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Home / FEATURED THEME
Achievements of the Russian Experts in the Area of Social Policy will Allow to Avoid Mistakes in Elaboration of a National Poverty Reduction Strategy in Belarus
The objective of the visit was to
study the Russian experience in social policy formulation and identification of
strategic focuses in poverty reduction as well as the experience in introducing
targeted social assistance and in implementing institutional reform of social
protection system, pension reform and other social policy measures with the
purpose of adaptation and use in elaboration of a National Poverty Reduction
Strategy in Belarus.
Within the framework of the trip
the Belarusian specialists visited the Ministry of Health and Social Protection
of the Russian Federation. A couple of meetings were organized with directors
and staff of the relevant departments (department for analysis and forecast of
health and social and labor sectors; department for social protection
development; legal and international departments and etc.). Meetings helped to
obtain comprehensive information about social protection reform in Russia.
Poverty reduction in the country is one of the key goals of this reform. The
Russian specialists briefed the Belarusian counterparts about their experience
in implementing administrative reform of social protection system in the Russian
Federation, successes and failures of pension reform, replacement of in–kind
social privileges for cash compensation and reform of health and educational
services.
At the meeting with top managers
and researchers of the Federal Center of Living Standards the sides discussed
the key areas and findings of the survey of the Russian social and labor sector
and approaches to unification of the Russian and Belarusian legislation in this
field. At the presentation of UNDP/Belarusian Government's joint project on
elaboration of a poverty reduction strategy, the Russian professionals shared
their experience in developing similar projects and strategies. The sides
reached a tentative agreement that the Russian Center of Living Standards will
provide assistance in preparing the final stages of the project on elaboration
of a National Poverty Reduction Strategy in Belarus (2005).
Members of the Belarusian
delegation met with top researchers of the Institute for Social and Economic
Problems of the Population of the Russian Academy of Sciences who are also the
experts of the TACIS Project «Reform of Social Protection System in the Russian
Federation».
The project which is implemented
in the country in 2003–2005 is intended to assist the Russian Government in
developing a policy and mechanisms of addressing inequality and enhancing
efficiency of social assistance. Within the framework of the TACIS Project a
number of proposals for enhancement of targeted social assistance and
recommendations for their introduction in pilot regions were formulated. The
Russian experts shared the research findings with the Belarusian specialists,
informed about positive and negative experience of their practical
implementation and answered questions about the methods of measuring the living
standards in Russia, poverty profile and analysis of the Federal and regional
regulations on targeted social assistance.
The visit to Moscow allowed the Belarusian specialists to get access to a
comprehensive and reliable information about the current social policies in
Russia. They were given an opportunity to study the methods of analysis and
monitoring of household incomes, poverty, labor markets and unemployment used by
the Russian government authorities and research centers, to exchange experience
and to establish personal contacts. The staff of the project «Assistance in
Elaboration of the Basic Foundation for a National Poverty Reduction Strategy in
Belarus» intend to use the materials for preparing the publication «Poverty
Reduction as a Social Policy Priority (Summary of Foreign Experience)» which
will be finalized at the end of 2004.
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