Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Minister of Family and Social Development, Fernando Elísio Freire, guaranteed this Friday in Mindelo that the Government will replenish the funds withdrawn from the INPS (National Institute of Social Security) for the ‘lay-off’ period, assuring that the situation is “totally under control”.
Fernando Elísio Freire was responding to a question raised by the president of the Institute for the Promotion of Social Dialogue and Trade Union Freedom (Iprodial), Júlio Ascensão Silva, regarding the need to replenish the funds of the National Institute of Social Security (INPS) within the framework of the III Iprodial Forum, which is taking place in Mindelo, under the motto “For a sustainable social security system that protects insured persons and pensioners”.
“The INPS had to intervene at a special moment and it is clear that this accounting is mandatory. It will be done and worked on between the entities involved. There is no drama, the situation is totally under control, both on the part of the Government and on the part of the INPS,” he assured.
According to the government official, this replacement will be done on the basis that the INPS system also protected its assets.
In other words, he explained, when the INPS prevented a worker from becoming unemployed and prevented a company from closing its doors, it was guaranteeing a contributing asset. Otherwise, there would be no assets to collect social security contributions from.
“We will work to find the necessary balance. It is in this game of accounts where there is a part where the State enters, but there is also a part where the INPS has to enter,” the minister clarified, noting that the INPS “involved a lot of money” during COVID-19, in addition to the State itself.
“The amounts are very large. There was the issue of ‘lay-off’ [suspension of activities], the issue of exemption from social security payments for companies, there was the issue of special mechanisms for the INPS’s relationship with the insured person who contracted COVID-19,” he observed.
According to Fernando Elísio Freire, it can be said “with complete certainty” that the INPS (National Social Security Institute) is a “sustainable and robust” system, but one that faces challenges. The first challenge, he indicated, is the universalization of the social protection system, as it is fundamental for social cohesion and for combating exclusion and poverty.
“I believe that, at this moment, we have made extraordinary progress in the last seven or eight years. We went from almost 40 percent (%) to, at this moment, being above 60% of Cape Verdeans with access to social protection, which is a great victory,” analyzed the same source, for whom “the struggle now is to reach 100%”.
The second challenge, added the minister, is adapting the system to the economic, social, and also health realities.
In other words, he clarified, the goal is to get INPS (National Social Security Institute) to look at new situations and strengthen its actions, so that coverage includes cases related to promoting care and improving the quality of life of people who are no longer working but who contributed throughout their lives.
Furthermore, he added, they intend to include people with special needs and people who contribute to and are responsible for people with special needs, among others.
“We are working with the executive committee to move towards a comprehensive reform, in which the system can contribute to screening for certain diseases. For example, in women, with regard to oncological diseases, specifically breast cancer, and in men, with the issue of prostate cancer,” he affirmed.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
