Taipo described the social security system as a fundamental tool in the fight against poverty, for greater social cohesion, and for promoting the welfare of the beneficiaries and their dependents.
She was speaking in Maputo, during a workshop on extending Social Security to self-employed Mozambican workers. The workshop is looking into the best mechanism to fit such independent workers into the national social security system, in the light of the new Social Protection Law.
This law, passed by the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, late last year, envisages that self-employed people may pay contributions to the social security system directly, rather than via an employer, as is the case with waged workers.
Taipo said that over the last two years, the government has been taking measures to enable the National Social Security Institute (INSS) to improve the quality of its services. This involved "management based on transparency, cutbacks on costs, fast service to the beneficiaries, simplification of procedures, and a culture of humanity and solidarity with the beneficiaries".
"We expect this meeting to enrich the discussion that the INSS has been promoting about producing regulations to apply the new law, and about reorganization to create an efficient structure and broaden the coverage of social security to cater for all citizens", said Taipo.
She added that implementing the new law is a challenge to the INSS and to the country as a whole. "Let us unite in this challenge to guarantee the future of the workers", she urged.
The three day workshop is part of a cooperation programme between the Mozambican Labour Ministry and the Portuguese Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity.
SOURCE: AIM
