Ecuador
In Ecuador, only 2 out of 10 young workers have access to social security and 80% of them work in the informal economy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ILO, UN Women and UNDP worked together with the national and local governments in Quito, Guayaquil, Loja and Machala to incorporate young workers into the social security system and to promote their access to decent work. Through "My Future Is Today", the UN agencies worked with the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) and the Ministry of Labour to design an innovative scheme which would allow 400,000 young self-employed workers to have access to contributory social protection. The project also helped to create a national registry of informal youth, that will allow the government to better identify the population and to design labour and social protection policies. In addition, a communications campaign called "Hablemos la Plena" was implemented to improve the social security culture in the country, since a high proportion of young workers are unaware of the benefits offered by the social security system. The campaign reached more than 2,700,000 young people through social networks. In addition, 4,000 young people strengthened their employability by participating in training programs in soft, digital, financial and entrepreneurship skills.
Dominican Republic
The UN has supported the Dominican Government through four UN entities (UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, and ILO), and the UNRCO to jointly design, and implement a participative construction of a National Care Policy and System in prioritized territories. The UNDP has supported a regional forum on care policies; two courses on comprehensive care systems with four Government institutions; started a georeferenced mapping of care offers in the areas of the pilot; and initiated the elaboration of the communications strategy. UNW has provided technical assistance to formalise an inter-sectoral care roundtable coordinated by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD), the Ministry of Women, and SUPERATE, providing technical support and advisory on the development of the pilot, and elaboration of the Local Care Plan of the municipality of Azua. UNFPA has provided technical support to the Unique System of Beneficiaries (SIUBEN) with the development of the survey in 61,400 households in Santo Domingo Este to identify the demand for care, and future candidates for social benefits. ILO has been supporting the revision and strengthening of technical-professional offer of INFOTEP’s training programs for early childhood, and elderly care, and the design of this offer for Persons with Disabilities’ carers.
