledge and different approaches used by this region’s social services organisations.

It was made earlier this month, as the International Social Security Association’s (ISSA) technical seminar titled: Communication approaches and strategies in social security institutions in the Caribbean, concluded in Barbados.

The three-day workshop, a joint effort between Barbados’ National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) and the CARICOM Social Security Organizations, was conducted at Hilton Barbados Resort, from June 2 to 4.

In her closing statements, Chief Executive Officer of the NISSS, Kim Tudor, stressed her continued interest in Caribbean integration and told her counterparts: “I am passionate and committed to the CARICOM Social Security Organizations, and our door is always open to you. If you are in Barbados at any time, let us know, so we can provide any help that you need.”

In a further missive to ISSA and social services organisations across the region, Ms. Tudor, remarked: “As we return to our respective roles, I trust that the insights shared will enhance the effectiveness of our communication strategies moving forward. With the ISSA group chat now active, I look forward to continued collaboration and the exchange of valuable ideas to strengthen our institutions.”

Meanwhile, the NISSS’ Chief Operations Officer (COO), Frances Fontinelle-Walcott, emphasising the importance of communication, said: “As [with] a business relationship, [or] personal relationship, without effective communication, nothing can work as it is supposed to work”.

She added: “Communication is a key factor for Social Security as we really try to connect, because often I say to myself when I interact with, say, an employer or a beneficiary: ‘How could you not know this? This information has been out there for so long. It has been repeated over and over. It’s on social media. It’s on the website. It’s in a booklet. You hear the jingle. How could you not know?’. But they don’t.”

The COO contended that this occurred because persons receive messages based on their past experiences, current situations and perspectives. And, she stressed this had to be understood when messages are to be tailored. 

“If we apply it to ourselves, sometimes, we don’t pay attention to messages that we see, even on social media until this applies to our situation. That’s how our constituents in Social Security think and we have to bear that in mind,” she recommended.

Ms. Fontinelle-Walcott, describing the sessions as having been “very inspiring and informative”, said: “All of our Social Securities are going through similar life cycles. … We have our growth years and now we are at some point of reform, once again. And the messaging that we have to get out there, in terms of reform, is very important because every time we speak about reform, we lose a bit of trust.”

Alluding to what the NISSS would hear in some instances, she noted public queries could run the gamut of, ‘What have you all done with the money?”, to “Again! You all want to take more money out?” And she stressed: “It makes our messaging and the methods we use to get those messages out, even more important.”

The Chief Operations Officer, who further noted that the youth present a new demographic which the NISSS must now cover, emphasised the need to formulate new ways of reaching them. She stated: “Before we had groups like the informal sector, the self-employed, maybe the migrant labourers. The youth, they do not believe that they should give their money to benefit somebody else.

“They do not believe in paying into Social Security because most of them have grown up in a different era to the persons who formed the Social Security, when the societies were still evolving. And it meant working together to build each other up. Most of our young people now, already come out of homes, where they are already built up and they have a very insular form of thinking. And so, our messaging to reach them has to be very tailored. And we spoke [in the workshop] about using different media, and the deliverer of the messages for them.”

She suggested identifying social media influencers, in their age group, as one way to reach the youth and persuade them towards the idea of Social Security. And she remarked: “I’m hoping that as we go forward that our messaging will reach the persons that we want them to reach and we will see an improvement in our contributions, collections … in the knowledge that people have.”

Mrs. Fontinelle-Walcott urged there be another ISSA workshop on Social Security, conducted in the region, for platform workers – those persons who conduct business online. Outlining the necessity of this, she concluded: “That’s a growing group in the Caribbean; I can say it for Barbados. There are a lot of young people who are working online, and they still have the same mindset, as well.”

The NISSS, like other social security entities across the region, participates in the annual meetings of CARICOM Heads of Social Security and plan training and other regional initiatives. The coming together of the CARICOM Social Securities’ network in various territories affords countries the opportunity to look at their success stories, while also examining the common challenges going forward.

More often than not, the region’s Social Securities seek to develop joint initiatives. This is already the case with the CARICOM Social Security Reciprocal Agreement where, if an individual worked in various CARICOM territories, he or she can still obtain pension in another. (PR/GIS)