Eswatini

The regulatory framework on work injury was set up in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) before independence in 1968, and laws on old age, disabilty and survivors as well as sickness and maternity were introduced after independence. In 1985, a social assistance programme named the Public Assistance Grant was started to assist the destitute and persons with disability. The programme reached 5,075 individuals in 2011 but currently has no beneficiaries. In 2005, an Old Age Grant was introduced to respond to the extreme vulnerability experienced by elderly people. The programme had 69,697 individual participants in 2018, receiving an average of US$78.53 per quarter. It is currently a flagship programme running alongside a recently introduced Disability Grant programme that reached 4,744 individuals in 2019. A pilot programme on orphans and vulnerable children was launched in 2016 and concluded in 2018, the time at which it had 13,506 participants. The government fully funds the social assistance programmes.