Etudes par pays volume 2, PDF, 346 p., 1,4 Mo - Femise

11873_2002 Study D2: Poverty, Informal Sector, Health and Labour
and persons with disabilities. The unification of policies and the application
of uniform criteria to the disparate benefits, as the Plan goes, remains a task
for the future (p. 106). The NAP for Social Inclusion identifies key issues
and concentrates on certain target groups in a nexus of economic,
employment and social reforms. New targeted initiatives, such as income
support to households, and low pension receivers, or cash benefits to long–
term unemployed aged 45-65 and to families with children in school up to
16 years of age, are all part of this effort.
The Eurostat Task Force, mentioned above, suggests that the statistical
analysis concerning exclusion should focus on the labour market, given
‘’the importance of employment as the core of the social tie, as the entrance
to social protection, as it gives a social identity, social status, satisfaction
social contacts and prevents families from long term poverty’’
(Micklewright, 2000, p. 8). This, and the recognition that ‘’participation in
employment is emphasized by most member states [including Greece] as the
best safeguard against poverty and social exclusion’’ (EC, 2000, p.12), led
to a two-way link between the NAP for Social Inclusion and the NAP for
Employment. On the one hand, the aim is to increase employability and
create new job opportunities, and on the other to focus on actions facilitating
participation in employment for individuals, groups, or communities found
at a distance from the labour market. The trend towards more active and
preventive policies reflects experience gained under the Luxembourg
process (ibid.).
In this spirit, the Greek Action Plan for Social Inclusion considers as the
major challenge and a policy priority the preservation of social cohesion,
including measures for the smooth integration of immigrants. The policies
adopted in the NAP for Employment for the purpose of fighting
unemployment are to the direction of meeting this challenge. But apart from
these rather general measures, the NAP for Social Inclusion proposes also a
series of more concrete reforms linked to exclusion (health, welfare,
education, social security, public administration and decentralization).A
case in point is the development of a system in schools offering second
opportunities for the reintegration of persons over 18 in the educational
system through individual teaching, as an alternative to basic qualifications.
Furthermore, for acquainting people in remote areas and islands with
computers, certain internet information centers are conveniently located for
the promotion of ‘’eInclusion’’, including possibilities that favour the access
of persons with disabilities to information and communications
technologies.
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