The Director General of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fouad Daboh on Monday 20th February 2023 was the proud recipient of two Consultants on the Informal Sector from Costa Rica, Luis Bernardo Saenz and Jose Pacheco, and a Social Security Expert from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Tekun Segun, from Nigeria.
Speaking at the occasion, the Director General expressed his delight for having the guests in Sierra Leone to add value to the activities leading to the formation of a scheme for the informal sector.
Updating the Consultants, Mr Daboh informed the gathering that in a bid to extending social protection to every Sierra Leonean, NASSIT commenced engagements for the extension coverage to people in the informal sector who constitute about 90% of the labour force in the country.
He said the unattractiveness of the current NASSIT Scheme to the informal sector membership coupled with the nature of their jobs had increased their vulnerability to many social risks that require urgent attention.
Moving the process forward, Mr. Dabor opined, the engagement of experts to conduct an assessment of the status of coverage of workers in the informal sector economy, the identification of policy gaps and barriers, and the priority needs of the sector was critical.
He expressed gratitude to the International Labour Organization (ILO) for their support to the process, and informed the Consultants that Management was greatly impressed with their technical knowledge, while encouraging them to adhere to time and all the guidelines in their terms of reference.
Responding, the Consultants thanked the Director General and his team for making it possible for them to visit Sierra Leone at this critical stage of the process. They promised to work assiduously to meet their target and deliver a comprehensive status report that will be instrumental in design and formation of the informal sector scheme. The ILO expert, Tekun Segun, pledged his organisation’s determination to see that the entire process yields the desired dividends.
In the coming days, in addition to meeting the NASSIT Board Chairman, the Consultants will hold briefings with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Sierra Leone Labour Congress and the Technical Committee for the formation of an Informal Sector Scheme.
Their visit will be climaxed by a nationwide engagement with stakeholders in the informal sector at the Freetown International Conference Centre to validate the Focus Group Discussion report.