The social security board today held a mixer for the media - which its ays will be quarterly. There was an open session where media houses could ask anything they wanted.
It's a sign that SSB recognizes the importance that the media plays when it comes to their public perception. With up to 110 thousand contributors The institution sees an importance in promoting public awareness on what exactly they do. Their CEO shared more with us today.
Deborah Ruiz, CEO SSB
"I think it is vital Jules that people, that we have the media onboard in terms of appreciating the work that social security does in terms of addressing the social protection needs of the citizens of Belize. Insurance is a vital pillar of the whole social protection system. As you note we have been working this past year on a national social protection strategy it is Key that people appreciate the value that social insurance can bring to them and for them to understand that the contributions they make that the social security board is making investment so as to minimize the need to go back to them for any contribution increase and still being able to pay a benefit that can satisfy the income replacement needs in the future when they need it."
"We also have our annual SSB connect where we do have a physical presence but we also stream it live on Facebook where as part of our mandate we give the annual report summary to the people in terms of the performance of the fund and all the different investments we have made and also part of the process right now which is a little cumbersome because it has to go throw a process in terms of the turn around as to how we can respond to applications to notify people of how the board intends to invest the money. So right now on our website the financial statements are available and so what we are trying to do in terms of going forward not everybody is an accountant or has a full understanding of these reports but we are trying to explain to people in layman's terms what those reports are saying in terms of the investment of the fund."
