Portugal & Cape Verde to Expand Social Security by 2027
Portugal has pledged financial and technical support to help Cape Verde bring informal workers into the national safety net, launching a new phase of the International Labour Organization (ILO) “Action Portugal” project set to begin in 2027.
The initiative aims to bridge the gap for workers currently excluded from traditional social security benefits. The primary focus will be on domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, farmers, and fishers. The project will also target the construction sector, where many individuals remain informal despite working for officially registered companies.
From Dialogue to Action
Nuno Castro, the global coordinator of Action Portugal, noted that while previous stages of the project focused on institutional dialogue, this fourth phase shifts toward concrete policy implementation. “We now intend to define strategies and policy measures that can respond to the challenge of extending the right to social protection to segments of the population still excluded from this right,” Castro said during the launch in Praia.
The upcoming phase adopts an integrated approach, linking social protection with employment policies, vocational training, socioeconomic development, and taxation. The next steps involve identifying specific priorities before finalizing the necessary funding for the 2027 rollout.
A Long-term Partnership
Portugal has been a consistent partner in regional development, mobilizing approximately nine million euros since 2015 to strengthen social protection systems across Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) and Timor-Leste. Nuno Félix, Chargé d’Affaires of the Portuguese Embassy in Cape Verde, emphasized that the impact of the partnership transcends its financial value, focusing instead on building sustainable infrastructure.
United Nations Resident Coordinator Patrícia Portela highlighted that informality remains the biggest hurdle to social security in Cape Verde. She noted that women, youth, and rural communities are particularly vulnerable to these coverage gaps.
Connecting Protection to Prosperity
Cape Verdean Minister of Justice Clóvis Silva, who presided over the event, emphasized that a social safety net is only effective if it reaches those on the margins. “Social protection that does not reach the informal sector is not protecting those it should,” Silva stated. He argued that the new phase must align with the needs of unions, employers, and civil society to ensure that social protection drives economic formalization and business growth.
Action Portugal is implemented by the ILO, with direct technical and financial backing from the Portuguese Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security.
Image: Pexels – Carlo Jünemann
