Social protection

Expanding Social Security Coverage to Informal Workers in Lao People's Democratic Republic

ILO and the Lao Social Security Organisation (LSSO) hold a multi-stakeholder workshop to discuss how to promote social security membership among informal workers in Lao People’s Democratic Republic and share the findings of a recent quantitative study.


ILO in Lao People's Democratic Republic closely supports the Lao Social Security Organisation to design and implement evidence-based policies to expand the social security scheme to informal workers.

One of the activities is research into the characteristics of informal workers, households and SMEs; their needs and behaviours; and their willingness and ability to pay for social security. The research explores what needs to change on the demand side (i.e., promoting awareness and incentivisation and how) and the supply side (i.e., improvements in legislation, design and operations).

The ILO research contributes to Goal 2 of the National Social Protection Strategy, “The social security system is further developed and strengthened”. We hope that the findings can be useful for the national consultations on what needs to be amended in the Social Security Law of Lao PDR. The consultations are expected to take place this year and next, with the National Assembly formally adopting the amendment in 2024."

Loveleen De, Programme Manager, ILO


From 15 to 17 February 2023, a number of government organizations, social partners and civil society groups met in Luang Prabang for the workshop on “Extension of Social Security Coverage to the Informal Economy in Lao People's Democratic Republic”.

The objectives of the workshop are:

  • to present the findings from the quantitative research;
  • to share stories from the field and participants experiences, contributing to the qualitative research;
  • to see the systems in place and better understand the real situation through a visit to the Luang Prabang provincial labour and social security office;
  • to learn what other countries are doing to expand social security coverage to informal workers; and
  • to identify a tailored action plan, with possible pilots.
This work is financially and technically supported by the ILO/Korea Partnership Programme “Supporting the Implementation of Sustainable Social Protection Floors for Workers and their Families in ASEAN – Phase III” and the EU Action “Improving Synergies between Social Protection and Public Finance Management (SP&PFM)”.

Click here  to see the ILO Brief on the quantitative study.