The reformation of the pension system, strengthening of the family policies, improvement of the mechanism for providing social benefits and of access to social services are only some of the priorities of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family for the period between September 2015 and December 2016, IPN reports.
In a presentation event, Minister of Labor Mircea Buga said the Ministry’s priorities derive from a series of documents, including the Government’s program for 2015-2018, the national plan of action for implementing the Association Agreement with the EU for 2014-2016 and other national and intersector policy documents. “We count on understanding on the part of society, on the assistance and support of the development partners and on the attitude of each employee working in the social protection sector. These are the support pillars in achieving our final goal: promotion and ensuring of social welfare,” he stated.
Attending the event, Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet said the people, either elderly persons, children who remained without parental care or persons with disabilities, continue to face a multitude of problems and these become more acute in the current economic and social conditions.
World Bank Country Manager for Moldova Alex Kremer stated that the national budget is rather inflexible and it is thus essential for the social benefits to be directed to those who really need assistance. “The World Bank offers financial support and expertise for increasing the backing for the Social Assistance program and cold-month allowances and for strengthening an equitable and sustainable pension system,” he said.
Head of the Political and Economic Section of the EU Delegation to Moldova Wicher Slagter said the social sector is the key challenge tackled in the Association Agreement between the EU and Moldova, which contains provisions concerning the cooperation in such areas as labor force, social policies and equal opportunities. The EU provides support in this regard through the SOCIEUX program and other different assistance instruments for the economic, education and health sectors, which are aimed at bringing better living standards for each Moldovan citizen.
Among the Ministry’s priorities are to work out a new employment strategy so as to adjust the national employment legislation and policies to the EU’s and to review the employment measures so that the labor force meets the labor market challenges. There will be worked out a mechanism for annually increasing salaries in line with the consumer price index so as to better socially protect the employees with low pays. The method of setting the minimum official salary will be reviewed, while the method of setting the minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector will be improved.
One of the reforms refers to the pension system and the Ministry already initiated the process of standardizing the conditions for receiving pension by increasing the retirement age and required length of service for particular categories of people, such as prosecutors and public servants. The method of calculating the pension will also be standardized so that the same calculation formula is used for all the categories of people.
