NASSAU, Bahamas – Acting Prime Minister the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin said the Bahamas National Insurance Board (NIB) provides services to over 150,000 individuals and their dependents and offers eight of the nine benefit branches recognized by the International Labour Organization; these include unemployment benefits, maternity, funeral, sickness, survivor, industrial and retirement benefits.
The Acting Prime Minister gave the keynote address at the Opening Ceremony of the 32nd Meeting of the Heads of CARICOM Social Security Organizations at the Baha Mar Resort on Monday, October 28, 2024.
She explained that the NIB also offers assistance programmes for those in need who did not make social security contributions or did not make the contribution threshold. “Working in tandem with our social security efforts at NIB is our Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting, which offers a wide range of non-contributory needs-based services to ensure support in vital areas of our most vulnerable populations.”
The Acting Prime Minister said the government is very proud of the many ways it has offered social support and security to our people. “However, like many of our regional peers we have faced sustainability challenges posed by the changing demographics, increased extreme weather events due to climate change and the spike in assistance rendered due to the global pandemic.
“Through it all, we have been able to maintain our levels of coverage but it does come with a cost. A cost we must now adapt to and mitigate by embracing modern innovations and advances in efficiency as well as adjusting our contribution models.”
She noted that the CARICOM nations are currently adapting to what is referred to as the triple transition of climate change, digitalization and social justice.
The Acting Prime Minister said in the context of these emerging global challenges and priorities, the delegates will use this meeting to work towards answers to the region’s most pressing questions.
These include: what does sustainable social security look like in a region of Small Island Developing States that will increasingly have to spend larger amounts of our national budgets on climate resilience; how can the region leverage digitalization to make its social security systems more efficient and effective; how can the region continue to make fairer and more equitable societies through social security while ensuring financial sustainability; and how can the region leverage the challenges ahead of us as opportunities to grow and embrace and adjust a sustainable future for its people.
She said, “CARICOM nations must now unite around an agenda that includes increased knowledge sharing and collaborative development of solutions.
“We must work together to embrace innovations in efficiency and accessibility; and we must continue to combine our voices on the world stage as we push for changes in existing global climate financing systems and demand greater accountability for climate justice so our nations can have a fair chance at responding to a climate crisis that we did not create.”
Minister of Immigration and National Insurance the Hon. Alfred Sears; Secretary-General, Inter-American Conference of Social Security, Alvaro Velarca Hernandez; President, Social Security Association, Director, International Labour Organization, Office for the Caribbean, Dr. Joni Musabayana; President, International Social Security Association, Dr. Mohammed Azman; Chairman, NIB, Philip McKenzie; and Acting Director, NIB, Heather Maynard also attended the opening.
Acting Prime Minister the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin gave the keynote address at the Opening Ceremony of the 32nd Meeting of the Heads of CARICOM Social Security Organizations at Baha Mar Resort on Monday, October 28, 2024. Minister of Immigration and National Insurance the Hon. Alfred Sears; Secretary-General, Inter-American Conference of Social Security, Alvaro Velarca Hernandez; President, Social Security Association, Director, International Labour Organization, Office for the Caribbean, Dr. Joni Musabayana; President, International Social Security Association, Dr. Mohammed Azman; Chairman, NIB, Philip McKenzie; and Acting Director, NIB, Heather Maynard also attended the opening.
(BIS Photos/Ulric Woodside)
