September 7, 2006 NATIONAL REPORT ON THE STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

Transcription

1 September 7, 2006 NATIONAL REPORT ON THE STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA EN EN

2 NATIONAL REPORT ON THE STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA Contents І. Common overview Assessment of the social situation Overall strategic approach Key messages...9 ІІ. National action plan for inclusion Key challenges, priority objectives and targets Equal labour market participation of the groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion Ensuring equal access to services aiming at prevention of social exclusion and overcoming its consequences Social inclusion of the most vulnerable ethnic minorities Poverty reduction among the groups beyond working age Better governance...20 ІІІ. National strategy report for pensions Main characteristics of the pension system Analysis of the pension system...23 ІV. National strategy for health and long term care Health care Long term care...29 V. Statistical annexes...32 Table 1 Social expenditures as % of GDP within Table 2 Trends of public expenditures dynamics as % of total public expenditures ( )...32 Table 3 Structure of persons in households by economic activity and decilic groups (2005)...33 Table 4 Structure of total household income average per person (2005)...33 Table 5 Poverty rate by gender and age ( )...34 Table 6 Poverty level by economic status...34 Table 7 Poverty rate before and after social transfers to population over the age of Table 8 Total household income by components (in percentages)...35 Table 9 Average annual poverty threshold per equivalent unit and scope of poverty ( ) Table 10 Laeken indicators for monetary poverty...37 Table 11 Early school-leavers rate...40 Table 12 Infant mortality rate per 1000 children born alive in Bulgaria...41 Table 13 Average life expectancy by gender and perio...41 Table 14 Healthy life years in Bulgaria Table 15 Hospital beds and personnel in treatment and medical establishments per inhabitants by planning regions...43 Tables 16 Self-perceived health...44 VІ. Examples of good practices in the field of social inclusion Employment for the Roma pilot initiative under the Project Job Opportunities through Business Support National Programme for Employment and Vocational Training of Persons with Permanent Disabilities Project for Professional Realization and Social Integration of Young People Leaving the Homes for Upbringing and Education of Children Deprived of Parental Care Child Welfare Reform pilot project of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Social Investments in Children...62 VІІ. Examples of good practice in the field of health and long term care National System for the Provision by State Budget Funds of Treatment Free of Charge for Patients with Cancer Diseases National System for Dialysis Treatment Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections

3 І. COMMON OVERVIEW 1.1. Assessment of the social situation In 2005 Bulgaria recorded a real growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.5 % continuing the trend of high paces of economic growth exceeding the rate of 4 % per annum, observed during the last 5 years. Respectively, anticipatory growth of the individual consumption of the population is observed. In 2005 a growth of 7.4 % was recorded year-on-year basis. The living standard measured through the purchasing power parity as GDP per capita has increased by 21 % for the period reaching 32.1 % of the average level in the European Union Member States. The activity rate (15-64 years of age) in 2005 is 62.1 % whilst in the first half of 2006 has increased by 2.5 percentage points and has reached 65 %, which is the highest rate since In 2005 the activity rate among women is 57.3 %, which is about 10 percentage points beneath the rate of men 67 %. In the first half of 2006 this trend has remained as the difference in the activity rates among women and men is about 9 percentage points (women 60.6 %, men 69.4 %). There is a positive tendency in the movement of the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate characterizing the 15+ population in 2005 stands at 10.1 % (respectively 10.3 % among men and 9.8 % among women). The decrease marked 1.8 percentage points compared to In July 2006 the registered unemployment has decreased to 8.96 %. The employment rate is on the rise. In 2005 it stands at 55.8 %, which marks an increase of 1.6 percentage points compared to The employment rate among women is considerably lower than that among men (51.7 % compared to 60 %). The employment rate among youth (15-24 years of age) stands at 21.6 %, respectively 23.9 % among men and 19.3 % among women; among persons at the age of the rate is 34.7 % (men 45.5 %, women 25.5 %). In the first half of 2006 the employment rate has reached 59.1 %. It marks growth with 3.3 percentage points compared to This is the highest rate since For women and men the employment rates are respectively 55 % and 63.3 %. The key factor defining these positive tendencies is the active labour market policy, characterized with spending at the amount of 0.49 % of GDP for the country in Irrespectively of the fact that the active labour market measures take into account the necessities of occupational realization and vocational training of all vulnerable groups, yet it can rarely be detected increased activity and personal initiative among certain groups, for instance the Roma community, a majority of which pertains to the group of long-term unemployed persons. Despite the decrease in the unemployment rate, there is still a high percentage of the population living in households where no one works. Such situation can be found with 14.5 % of all the persons in the age between 0 and 17 and with 13 % of persons in the age between 18 and 59. In addition, even though decreasing, in 2005 the percentage of one-member jobless households without dependent children still remains considerable % of all households compared to 2.6 % of households with dependent children. Taking into account the fact that the main source of income for Bulgarian households are the labour incomes, the access to the labour market and the system of lifelong learning of the vulnerable groups is with primary importance for their social inclusion. Besides the labour incomes, the incomes from pensions should also be mentioned among the factors defining the social and economic picture of the country. Both types of incomes marked a considerable rise in the period The average annual wage for 2005 raised nominally by 9.3 % compared to 2004, while the average pension by 7.9 %. These are the incomes with highest share in the total households income, which in 2005 grew by approximately 4.6 % compared to Besides the increase of incomes, a decrease in the poverty rate in Bulgaria is also perceivable (in %, while in 2004 it was 15.3 %). The at-risk-of-poverty rate among women (15.4 %) is higher by 2.6 percentage points than that among men. There are also certain differences in the at-risk-of-poverty rate depending on the age, the labour status and the family status (for the 0-15 age group %; for the group of age over %; for the group of youth aged %; for the group of poor workers 5.6 %; for the group of self-employed 8.7 %; for the group of unemployed persons 34.2 %, 37.4 % among men and 30.9 % among women; for the group of lone parents with at least one child 25.1 %). The poverty line has continued its movement upwards and in 2005 it reached EUR 936 annually per capita or EUR 78 a month. The increase, compared to 2001, is 46 %, and the average 3

4 increase exceeds 11.5 %. Social expenditures are with serious importance for improvement of the material status of the Bulgarian citizens. Without the latter the poverty rate in the country would have been 39.1 % in Pensions are with the highest weight among the transfers. Social transfers have contributed for the decrease of the percentage of poor persons by nearly 22 percentage points. The rest of social transfers account for 3 points. In this respect, in 2005 expenditures on social security, assistance and care constitute 13.4 % of the GDP or 33.7 % of total budget expenditures. Despite the general tendency for decrease of the poverty rate, the risk of poverty is still higher for certain groups at risk. The common between them is their isolation from the labour market and the lack of regular incomes from work due to objective reasons, such as age, unemployment and low level of education and qualification. Three main groups need to be noted children, particularly such living at lone-parent households and multi-member households (the risk of poverty is respectively 25.1 % and 31.5 %) and children from vulnerable ethnic minorities, and in particular from Roma and Turkish minorities; persons with poor status on the labour market employed persons with low wages and jobless persons (the group of poor workers together with the unemployed are the group making up 55 % of people living in poverty in the country); elderly persons where the risk of poverty is increasing and particularly the most elder ones (over the age of 75 where the percentage of poor persons reaches 23 %) and lone elderly persons, particularly women (over the age of %, 19 % among men and 43 % among women; over the age of %, 30 % among men and 55 % among women). In relation to the growing risk and depth of poverty among pensioners there is a necessity of purposeful efforts for the increase of adequacy of the Bulgarian pension system. By 31 December 2005 the number of pensioners in Bulgaria was The poverty rate among them stands at 16.4 % in 2005, while in 2003 it was 14.1 %. The reforms undertaken in the Bulgarian pension system has led to payment of higher pensions, encouragement of formal employment and longer working life as well as to a tighter link between the benefits and the contributions. The increase in the age of retirement will rise the longterm sustainability. Yet, the issue of adequacy of pensions is still remaining. The low replacement levels in the Bulgarian pension system are planned to be supplemented by a considerable share of the voluntary pension insurance and more favourable investment returns. The development of the fully funded pillars is a good form of incentive for work and longer working life. The increase in the employment rate improves the adequacy and should proceed to reach the average level of the EU and the Lisbon goals. The increase of the employment rate and the participation in active labour market measures also affect positively the decrease in dependency of certain at-risk groups from the receipt of social assistance benefits. The decrease in the average monthly number of individuals and families on social assistance benefits, comparing the first quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006, stands at about 15 %. The sustainable decrease in dependency from social assistance benefits concerning certain groups at risk is a positive tendency linked to the application of an active approach in the field of social assistance and prioritizing the provision of social services. On the other side, with the purpose that individuals beyond working age are secured with the opportunity to receive certain categories of social payments, the minimal guaranteed income saw an increase in All types of pensions also went up. In 2005 funds allotted for assistance of one of the most vulnerable groups people with disabilities were risen by 65.1 %. Ensuring of equal access to services is indisputably among the key challenges in the fight against social exclusion in Bulgaria. In this respect Bulgaria implements a number of measures, which nonetheless require the concentration of more resources can be considered as successful. An example for that are the measures for ensuring equal access to education integration of children with special educational needs into the mainstream educational environment and supporting their education and measures to reduce the number of school drop-outs (during school year 2004/ %, for the first quarter of school year 2005/ %, the percentage of early school leavers is 20 % in 2005); measures to adapt the environment to the needs of disabled people and the provision of accessible transportation, etc. Irrespectively of the achieved results, there are still existing problems. In the education area an extension of the scope of measures aimed specifically at children from vulnerable groups is needed. The reform in the special schools system has not been completed yet. In the field of transport adjustment there is no 4

5 active participation of the municipalities in these activities. Another challenge in the field of services, which is calling for allotment of more extensive funding, is the provision of access to proper housing, particularly for low-income families and most vulnerable families of Roma origin. In relation to this special measures were undertaken to provide people from the Roma minority and low-income families with housings. The long-term National Programme for Improvement of Housing Conditions Among Roma is also under implementation. Its overall implementation will result in sustainable solution of their housing problems. Health and social services have crucial importance for overcoming social exclusion. The access to health services is guaranteed by the legislation. A mechanism to provide access to quality health care has been put in place for individuals with low incomes and representatives of vulnerable groups. To the end of benefiting from quality health services by certain groups at risk, and particularly the Roma ethnic minority, the necessity to apply more concentrated measures in the field of health information and education, sexual culture and prevention of diseases is assessed. The policy on social services pays particular attention to the process of deinstitutionalisation. The development of community based social services clearly shows that they are a key means to achieve real deinstitutionalisation (the number of children in specialized institutions has decreased by 18.3 %). The under-developed network of alternative social services for people with mental disabilities caused a slow-down in the process of reintegration of these people back into the community. In the last few years, there is a visible process of closing, relocating and decreasing the capacity of specialized institutions, implementation of programmes and projects by non-governmental organizations and training of personnel. The completed nationwide monitorings in institutions for adults with intellectual retardation and psychic disorders has also contributed positively to this process. The budget for funding social services, as activities delegated by the state, was increased by 18.5 % in 2006, which allowed for improvement of the quality of the provided services. Another positive step was the fact of an increasing number of private providers of social services (by 30 April ). In this respect it is necessary to intensify measures to create more incentives for non-governmental organizations to participate directly into the provision of social services to disadvantaged persons and particularly for individuals from vulnerable ethnic minorities and people with mental disabilities as well as to promote their partnership with the state and the municipalities. The Roma community is among the groups at risk within the Bulgarian society whose social inclusion requires for the mobilization of all kinds of policies due to the multidimensionality of their problems. A number of measures have been undertaken for the social inclusion of Roma people. On 8 April 2005 the Decade of Roma Inclusion was nationally started. The National Action Plan on the Decade of Roma Inclusion provides for activities to implement the four main priorities of the Decade: education, health care, employment, improvement of housing conditions. Being specific for Bulgaria the following priorities have also been included: culture, protection against discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities. The main challenges for the effective implementation of the policy towards the Roma community are as follows: better coordination and cooperation among interested institutions and the civil society, strengthening the administrative capacity of the authorities implementing the policy on Roma, active involvement of the Roma community into the process of policies implementation aimed at their social integration, increasing the sensitiveness of the Bulgarian society to the Roma problems, making use of all the possible sources of financing of the Roma inclusion, etc. 5

6 1.2. Overall strategic approach At the foundations of the Bulgarian system for social protection and social inclusion is the provision of equal opportunities for all to use the benefits of economic growth. The main elements of this system, contributing for meeting the aims for better and wider social protection include the following: guaranteed rights; guaranteed access to make use of these rights; solidarity and social responsibility of the society; differentiated and individual approach to each individual; guaranteed resources; clearly defined responsibilities. One of the key principles is the provision of equal opportunities for all. To this end, without limiting the principle of equality, specific rights and measures are planed to improve and bring to an equal ground the opportunities of various groups for full-scale participation in public life and the usage of its resources and wealth. Among them are people with disabilities, children, young people, elderly people, etc. In recent years the ensuring of equal opportunities for men and women emerged as a field requiring specific measures to be proposed. The conduction of a policy for gender equality is a key component in the state policy for equal opportunities for all. The forthcoming adoption of the draft Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men will further promote the processes of achieving real gender equality. The state statistics will add indicators organized by gender for monitoring and assessment of policies. The conduction of a social assessment on the initiatives for reduction of poverty among groups excluded from the development initiatives will be further facilitated by the introduction of an assessment on the gender impact on development initiatives promoting social inclusion. The integration of the assessment on the gender impact within the social assessment will lead to a choice of adequate initiatives for social inclusion of the vulnerable groups. The poverty has different impacts on men and women. These consequences increase the vulnerability of men and women also as a result of other structural differences (age, ethnic belonging, disability, etc.) Therefore the assessment of the gender impact will improve the purposefulness of social inclusion policies concerning the various target groups. The introduction of gender budgeting as a means to improve the access of men and women to the resources of the society will also contribute to the acquisition of real gender equality. The efforts aimed at establishing a sustainable and efficient system for social protection and social inclusion pose a real challenge to Bulgaria. The Bulgarian social model is still in a process of further development so that it is brought in line with the European legislation, policies and social practices. In this respect certain measures were adopted for the following purposes: to ground the systems of social security and protection of the population on objective principles, criteria and regulators; to establish regulators of work incomes that are appropriate for the open market economy; to improve the pension model; to address the demographic problems by a purposeful demographic policy; to improve the access of citizens to rights, resources, goods and services guaranteed by law; to eliminate any discrimination; to create equal opportunities for all, including gender equality. The policy for social protection and social inclusion in Bulgaria is considered to be an inseparable part of the general state policy. In the different areas of this policy specific strategies, programmes and measures have been put in place (exp.: in the field of employment, education and vocational training, housing, transport, health care and access to health services, deinstitutionalisation, child protection, integration of vulnerable ethnic minorities, etc.). Each one of them has a contribution for the achievement of the purposes for better social protection of citizens and social inclusion of vulnerable groups in the society. The multidimensional character of social protection and social inclusion called for the adoption of a new strategic approach combining the resources and means of various policy domains. This approach found application in the National Strategy for Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion and the annual action plans, the National Employment Strategy 2010 and the annual action plans on employment. The integration of all policies concerning the issues of social protection and social inclusion, allow for better recognition of the comprehensiveness of the problems when planning the priorities, the measures, the necessary resources, the distribution of responsibilities, etc. The unification of means from various policy domains to achieve the common goals leads to improved monitoring and assessment of the conducted policies, which lays the foundation of planning and improvement of the measures in the field of social protection and fight against poverty and social exclusion. 6

7 The new strategic approach was reinforced by the Joint Memorandum on Social Inclusion of the Republic of Bulgaria, signed on 3 February Setting the accents in the field of social inclusion, the Memorandum mobilizes the resources and the policy instruments of the state institutions, the social partners and the non-governmental organizations. The joint development, implementation and monitoring of the policies by all interested parties is also an element in the new model of social policy. The challenges set out in the Memorandum clearly show the multidimensional character of the policy for social protection and social inclusion and the necessity to mobilize all the interested parties for its implementation. They are as follows: developing an inclusive labour market and promoting employment as a right and opportunity for all; tackling educational disadvantages; housing; ensuring equal access to high-quality health services and improving their delivery and forms of provision; access to social protection; improving social service delivery and securing equal access to high-quality social services for all, and in particular for people with disabilities and the mentally handicapped; promoting access to transport for all; regenerating areas of multiple deprivations; ensuring social and educational integration of vulnerable ethnic minorities. In the last few years Bulgaria achieved progress on the problems of poverty and social exclusion by means of applying the newly adopted model of social policy, namely the linkage of the social policy with the rest of state policies, which contributed for a transition from passive to active social protection with the purpose to create human, physical and social capital, including also the active involvement of the vulnerable groups into the efforts to increase their personal social welfare; focusing on causes, instead of consequences, for the negative tendencies in the society, particularly the poverty and the social exclusion, etc. This strategic approach has laid in the foundation of the state policy in the field of social protection and social inclusion and shall be further applied with the purpose to achieve the main priorities as identified in the present report and laid down in the national policy for improvement of the quality of life of the Bulgarian citizens, by means of providing employment, incomes for decent living, social security and care and social integration. The introduced new model of programme budgeting aims also at better integration of policies in dependence from the purposes as set-out in the general policy. The introduction of this approach has led to more effective distribution of available budget resources and more efficient spending. The key advantage of this approach, compared to the conventional one, is the opportunity to reflex clearly the policy intentions of the government into the structure of the budget. In the budget structure these intentions assume the form of concrete elements, i.e. these are the programmes. By means of programme budgeting it is clearly visible the link between the active labour market policy, the policy for improvement of the living standard and the incomes of the population, including the policy on social assistance. The programmes are identified in line with the strategic objectives of the government. The budgeting documents drawn by means of this approach can be further assessed on whether they have achieved the desired objectives and results, additionally to whether the spending has been advisable and in conformity with the law. The interrelation among the policies for social inclusion, pensions, health and long term care and the policy for economic growth and more and better jobs shall be taken into account not only when programming the state budget and funds available, but also in all the policy programmes and plans that are adopted. Inevitably these domains and their goals are interrelated and the progress in each separate policy field shall reflect on the others. The achievement of higher economic growth, the decrease of the unemployment rate in the country, the establishment of new and sustainable jobs and the increase in the level of education and qualification of human resources cannot be achieved without modernization and improvement of the systems for social protection and social inclusion, which contribute for the achievement of these goals. In the context of the overall policy of Bulgaria towards achievement of the goals set out in the Lisbon Strategy, a purposeful policy for social protection and social inclusion is even more clearly visible as one of the motive forces of the economic growth. Through it, it is facilitated the inclusion in the labour market of more people from vulnerable groups by means of providing employment, social security, qualification, education and training reflecting the specifics of different disadvantaged groups. Ensuring access to health care and extension of the scope of health care services shall inevitably reflect on the general health status of citizens increasing their employability, hence the 7

8 period of participation in the labour market, the labour quality and productivity. In relation to the demographic challenges facing Bulgaria it is more highly indispensable to create conditions for longer working life of the labour force, which is the main motor of the national economic development. One of the purposes of the reform in the pension system is to meet this challenge by creating incentives for personal initiative and responsibility, increasing the employment rate among elderly people, establishment of conditions for a balanced development between the different pillars of the pension system, decrease in the serious demographic burden on the employed people and the establishment of legal and economic incentives to extend the working life. The economic transition Bulgaria is undergoing has affected the whole population, but with greater strength the more vulnerable groups in the society. The effects of the economic growth are meant to benefit the whole of the society. In relation to this the policies aimed at increasing the level of labour productivity, creation of more jobs, while taking into account the actual needs of the labour market, the introduction of new and modern technologies, the reforms in the field of education and public services, etc., contribute to the policy for social protection and social inclusion. For the purposes of better governance of the policy for social protection and social inclusion a comprehensive and coordinated approach of governance is being applied. Its key elements include: transparency at the process of decision making and involvement of all the interested parties, including the individuals to whom these policies are targeted, in policies development, consultation, implementation and monitoring; concordance of the actions of various institutions engaged with the implementation of measures; coordination of the activities; execution of permanent control on the process of implementation; information for citizens; interrelation between the activities of the central state authorities and the local authorities, etc. The consultation with interested parties is defined as obligatory under the actual Bulgarian legislation. To this end a number of consultative bodies are established, without the consultancy of which the adoption of certain documents is impossible, for example the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, the National Council for Integration of People with Disabilities, the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demographic Issues, etc. A key importance in the consultation process is attributed to the participation of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria. The approach followed in Bulgaria allows for all the interested parties (social partners, non-governmental organizations, representing the interests of various vulnerable groups in the society, local authorities, etc.) to take part not only in the process of consultation and control on the implementation of polices, but also in the process of their formulation. All legislative and strategic documents in the field of social protection and social inclusion are developed following this approach, including the Joint Memorandum on Social Inclusion of the Republic of Bulgaria and the present national report. 8

9 1.3. Overarching messages The main policy priorities of Bulgaria in the field of social protection and social inclusion are as follows: - Reduction of the risk of poverty and social exclusion; - Establishment of a modern, sustainable and adequate pension system; - Improvement of the access to health care services and quality health care; - Development of the long term care system. In the process of implementation of these priorities the adopted strategic approach shall also be further applied. In relation to the laid objectives the policy shall be conducted in the context of the following: - Strengthening the role of the systems for social protection and social inclusion for the achievement of the goals laid down in the Lisbon Strategy for economic growth and more and better jobs; - Concentrating the efforts in the fight against social exclusion by means of prioritized solution of the biggest challenges facing Bulgaria; - Improvement of the coordination among institutions and organizations involved in the process of social protection and social inclusion; - Improvement of the follow-up process of the progress in achieving the laid objectives in the field of social protection and social inclusion; - Active involvement of all the interested parties. 9

10 ІІ. NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR INCLUSION 2.1. Key challenges, priority objectives and targets The main policy objectives Bulgaria will pursue through the implementation of this plan in the period include: Equal labour market participation of the groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion; Ensuring equal access to services aiming at prevention of social exclusion and overcoming its consequences; Social inclusion of the most vulnerable ethnic minorities; Poverty reduction among the groups beyond working age. The objectives as set out above are not new for the social inclusion policy of Bulgaria. They are the main challenges as identified in the Joint Memorandum on Social Inclusion of the Republic of Bulgaria and there is a long-term political and public consensus for their implementation. The limited access to the labour market and the resources of the society, the impossibility to overcome poverty, the obstacles to making use of rights guaranteed by law and basic services, the discrimination and particularly those concerning the Roma community and in some aspects the people with disabilities all of these are problems faced by the disadvantaged people in Bulgaria. Unfortunately they accompany the development of the Bulgarian society and lead to extreme diversities inside it, which shall be overcome. This requires for full mobilization of all the policies and available resources. The policy objectives Bulgaria shall pursue in the period are linked to the reduction of causes generating poverty and social exclusion, as well to overcome their consequences: - The lack of employment is among the main causes for poverty and social exclusion. Irrespectively of the reduction of unemployment rate and the numerous measures adopted for stimulating the groups at risk to participate at the labour market, yet we can find a large number of unemployed persons among long-term unemployed, young people, older workers, low-educated individuals and such without occupational specialization or profession, discouraged workers, people with disabilities, etc. The activity rate and the level of participation in different lifelong learning forms are also low among these groups. The support for the most vulnerable groups on the labour market will contribute to their social inclusion, but will also lead to a more sustainable effect related to the future generations. Improvement of the opportunities for qualification and transition to sustainable integration on the first labour market shall lay the foundations of successful social inclusion by ensuring access to the labour market. - The equal access to services for the vulnerable groups plays a decisive role for their effective social inclusion and full-scale participation in the public life. Even though the right of access to various services is guaranteed by law, its implementation for the most vulnerable groups meets in fact a number of difficulties. The reasons are quite complex, but they include also lack of knowledge of the vulnerable groups on some of their rights. The reasons are also interrelated. The limited access of jobless people and other vulnerable groups to the system for social security leads to an increased risk for their inclusion into the social assistance schemes and in most of the cases results in making these people fully dependent on social assistance benefits. The access to services is related to the prevention of falling into a state of poverty and social exclusion. In the various fields of services, the problems of the vulnerable groups are different. In the social services system the lack of an extended network of community based services and providers in the whole country makes it difficult to provide access to quality care for a large part of the Bulgarian citizens, as well as for the process of deinstitutionalisation concerning particularly the people with disabilities and children; the low quality and inadequately trained personnel of some of the provided services are also a kind of violation of the rights of the citizens. Within the sector of health care the difficult access of the groups at highest risk of social exclusion to using health care services leads to worsening their general health status and increased mortality rate among them. It still lacks sufficient dynamics and extension of the activities aimed at promotion, prophylactics, treatment and rehabilitation. The low level of education is among the key factors defining poverty and social exclusion. Still high is the unemployment rate of persons with primary and lower education % in In relation to this the issues to be addressed include: reduction of the school drop-out rate; 10

11 ensuring access for the vulnerable groups, including the vulnerable ethnic minorities and children with disabilities, to education in mainstream educational environment; stimulation and development of the educational opportunities for the disadvantaged groups. In this respect the facilitated access for children living in rural regions to educational institutions is among the challenges in the field of transport services. The provision of accessible transpiration suitably adapted to the needs of the people with disabilities is yet not so common for all parts of the country, as in smaller settlements such transport is almost missing. - The measures undertaken for reduction of poverty and social exclusion among vulnerable ethnic minorities, and particularly the Roma minority, have not brought yet to considerable results. The problems calling for quick and urgent solutions are in the fields of education, housing conditions, employment, health care, anti-discrimination and overcoming the cultural differences. The solution of the problems of the vulnerable ethnic minorities groups in Bulgaria still needs the application of a longterm and sustainable approach. One of the main reasons for the economic problems among the Roma community at the moment is the low vocational qualification which can be explained by the low level of education and still existing discrimination attitudes among the majority towards Roma people. In a particularly unfavourable state are young people at the age up to 30 years who lack the basics of labour habits more than 80 % have never worked. A large part of the Roma population is long-term unemployed. Self-initiative among Roma families is low and confirms the inherited culture of dependency, which further impedes the implementation of programmes for development. The legislative framework in the field of education in Bulgaria does not make distinction between schoolchildren on the indication of ethnic belonging, but it is approximately estimated that a significant percentage of all dropout schoolchildren are of Roma origin. The provision of accessible housings for a large part of the Roma people is still a considerable challenge. Hence it is necessary to address the problem of improved quality of housing, provision of appropriate housing and infrastructure for Roma people. - Measures implemented to achieve the above described policy objectives shall inevitably contribute to the end of reducing the poverty among vulnerable groups. It is necessary to put the accent on two groups in particular for whom the risk of poverty is greater and permanent. Firstly, these are the children and particularly the children living in low-income households, the children of a lone parent as well as the children in multi-member families. Children are a group of specific vulnerability who are more threatened by the risk of poverty and social exclusion than adults. They are strongly dependent from the adults they live with and cannot provide themselves their own living. Taking into account the factors generating poverty unemployment, low education, low incomes, etc., it is of primary importance to avoid the inheritance of the poverty between the generations, to limit the opportunity that a limited access to the labour market and the low educational status of the parents are inherited by their children. Secondly, another strongly dependent and vulnerable group in the Bulgarian society are the pensioners and particularly pensioners with low incomes. There are substantial differences in the sizes of pensions of older pensioners and that entitled to younger pensioners, as well as between their pensions and the more recently allotted ones. The average size of individual pensions for insurance and old age, allotted till 2000, is lagging behind the size of more recently allotted pensions of the same kind in the next years. The sizes of pensions allotted in 2006 stand by 24.9 % higher than those allotted till 2000 and updated by the respective index percentage each year. This is one of the most serious challenges facing the policy for social inclusion and the pensions policy of Bulgaria, taking also into account that older pensioners over the age of 75 compose nearly one fourth of all the pensioners, and due to the negative demographic tendencies their number is quite likely to grow further. The key results expected to be achieved from the implementation of the above described policy objectives until 2008 are as follows: - Activity rate (the age of 15-64) of 65.6 %; - Unemployment rate of under 9 %; - Increase of the employment rate (the age of 15-64) up to 59.2 %; - Increase of the number of persons from vulnerable groups included in the programmes for vocational qualification by 20 %; 11

12 - Decrease of the number of dropping out children in mandatory school age by 10 % compared to 2005 rate; - Increase of the number of children with special educational needs integrated into the mainstream and professional schools by 15 %; - Increase of the number of schoolchildren of Roma origin brought out from segregated schools by 10 %; - Decrease of the number of persons dependent on social assistance by 5 %; - Decrease of the number of persons using social services in specialized institutions by 10 %; - Increase of the number of persons from vulnerable groups using social and health services within the community by 20 %; - Ensuring at least 15 % increase in the total households income; - Ensuring a nominal growth of the incomes from pensions by more than 5 % per annum Equal labour market participation of the groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion Policy measures: To achieve this policy objective and to be in line with the goals of the renewed Lisbon Strategy, Bulgaria has adopted measures to increase the employment rate, including among the vulnerable groups on the labour market. The key measures that are being put in place include: provision of vocational qualification and literacy training, programmes for employment designed for certain categories of disadvantaged groups (long-term unemployed, young people without work experience or without education and profession, orphans, unemployed people with low or no education or qualification, people with disabilities, older workers, vulnerable ethnic minorities, etc.), subsidized employment, encouraging employers to employ persons from vulnerable groups on the labour market, establishment of accessible working environment to increase the employment opportunities for the people with disabilities, investments promotion, preferential incentives and stimuli for private entrepreneurship, taxation alleviations, including also cession of the tax for production companies that invest in regions with high unemployment and cession of the tax for agricultural producers, optimization of the coordination between the social assistance system and the active labour market measures, control on the informal employment, etc. In relation to improving the employability of the labour force, which means constant increase of its quality and promotion of the development of human capital and lifelong learning, the following measures are being put in place: provision of appropriate training to acquire vocational and qualification characteristics in line with the new requirements of the economy and the employers; provision of traineeships and apprentices; increase of the quality of training; increase of the control and motivation of jobless people for better results from training, effective spending of the funds for training and control on training organizations; organization of training with the purpose of prevention of unemployment and achievement of adaptability of the labour force, including in factories and companies under processes of restructuring activities, etc. Part of the measures Bulgaria will take to guarantee better inclusion on the labour market of the vulnerable groups include as follows: Implementation of regular monitoring on demand and supply of the labour force on the labour market; Increase of the effectiveness of the employment programmes on both national and local level by means of implementation of programmes and measures for creation of sustainable jobs with provision of permanent employment for vulnerable groups on the labour market; Improvement of the targeting of the promotion measures for the employers for ensuring more quality and long-term employment; improvement of the offered to the employers services by the labour offices for increasing the number of the requested jobs from the real sector; Encouraging the active behaviour on the labour market of the long-term unemployed persons (by payment of bonus for period not longer than 1 year in case of independently found employment); Identification of the main reasons for inactivity and discouragement of the persons out of the labour force (including discouraged persons) and development of package of measures for their active inclusion in the working life; Adoption of additional measures for promotion of the vocational training and qualification; 12

13 Change in the attitudes of the employers concerning the employment of disadvantaged persons on the labour market by means of various media events and publications, seminars, discussions, etc.; Development of sustainable model for provision of services promoting business development in rural areas and in regions with mixed ethnical population in the framework of business network of centres under the JOBS Project; Further development of the model for offering literacy, training, work experience and following employment of the long-term unemployed persons, including those without education and qualification, for permanent labour market integration; Provision of appropriate forms of education as literacy, specialized motivation training, vocational training, as well as employing through applying flexible forms of employment and promotion of entrepreneurship among the Roma; Promotion of creating employment and labour incomes in Roma communities through implementation of pilot model for: vocational training, change in the employers attitudes, consultation services for starting/developing own business, access to micro credits and grants for starting independent economic activity; Promotion of starting an independent economic agricultural activity; Expansion of the preferential terms and conditions for employment of jobless persons in regions with high unemployment and for investors; Support for the creation of a sustainable model for development of social enterprises; Development of the policy for active ageing, creating incentives for the employers to employ more older workers, but also for workers to participate longer within the work process; Establishment of protected jobs. Indicators and monitoring arrangements: By implementing the policy for ensuring equal access to the labour market for the groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion the aim is to increase the activity and employment rates among the groups at risk on the labour market. The main indicators to be applied for monitoring and evaluation of the progress towards this goal include: employment rates, unemployment rates, including also long-term unemployment and activity rates among vulnerable groups (as per age, gender and level of education), number of persons from vulnerable groups involved into programmes and measures for training and employment, number of persons and families dropped out from social assistance, number of created sustainable jobs, number of newly founded middle-size and small enterprises by representatives of vulnerable groups on the labour market, number of newly established social enterprises, etc. The monitoring on the implementation of the planned goals will be performed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The main source of information on the above quoted indicators is the data of the National Statistical Institute, the Employment Agency, the Social Assistance Agency, the Agency for People with Disabilities, the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demographic Issues with the administrative support of the Directorate for Ethnic and Demographic Issues at the Council of Ministers, etc. Resource allocation: The policy for integration of the vulnerable groups on the labour market is financed primarily by funds from the state budget. Additional sources of financing are various programmes and projects of international organizations, including the pre-accession instruments of the EU. The funds for active labour market policy are planned on an annual basis in the National Action Plans on Employment, as approved by the Council of Ministers. The largest additional source of financing for the policy for integration of the vulnerable groups on the labour market will be the European Social Fund through which the implementation of the Operational Programme for Human Resources Development will be co-financed. The main institutions responsible for implementing the measures on ensuring equal participation on the labour market for the groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion, are the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with its executive agencies Employment Agency, Social Assistance Agency and Agency for People with Disabilities; the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Economy and Energy. 13

14 2.3. Ensuring equal access to services aiming at prevention of social exclusion and overcoming its consequences Policy measures: The policies implemented in Bulgaria in relation to the provision of equal access to services are various: the programmes for social assistance are being improved in view with better feasibility of the funds for social assistance benefits and the application of a differentiated approach and promotion of employment among the assisted persons; social services are developing within the community with the purpose of deinstitutionalisation; it is available legal, consultative, psychological, social and other kind of assistance to the vulnerable groups; measures are implemented to improve the living standard of people placed in specialized institutions; programmes for child protection are being implemented, particularly in relation to the guarantees for their rights and the decrease in the number of children living in specialized institutions; programmes and measures are being put in place for better inclusion of children in the educational system, as well as for integrated education of children with special educational needs; the living environment and transport are being adapted to the needs of the people with disabilities; financial support is provided to children and people with disabilities and their families; programmes for improvement of housing conditions are being implemented for low-income families and families from the Roma community; health care services are being provided to the groups at risk, including to those who don t participate in the health insurance system with payment of contributions; programmes are being implemented for building and improvement of the infrastructure. All the above said describe in general terms the implemented measures in Bulgaria, aimed towards social inclusion of vulnerable groups by providing for the practical access to rights that are already guaranteed under the Bulgarian Constitution and then further developed in the Bulgarian legislation. Part of the measures to be undertaken with the purpose of improving the policy for social inclusion in the field of social assistance and social services, education, health care, housing, transport, etc. are as follows: Improvement of the cooperation and interaction with the district administrations, the local municipal authorities and the non-governmental organizations which create conditions and contribute for the implementation of programmes and projects in the field of social inclusion in view with the achievement of sustainable and effective results; Provision of higher and more sustainable financing for the community based social services aimed at assistance to people from groups at risk and their families and the establishment of a network of such services throughout the whole country; Speeding up the process of deinstitutionalisation through services for reintegration in family environment and community based services; Improvement of the living conditions in the specialized institutions and inclusion of the beneficiaries of their services into the life of the local communities; Improvement of the control, including by means of enhanced civil control, in the field of services provision; Provision of quality education for all persons with special educational needs for the achievement of higher educational results, the acquisition of a higher level of education and vocational qualification; Increasing the literacy level of persons whose native language is not Bulgarian; Development and introduction of innovative programmes and specialized educational software for education and training of persons with special educational needs; Initiatives for applying the principles of intercultural education, tolerance and solidarity among the participants in the educational and training process from the various ethnic groups, etc.; Ensuring conditions for development of all-day organization of the educational process in the level of primary and lower secondary education; expansion of the system of social measures aimed towards the provision of textbooks and school appliances free of charge, as well as free transportation, etc.; activities aimed towards teachers, parents and local communities for the encrease of the scope of schoolchildren involved into school education and reduction of the number of school drop-outs; 14