Governance and social security: Moving forward on the ISSA good governance guidelines

Governments in many countries are redefining policies and strategies in order to respond to the profound and growing social security needs of their citizens. Good governance in social security administration is indispensable to achieve the desired results because new policies and strategies can only be as good as their implementation. The article focuses on good governance at two levels of authority: i) the social security organization, and ii) national Government. At the level of a social security organization, we discuss a stylized governance framework that provides an overview of what is involved in the implementation of a social security programme. The discussion is elevated to the national level in order to focus on the governance of a social security system. From a governance point of view, this article underscores the primary role of governments to facilitate national consensus on the overall objectives of the country's social security system. It argues for the designation of a national authority on social security to ensure the coherent implementation and development of the various programmes that comprise the country's social security system. Greater synchronization of social security policy with employment and labour market policies is important to ensure positive synergies and joint effectiveness in providing access to work opportunities in the formal sectors of the economy, which is key to tackling poverty and social exclusion and to enabling the poor greater access to more comprehensive forms of social security protection. Good governance will better ensure the sustained and lasting contribution of social security to national economic growth and development.