Coordination of social security programmes of developed and developing countries

The pattern of immigration to developed countries has changed dramatically. Immigrants are now predominately from developing countries. However, social security agreements, which coordinate programmes on a bilateral or multilateral basis and are designed to protect the social security rights of migrants, remain primarily restricted to the developed countries. The result is a lack of protection for many migrants. This is one of the major challenges facing social security programmes today, and one which must be addressed. A start to tackling this problem is to analyse the issues in the coordination of social security schemes of developed and developing countries. Four key elements are involved in this analysis: the existence of a technical basis for an agreement; reciprocity; the financial solvency of the schemes concerned; and the administrative capacity of the schemes to carry out the obligations inherent in an agreement.