The 4 axes of the new NSRF for employment and social support

By Dimitris Katsaganis

A countdown is “running” for the final program of the Ministry of Labor for the new NSRF for the period 2021-2027 totaling 2.3 billion euros.

According to his exclusive information capital.gr by competent executives of the staff of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis, the final program will be formulated at the beginning of next year, after its final approval by the competent services of the European Commission which process the data following its official submission.

The same sources state that the Ministry of Labor actively participates in the Sectoral Program “Human Resources & Social Cohesion”, of the Period 2021-2027, totaling 4.1 billion. for the entire programming period, which is co-financed by the European Social Fund.

The dossier corresponding to the projects under the responsibility of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs that were submitted to the Sectoral Program (has a budget of around € 2.3 billion and is formulated as follows, by priority of the Program:

Priority “Employment and Labor Market”: € 1.2 billion

This priority aims to tackle unemployment, increase employment, enhance access to the labor market, with an emphasis on the groups of the population with the highest unemployment rates (long-term unemployed, women), as well as interventions to promote equal participation of both sexes in the labor market, etc.

Youth Employment Priority: € 500 million

This priority includes actions to tackle the unemployment of young people up to the age of 29 who are out of work, education or training and their sustainable integration into the labor market through the implementation of apprenticeships, skills acquisition and promotion in the labor market including information and awareness actions.

Special Priority “Food Aid and Coping with Material Deprivation” (TEVA): € 430 million

Includes actions for the practical support of the needy and those living at risk of extreme poverty in general, as well as accompanying actions in support of the socialization and social integration of the needy

Priority “Horizontal-Systemic Interventions”: € 50 million

The aim is to modernize, adapt and strengthen the institutions and services of the labor market, social inclusion and health, to improve the participation capacity of the social partners and civil society actors, etc.

Objectives

According to the same sources, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, through its proposed actions, aims to:

– improving access to employment, with particular emphasis on young people up to the age of 29 outside Employment, Education and Training (EAEK),

– promoting equal access to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning,

– in dealing with material deprivation

promoting social inclusion and combating child poverty.

It is noted, as reported by the same sources, that from the total budget corresponding to the actions of the Ministry, € 850 million will be allocated to actions of Social Inclusion and combating child poverty, which have the most priorities with their respective sub-objectives.

These actions in the framework of the Sectoral Program “Human Resources and Social Cohesion” will be supplemented with additional actions that will be funded by the Regional Programs, whose budget will exceed € 1 billion.

Finally, the Program includes emblematic projects of strategic importance, such as the “Neighborhood Nanny” program that begins as a pilot in early 2022, but also open labor market integration programs with emphasis on the long-term unemployed and women, etc.

BOX: Preparations for the actions of the Recovery Fund are in progress

In parallel with the preparations for the new NSRF, the Ministry of Labor is “running”, as it has already announced the six modules of action of the Recovery Fund with a budget of 5.1 billion euros for the next 5 years.

These sections cover the following areas:

New technology

The projects that will “run” are, among others, the Unified Labor Market Monitoring Information System and the Integrated Labor Inspection Information System.

Digital Work Card – Digital insurance upgrade

The Digital Work Card will “run” first with its pilot application in some major sectors of the economy and then gradually expand to the entire labor market

However, the work of the Digital Upgrading of Social Security will proceed, which, among other things, will act as the digitization of EFKA files.

Training

The relevant projects will be eg training and retraining with activities such as training in digital and “green” skills and the reform of vocational education and training (eg training from upgraded centers of OAED), the strengthening of apprenticeship (eg partnerships with companies / chambers etc)

New policies for the unemployed

Specifically, there will be actions such as 15,000 six-month jobs accompanied by three months of intensive training in high demand sectors (mainly digital), 5,000 15-month jobs under the Green Jobs Initiative and 22,500 jobs in local economies accompanied by training tailored to personal needs and skills of the unemployed.

Modern Social Protection Tools

For people with disabilities, actions are provided, such as the Disability card for at least 180,000 disabled people and the Personal Assistant Program for 2,000 disabled people (with the corresponding training of 2,000 professionals). Activities for children include 50,000 new places for infants and toddlers in daycare. For the homeless, the renovation of 100 apartments that remained unused for a long time in the Municipalities of Athens and Thessaloniki is planned.

Equal opportunities for all

They are provided, among other things. 120 childcare units for infants and toddlers in large enterprises for two years

It will also run a training program for private and public sector workers on equality and diversity in the workplace.