This report provides information on how the partnership principle is currently being implemented in the Bridge Building (BB) countries of the European Centre.
The European Centre organised the 6th (and last) BB policy review in social welfare on 07 and 08 November 2023 on Policy measures to mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on vulnerable groups. Around 35 representatives registered from ministries and public bodies from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, and Ukraine. Excellent expert inputs were provided by UNFPA, Eurofound, the Slovakian Institute for Labour and Family Research as well as the Montenegrin Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognosis.
Protest demonstrations have been arising from time to time demanding both miners’ labor and social rights, such as: improving safety guarantees, enhancing working conditions and providing equitable wages. Currently, on June 14, 2023, in the western mining city 3,000 miners went on strike demanding increase in wages, improvements in safety conditions, better insurance, and nutrition, 12-hour shifts, vacations, technology upgrades and curbing of pollution caused by the extraction.
The European Centre organised the 2nd BB Policy Review on ‘Gender Equality and Care for relatives’ on 05 and 06 June 2023. Around 40 representatives registered from ministries and public bodies from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, and Ukraine.
As part of an ongoing cooperation between the European Centre and the Central European University Vienna (CEU), four students from the Policy Lab support the Bridge Building work of the European Centre by preparing country profiles for Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Georgia for the EESPN website.
The Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection enabled the European Centre to extend the BB Peer Reviews and Trainings project in the Bridge Building countries until March 2024.
The BB Peer Review Moldova Report gathers important insights gained during the BB Peer Review and aims at further sharing these insights and lessons learnt of the participating delegations of the BB countries.
The Moldovan Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the European Centre organised an online Peer review on “The design of the social assistance benefit in Moldova: Improving targeting and supporting employment”, in September 2022.
Bridge Building connects the knowledge and policy evidence on social welfare of the EU Member States with the Bridging Building (BB) countries.