Interaction on the Association of NGO Sector Employees in Social Security Fund

14 March 2022, Kathmandu NGO Federation of Nepal and JuRi Nepal jointly organized an interaction about the concerns of the non governmental organizations sector and employees in terms of getting associated with Social Security Fund. While Social Security Fund is in the process of amendment of its laws, NFN and JuRi took initiative to document the voices of non-profit sector and get them heard so that they are addressed by the amended law. A legal analysis was presented by advocate Hari Mainali. He stressed that Social Security Act does not mandatorily include NGOs and CSOs. Representing Social Security Fund, Director Krishna Adhikari attempted to clarify and emphasized that social security provisions are meant to be inclusive and mandatory for all although the legal and procedural issues can be reformed. Policy advisor of FHI 360 Tanka Aryal stated that provisions for association to the social security fund must be attractive and address some concerns of the NGO and CSO sector but provisions allowing withdrawal from SSF would not be aligned with the spirit of social security fund. It was obvious that SSF laws and policies were developed without adequate consultation with the social sector and therefore some specific issues are not addressed or not recognized. Bidur Subedi, Secretary General of Human Rights Alliance, Bhawani Kharel of National Human Rights Foundation, Kedar Khadka, Executive Director of GO GO Foundation, Bishnu Pokharel, Program Manager of JuRi Nepal among others provided their suggestions and comments. SSF director shared the SSF attempts to help NGO sector employees continue associated with Social Security Fund under different schemes. For instance, formal employees may be liable to contributions and facilities under non-formal sector contributions if their formal employment is discontinued. Based on the analysis paper and discussion, a recommendation paper will be developed and submitted to SSF. This discussion was yet another in a series in order to make the social security fund suitable for NGO sector employees. The meeting was chaired by NFN's president Ram Subedi and moderated by Secretary General Arjun Bhattarai.