Employment Services & Social Protection Project

closed

The principal objective of this project is to quickly develop the capacity of the Federal Employment Service (FES) to process the anticipated upsurge of benefit claims from the rapidly growing numbers of unemployed. It is also aimed at developing the capacity of the FES to carry out active employment policies, including retraining, at assisting the Ministry of Social Protection (MSP) develop improved pensions administration; to reform the pension system and commence the design of a modern social security system. The loan will finance equipment and technical assistance: (a) to rapidly improve the FES's capacity to register and pay benefits to the unemployed, and to introduce computer systems, policies, standards and related software; (b) to build the longer term capacity of the FES and the MSP: (i) for the FES: to design programs; to strengthen program services; to strengthen FES's efforts to organize job training for the unemployed; (ii) for the MSP: to improve the operational effectiveness of the MSP and develop and test the automation of cash benefit delivery; and (iii) to initiate the design of a modern social security scheme and the development of a master plan for the different agencies involved with employment service, cash benefits and social assistance, together with recommendations for phasing and a detailed design for the next phase.