NISSS becomes the new home in Barbados for regional social security cooperation
The National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) is now the home of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Liaison Office for the Caribbean for the 2026 – 2028 triennium.
The 30 September virtual launch followed an ISSA–NISSS Memorandum of Understanding concluded in August, and brought together ISSA Secretary General Marcelo Abi-Ramia Caetano, Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for the Caribbean Joni Musabayana, ISSA Regional Coordinator for the Americas Mariano Brener, and the leaders of regional social security institutions. Participants warmly congratulated NISSS and expressed full support for the new ISSA liaison office.
Based at NISSS headquarters on Culloden Road, St. Michael, the Office will help institutions work together and draw more fully on ISSA’s global knowledge and networks. Barbados succeeds the National Insurance Services of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Office’s long-standing host. NISSS Chief Executive Officer Kim Tudor, now ISSA Liaison Officer for the region, thanked its former Director, Stewart Haynes, for “handing us a family of social security practitioners who know one another, call on one another and learn from one another.”
Shared challenges, shared solutions
Speakers highlighted pressures common across the region: ageing populations and financial sustainability, platform and gig work, self-employed coverage, portability of benefits, digital transformation, rising service expectations and natural disasters.
“Behind every one of them is a person,” CEO Tudor reminded participants. “It is the pensioner counting on her cheque arriving on time; the young delivery rider working without a contract; the nurse who has served in three of our islands and wants every week of that service to count.”
Commitment to the region
She pledged that the Office will listen to members, keep them connected and shape its work plan to advance their priorities and facilitate regular ISSA training and inter-agency learning exchanges. “Barbados and the wider region also stand to benefit from a sharper focus on social security, greater access to ISSA expertise and resources, and a direct seat at the table.”
She also conveyed greetings from the Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector, the Hon. Colin E. Jordan, M.P., whose chairmanship of the ILO Standard-Setting Committee on Decent Work in the Platform Economy reflects Barbados’ commitment to protecting workers from every walk of life. NISSS takes up the role with his full support.
“If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together,” CEO Tudor said. “Let us now go further, together.”
