ILO boosts facilitation and communication skills to expand social security coverage across Jordan

© ILO

AMMAN, Jordan (ILO News) – The ILO, in collaboration with Jordan’s Social Security Corporation (SSC), concluded a total of six capacity-building workshops for outreach officials across SSC branches. 

The four-day workshops, which is part of a joint intervention of the Estidama++ Fund and the ILO PROSPECTS project, aim to enhance capacities of SSC outreach officers to reach vulnerable workers and increase their awareness of the benefits of social security and their rights. 

“Awareness and knowledge of social security rights are essential to extending coverage and ensuring that vulnerable workers can make informed decisions about enrolling in SSC,” said Fernando Martinez Cure, Estidama++ Project Manager and Social Protection Specialist. “By understanding their rights, workers are better equipped to access their benefits when needed, strengthening their financial security and overall well-being."

The training also focused on enhancing facilitation skills, enabling officials to design and deliver effective information sessions for workers nationwide.

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“Providing workers with a clear social protection framework is a key element of the ILO’s intervention at both the global and local levels,” said Dahlia Roque, ILO PROSPECTS Jordan Project Manager. “By understanding the characteristics and behaviour of their target audiences, participants can tailor their facilitation methods for greater impact. This initiative helps officials better serve Jordan’s workforce, especially vulnerable workers in the informal economy and Syrian refugees.”

Each workshop, attended by 25 participants, included case study analysis to explore best outreach practices, coaching for personalized feedback, and role-playing to practice engagement techniques. On the final day, participants conducted simulated training sessions to showcase their newly honed skills, while peer-to-peer learning encouraged collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Persuasion and communication techniques were also tested, developed, and discussed among participants to effectively engage the workforce they collaborate with.

“One of the biggest challenges in social security outreach is simplifying its purpose and conveying it in a way that is easily understood to different workers,” said participant Amira Ashur from the Social Security Corporation branch in Irbid. “The emphasis on body language and the importance of tone of voice during the training was particularly valuable, given the need to communicate effectively with agricultural workers. Ensuring they fully understand the information about their rights and building trust is essential in our line of work.”

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Through the enhancement of their interpersonal and communication skills during the training, officials are now better equipped to build effective connections with diverse groups. Participants also worked on improving their content creation and presentation techniques, ensuring clarity, relevance, and engaging delivery.

“A major challenge in Jordan is the workers’ distance from public institutions due to the technicalities of the services provided,” said Bahaa Al-Rafayeh, an official at the Social Security Corporation in Amman and one of the participants. “This training is key to give us the tools to bridge the gap between workers and social security, providing better understanding, closeness, and engagement.”

The ability to create and deliver impactful awareness sessions was a main goal of the training, with officials effectively breaking down complex social security messages to the workforce. Such a combined effort is a key step in the successful expansion of social security coverage among all workers across Jordan. 

The Estidama++ Fund supports informal workers by aligning with international labour standards, providing subsidies and rewards, and enhancing social security inclusion for vulnerable workers. The project is supported by the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, in partnership with Jordan’s Social Security Corporation. 

PROSPECTS is a global partnership that aims to improve the access of host communities and forcibly displaced people to education, social protection and decent work. Spearheaded by the Government of the Netherlands, it brings together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.