BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, 9 September 2026 – Barbados has been benchmarked as an exemplar of the effective incorporation of social protection strategies into national social care policy by the Government of the Republic of Seychelles.
That international recognition of Barbados’ progress formed the impetus for a recent breakfast meeting between officials of the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector (MOL), led by Minister Hon. Colin Jordan, M.P., and an official fact-finding delegation of the Government of the Republic of Seychelles, led by Minister for Social Affairs, Family and Equality, the Hon. Pamela Charlette. The meeting was hosted at the offices of the National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS).
Ministers Jordan and Charlette explored key social coverage policy considerations, including the assessment, adaptation and operationalisation of policy; public financing; workforce arrangements; regulation and quality assurance; and how mixed service delivery works in practice. The discussion was framed by the International Labour Organization’s 5R Framework for Decent Care Work to recognise, reduce and redistribute unpaid care, and reward and represent care workers, and by the Conclusions concerning decent work and the care economy adopted at the 112th International Labour Conference in June 2024, negotiated by a committee chaired by Minister Jordan.
In the spirit of international cooperation and bilateral knowledge exchange, two senior members of the Seychelles delegation – Dr. Royston Meriton, Special Advisor to the Minister, and Mr. Davis Mathiot, Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Home Care Agency – later shared digital transformation leadership lessons and insights from the recent digitalisation of the island nation’s social care delivery system with the NISSS senior management team.
SOCIAL PROTECTION IN FOCUS: Hon. Colin Jordan, MP, Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector (MOL), flanked by Mrs. Faye Prescod, Permanent Secretary, MOL (far left), Randy Clarke, Assistant Chief Labour Officer, MOL and Asha Pitt, Foreign Service Officer, Min. Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (4th left) in discussion with Kim Tudor, CEO, National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) and the visiting delegation from the Republic of Seychelles.
SEYCHELLES DELEGATION: (L. – r) Dr. Royston Meriton, Special Advisor to the Minister and Hon. Mrs Pamela Charlette, Minister, Social Affairs, Family and Equality, Republic of Seychelles, Davis Mathiot, Chief Executive Officer, Seychelles Home Care Agency and Jill Dogley, Training and Well-being officer, Seychelles Home Care Agency.
MINISTERIAL GREETING: Hon. Pamela Charlette, Minister for Social Affairs, Family and Equality, Republic of Seychelles (far-l) introduces Hon. Colin Jordan, MP, Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector of Barbados (2nd-l) to Davis Mathiot, Chief Executive Officer, Seychelles Home Care Agency as Jill Dogley, Training and Well-being officer, Seychelles Home Care Agency looks on.
