The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, during her speech at the meeting
Saiz highlighted the importance of multilateral forums such as this one, at a time of major global challenges, such as the demographic, green and digital transition. "It is essential to promote social dialogue between the different countries in order to identify common standards and good practices and to continue moving towards fairer, more egalitarian and supportive societies," said Saiz.
"Seven years have passed since the last ministerial meeting, seven complicated years in which we have had to deal with a pandemic, an inflationary shock, wars, and today, with the impetus of Spain and Portugal, social investment is once again at the centre," the minister recalled.
"Social investment is not an expense, but a commitment to the future. It involves ensuring that people have access to education, health, employment or housing. It means strengthening social protection systems so that no one is left behind and promoting equal opportunities as a guiding principle of our public policies".
In the conclusions of the meeting, the importance of implementing social policies that anticipate the impact of longevity, as well as those that enable progress in the demographic, green and digital transition, was made clear. At the same time, different financing solutions aimed at the sustainability of the different social protection models were discussed, and the participating countries committed to advancing digitalisation in their systems.
"We are living through an important moment in which our protection systems need to adapt to meet global challenges if we are to maintain the well-being of our citizens and our future as prosperous societies," said Saiz. "We believe that this social investment is also a tool for the growth of our societies.
Elma Saiz also held a bilateral meeting with the Secretary General of the OECD, Mathias Cormann, in which they shared Spain's priorities in terms of social policy and the organisation's recommendations for strengthening the resilience of social protection systems.
Conclusions
One of the main points of agreement was the need to anticipate the effects of longevity on our social protection systems. In this area, countries are committed to promoting work-life balance policies. "The policies of co-responsibility, work-life balance and child protection will ensure that future generations will be sufficient for the sustainability of the social security system, so that, after the participation of all countries, we can affirm that investing in the security and education of children through social policies will ensure the future," explained Saiz.
Another point in the conclusions was that equality based on the principle of solidarity must be the foundation of all social policy. "Through social policy we will be able to put all citizens on an equal footing to enable their personal development.
The ministers also agreed that the whole package of agreed measures could be implemented on the basis of good resource management through digitisation for data collection.
New technologies will provide first-hand knowledge of the state of play in each country, the investments in social policy and the results achieved. Ministers agreed to continue working to bridge the gaps and to promote safe and ethical use of these new tools.
"Throughout this high-level meeting, we have been able to broaden the horizons of social policy," said Elma Saiz. "Innovative social policies and diverse financing systems have been put on the table, aiming to make social protection sustainable. It has been an enriching debate.
Non official translation