Countries around the world are engaged in debate on how to adapt their social security schemes to meet the challenges of ageing populations, globalization and changing employment and social conditions. Policy makers, administrators and social partners involved in social protection systems need access to international best practices and standards and the relevant technical skills in order to build sustainable, affordable and effective social security schemes.

• To enhance the capacity of governments, employers' organizations, workers' organizations and other social and economic actors to play an effective role in the design, management and governance of social security schemes, the Centre offers the following learning activities:
• Pension schemes : workshops aim at improving the participants' skills in designing pension schemes and improving the administration and governance of social security institutions.
• Social security financing : courses are oriented towards developing the skills of the participants on the principles of financing and financing methods, actuarial and statistical techniques, basic modeling and investments of social security funds.
• Social Health Insurance: courses are designed to enhance the capacity of planners and managers to design and implement a social health insurance scheme and its linkages with the national health care system.
• Social assistance: training sessions analyze programmes and measures to assist the most vulnerable population groups.
  
  
• Social budgeting: training programmes aim at providing participants with the skills to develop a clear quantitative profile of their respective countries' existing social security systems, to model the long-term impact of various reforms, and to communicate results to political decision makers.
  
  
  
• Governance of pension funds: courses provide advanced knowledge and management tools needed for the effective oversight and administration of pension schemes, public and private, and pension fund investments.
  
  

Our training courses are prepared in close collaboration with the Social Security Department of the ILO and the International Social Security Association (ISSA). Several workshops include study visits to selected European social security institutions. We offer these learning programmes in five languages, English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese. Tailored-made courses in Russian, Chinese or other languages are also implemented on request.

Activities in this area of expertise are conducted by the following training units:

Social Protection
Workers' Activities