The World Social Security Forum will be held in Belgium on 14-18 October 2019, marking the first time the meeting will be held in a European capital, the Auxiliary Fund for the Payment of Unemployment Benefits, CAPAC, said on Wednesday in a press release. The event will bring together more than 1,000 social security professionals and political decision-makers around the theme of “Protecting people in a changing world”. It will coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Belgian social security system.
Belgium was selected to host the forum, the biggest event in the field of social security, by the International Social Security Association. Previous editions of the forum were held in Capetown (South Africa), Qatar and Panama.
"In these times of frantic technological, demographic and economic change, an innovative approach is necessary,” the CAPAC said. “It is only in this way that we can take up the essential challenges and strengthen the positive impact of social security.”
The announcement was welcomed by Social Affairs Minister Maggie De Block. “Social security faces challenges in many countries,” she pointed out. “The World Forum provides an opportunity to exchange ideas on the issue with national and international experts.”
"The pursuit of social security in Belgium and in the rest of the world is a priority for Humanity because social security brings stability, freedom and peace to the world,” the president of the National Organising Committee, CAPAC General Administrator Jean-Marc Vandenbergh, commented. “Strengthening the ties between the different national and international organisations is of capital importance and this Forum is a crucial vector of this development.”
Belgium will also celebrate in 2019 the 75th anniversary of the signing of the decree creating the Belgian social security system. "A broad range of social protection measures (family allowances, health care reimbursements, disability and unemployment allowances, and retirement pensions) stem from this law and are handed down from generation to generation,” CAPAC noted.
The Brussels Times
