ILO PROSPECTS Programme Partners to Strengthen Social Health Protection in Ethiopia

Leveraging the ILO's expertise in social health protection, the training was tailored to address Ethiopia's specific needs identified during joint engagement with EHIS and UNHCR.

The ILO PROSPECTS Programme, in partnership with Ethiopian Health Insurance Services (EHIS) and UNHCR Ethiopia, conducted a four-day training session on Social Health Protection from July 9-12. The training aimed to enhance the capabilities of policymakers and administrators responsible for overseeing Ethiopia's social health protection programs. Forty participants, including seven women, from various organizations such as EHIS, workers and employers' organizations, UNHCR Ethiopia, the Refugee and Returnees Service (RRS), the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MOWSA), the Ministry of Health (MoH), and regional health bureaus benefited from the training.

Leveraging the ILO's expertise in social health protection, the training was tailored to address Ethiopia's specific needs identified during joint engagement with EHIS and UNHCR. Participants explored global best practices and potential partnerships with social protection actors to learn from these experiences.

Key Highlights:

ILO Instruments and Social Protection: The training underscored ILO instruments, including the Equality of Treatment of Nationals and Non-Nationals in Social Security Convention, 1962 (No. 118), and the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205). These instruments recognize the importance of including displaced persons and refugees in social protection mechanisms. Additionally, the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), reaffirms social protection as a human right and a necessity for development.

Focus on Leadership and Reform: Stephen Opio, Chief Technical Advisor at ILO, highlighted that the training was not only about knowledge transfer but also about nurturing leadership qualities to inspire collective action and drive necessary reforms in Social Health Protection for all in Ethiopia. He emphasized the ILO's commitment to extending social protection coverage, especially to vulnerable populations like refugees and their host communities.

Ethiopian Government's Efforts: Tesfaye Worku, Director General of EHIS, acknowledged the Ethiopian government's ongoing efforts towards universal health coverage. He explained that health insurance is a key reform program providing financial protection for rural and urban informal sector citizens when accessing healthcare. Tesfaye emphasized the importance of capacity building for EHIS staff to strengthen the overall health insurance system and ensure the extension of coverage towards achieving universal health coverage for all.

Training Objectives:

The training aimed to strengthen participants' abilities to:

Monitor and analyze the performance of Ethiopia's social health protection systems against international benchmarks.

Identify priorities for reform and financing strategies for social health protection systems.

Lead policy development and craft multi-stakeholder engagement strategies.

Address challenges in extending social protection coverage to the informal economy, migrants, and refugees.

Call to Action:

In his concluding remarks, Stephen Opio emphasized that universal coverage and access to social protection are foundational to ending poverty and fostering shared prosperity. He called upon participants to:

Initiate a national dialogue with relevant stakeholders, including employers, workers, UN agencies, and development partners.

Collectively identify gaps in social protection.

Jointly determine appropriate strategies to address these gaps.

 

Spearheaded and funded by the Government of the Netherlands, the training was delivered through the PROSPECTS Programme, a global partnership aimed at improving access to education, social protection, and decent work for host communities and forcibly displaced people. This initiative marks a significant step towards strengthening Ethiopia's social health protection systems and ensuring that all citizens, including the most vulnerable, have access to essential health services.