Remarks by UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand at the UNJP Social Protection 2nd Project Steering Committee Meeting with MSDHS

Let me begin by congratulating Permanent Secretary Khun Patcharee on taking over the leadership of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

It is an honour to co-chair the Project Steering Committee of the UN Joint Programme on social protection with you. We are grateful that you’re championing this cause as you bring together the relevant line ministries to comprehensively steer the work forward.

The UN Joint Programme is our flagship initiative, which the Deputy Secretary General keenly follows.

This is our 2nd Project Steering Committee, which is being held as the country slowly gets back on track in handling the pandemic.

Under such circumstances, social protection and transfers are critical government tools that are part of the stimulus package to serve as a safety net for all sections of the population, while prioritizing those that are most vulnerable.

In this context, the universal health coverage has proven to be the bedrock in dealing with the health impact of the pandemic – including for migrants and refugees.

The pandemic provides the undeniable justification of an integrated social protection system in Thailand to ensure that all resident population, including those in the informal sector have access to benefits.

This is the overarching objective on which the UN Joint Programme is focusing in its partnership with the Government.

Today is an opportunity to take stock of the progress made so far, and to receive your inputs on the direction forward.

As you know, the project has completed seven diagnostic reviews and briefing papers, which map the existing social protection coverage for the working age population, children, and elderly.

These diagnostics analyze the strengths, challenges, and gaps, while making policy and practice-related recommendations with the aim of expanding coverage to all and leaving no one behind.

They serve as important knowledge products and reflect the foresight of the government.

Other countries simply do not have the data to get at the type of granularity at which we’re getting with these studies. As public goods, these products set the ground for wide-ranging stakeholder dialogue for collective visioning and inform social protection policy for the future.

Let me take this opportunity to share with you 6 headline findings that I believe are critical to be addressed:

The diagnostic studies suggest that nearly 50% of new mothers do not have access to maternity benefits.

• From the paper on children, we understand that a little over half of children between 0 to 5 years did not receive cash support, as the programme is not universal.
  
   
• We also learn that anywhere between 56% to 71% of the working population are not covered by any form of social protection. The hardest hit are the 12.6 million people working in agriculture. Others affected work in wholesale, retail, manufacturing, and construction, which are precisely the sectors most impacted by the pandemic.
  
   
• Registered migrant workers have a good social security coverage; however, their families still have challenges in accessing benefits.
  
   
• For domestic workers, the preliminary brief suggests that regulations should be modified for their employers to contribute to social security benefits, enhancing coverage and making the system equitable.
  
   
• The country has a very high coverage for the Old Age Allowance, however there may be a case to enhance the benefits over the coming years.

The one key message that I would like to reiterate is the imperative to strategically adjust and adapt the existing social security schemes in ways that include coverage of those who are self-employed, while ensuring mobility of benefits to account for people moving between the formal and informal labour markets during their careers.

As we know, movement between the formal and informal sectors is becoming even more of a reality during the pandemic.

Investing in creating new schemes may not be the smartest policy option given that it results in greater fragmentation of an existing social security system which needs integration.

Let me now set out in broad strokes the envisaged consultation process which is critical to enable the Joint Programme to fine tune its policy recommendations to the Government.

The consultations will be held between September and November to socialize the findings with those in the formal and informal economy, including migrants, domestic workers, children, and the elderly and to get their inputs to produce the final more detailed policy recommendations.

Innovative tools and technologies are being leveraged including line groups, webinars, social media campaigns, and big data polling.

I would like to propose that once the consultations are complete and the Final Report is available, we organize a High-Level Round Table on Social Protection co-hosted by the Ministry and the UN. This will be an opportunity to showcase the latest thinking on social protection with line ministries, academic community, development stakeholders and ASEAN.

Thailand’s leadership on social protection sets the tone for the ASEAN region, with other countries looking to Thailand as a best practice example.

The UN in New York is also looking at the Joint Programme in Thailand as groundbreaking work. 

We have an incredible opportunity to contribute to national policy that will result in concrete reform options in Thailand, in the region, and as a best practice to be shared globally by the UN.