The Social Security and Housing Finance Cooperation (SSHFC) on 22 March 2012 held a day seminar on schemes taking at its main conference room in
The seminar was meant to create awareness, enhance compliance and also inform the public about the new existing rules and regulations that govern the schemes taking.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Momar K.F. Samba, Director of Internal Auditing, said they are committed to making The Gambia better and equipping the public with information that can make better people who work for institutions geared towards the development of The Gambia.
“The need for the security has been an inherent feature of human nature though the manner of providing security has undergone changes from ancient times to modern age,” he said.
He added that frontiers of social security have expanded over the years, but the essential objectives of social security are to provide compensation for income loss, promote health and prevent illness and, in a wider sense, create living conditions that will satisfy the general needs of the population and special needs of certain sections like the elderly, the disable and the children.
“The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines social security as the protection which society provides its members through a series of public measures, against the economic and social distress that otherwise would be caused by the stoppage or substantial reduction of earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment injury, invalidity, old age and death, the provision of medical care, and the provision of subsides for families with children and others,” he said.
The word social suggests a relationship to society in particular cultural, historical and geographical settings, he said, adding that security simply implies protection against defined risk.
“It is the government’s drive to achieve these objectives that the SSHFC was established in 1981 by an Act of Parliament to administer the following constituent funds,” he said, adding that the SSHFC has a big role to play in the social-economic development of The Gambia and “that mission is easier with your total support and cooperation”.
He said further: “We the social security believe that one way of getting the message around about the SSHFC is through people like you and in forums such as this.”
The seminar was attended by different stakeholders including accountants from various institutions across the country.
