Discussion session explores Social Security Corporation’s  ‘Istidama ++’ programme

AMMAN — Jordanian NGO Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights Organisation on Sunday organised a discussion session on Social Security Corporation’s (SSC) “Istidama ++” programme.

The session titled, “Istidama ++ The Challenges and Opportunities”, presented different aspects of the programme, providing snapshots of its objectives, its beginning and the workers it targeted.

The programme is aimed to support the contributions of private sector workers, offering them incentives. “Istidama ++ seeks to expand the inclusion of people in social security programmes,” according to Tamkeen.

Speaking during the session, Ahmad Obeid, head of the actuarial studies department and member of the board of Istidama programme at the SSC, said that the programme was initiated back in 2020 with the onset of the economic setbacks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“There was a need to support people who are employed in the informal economy… who were not supported by any programme back then,” he said.

Obeid added that the programme is SSC’s first attempt to try to understand the particularities of the informal economy, being a new experience that sought to design interventions tailored to the needs of people employed in the informal economy or those who are self-employed.

For his part, insurance and social security expert Musa Al Sbeihi talked about some of the challenges relating to the programme. He noted that “the programme has an ambitious agenda, however, people do not have much information about it”.

Further, there should be clear evidence or even results that show the progress of the programme’s different stages, he noted.