{"id":100226,"date":"2024-10-24T13:03:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T13:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/10\/24\/cs-mutua-acknowledges-gaps-in-social-protection-for-informal-sector-workers\/"},"modified":"2024-10-24T13:03:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T13:03:21","slug":"cs-mutua-acknowledges-gaps-in-social-protection-for-informal-sector-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/cs-mutua-acknowledges-gaps-in-social-protection-for-informal-sector-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"CS Mutua acknowledges gaps in social protection for Informal Sector Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 24 \u2013 Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Alfred Mutua, has acknowledged that the current social protection framework in Kenya does not adequately cater to the needs of workers in the informal sector. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking this morning during the oofficial launch of a project aimed at extending social protection coverage to informal workers, Mutua highlighted the government\u2019s intention to ensure equal rights for both formal and informal workers.<\/p>\n<p>The event, held in Nairobi, marked the beginning of a collaborative project between Kenya\u2019s Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China, in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). <\/p>\n<p>The initiative, which is also being undertaken in Lao People\u2019s Democratic Republic, seeks to leverage digital transformation to improve social protection for informal workers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe informal economy, which comprises a majority of Kenya\u2019s workforce, continues to be vulnerable due to a lack of social protection. Our goal is to build a comprehensive framework that ensures workers in rural and informal economies have the same rights as those in the formal sector,\u201d Dr. Mutua stated.<\/p>\n<p>He also commended the decade-long partnership with China and ILO, which has contributed to significant milestones in social protection policy. \u201cWe are privileged to have proactive partnerships that have supported the formulation of the Social Protection Bill, the adoption of the Kenya Social Protection Policy, and the implementation of targeted programmes for populations not yet covered by government support,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>In Kenya, only about 3.9 million workers are employed in the formal economy, while approximately 16 million are active in the informal economy. Informal enterprises number over 5 million, and about 6.4 million households are engaged in agriculture, with many not registered for government-provided social protection services. This has led to a cycle of vulnerability, poverty, and social exclusion among informal workers, which the new project seeks to address.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, Mr. Li Zhong, who was also present at the launch, expressed his government\u2019s readiness to strengthen cooperation with Kenya in addressing the social protection needs of its workforce. \u201cWe are willing to strengthen our mutual cooperation to jointly respond to the needs of our people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Other dignitaries in attendance included David Koros, the Managing Trustee of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), ILO Country Office Director Caroline Mugalla, as well as representatives from the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) and the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE).<\/p>\n<p>This project aims to provide a lifeline to the millions of workers currently locked out of formal protection, improving their access to essential services and helping bridge the gap between the formal and informal economies.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 24 \u2013 Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Alfred Mutua, has acknowledged that the current social protection framework in Kenya does not adequately cater to the needs of workers in the informal sector. Speaking this morning during the oofficial launch of a project aimed at extending social protection coverage to informal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}