MURAMVYA, January 7th (ABP) – On Monday December 30, 2024, the National Confederation of Health Mutuals in Burundi (CONAMUS) organized a workshop for journalists to promote social protection, as part of the creation of a network of mutual journalists in Burundi.
In his presentation, Benoit Butoyi, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Permanent Executive Secretariat of the National Social Protection Commission (SEP/CNPS), pointed out that the national social protection policy document and its implementation strategy were adopted by the General Assembly of the National Social Protection Commission chaired by the Head of State last year.
It proved imperative to put in place a new policy in harmony with the revised NDP 2023-2027 and the vision of Burundi as an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060. The objectives of that new national social protection policy include ensuring universal social protection coverage, starting with the most vulnerable.
It also aims to provide social protection for people throughout the various stages of their life cycle, in a precise, rights-based way that responds to the risks they face.
Another objective, he noted, is to ensure access to basic healthcare for the people, to strengthen the contributory and non-contributory mechanisms of social protection, through the development of governance and coordination mechanisms, as well as their digitalization, and to ensure the strengthening of prevention and response mechanisms to natural and social shocks.
According to him, that national social protection policy can be subdivided into two parts. The non-contributory part concerns social transfers (social assistance) and social action services.
The other part, known as contributory, concerns social insurance, which offers protection against the hazards of life: illness, accidents, disability, old age, unemployment and death.
Mr. Butoyi added that mutual health insurance is one of the components of the social protection system, guaranteeing access to healthcare for the entire population and a minimum income by covering healthcare costs, as well as other forms of assistance for people in vulnerable situations.
On the other hand, they contribute in particular to the promotion of social protection in health insurance, prevention, health promotion and well-being. They also contribute to equitable access to healthcare, improved public health, solidarity and mutual aid between members, complementary coverage, support for healthcare management and the development of new offers.
They are private organizations entrusted with a public service mission. As such, the State provides them with an appropriate framework for the development of their activities, ensures their protection and guarantees the interests of their members through support, monitoring and regulation mechanisms, he pointed out.
Despite the efforts of the government and the mutual benefit societies, the members of the National Confederation of Health Mutuals in Burundi (CONAMUS) have indicated that the Burundian population is reluctant to join the mutual benefit movement.
According to Mr. Butoyi, that is why that workshop was organized for journalists, so that they, as educators, can widely disseminate the advantages of community health mutuals in promoting social protection.