Including Inclusion in Europe and Central Asia

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Including Inclusionin Europe and Central
AsiasSocial PolicyClosing Themes
Arup Banerji Budapest September 26 2007
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Six Themes to Take Away

1. Social inclusion is especially important for
   Eastern Europe and Central Asia
2. Many of the approaches work best when applied
   across sectors/ministries
3. In parallel, new approaches are not panaceas,
   and are most effective when used as part of broad
   social policy (mainstreaming)
4. Many of the approaches to social inclusion has to
   be inter-generational, and education is key
5. Some policy initiatives are costly, but the money
   is there in most countries
6. Good quality evaluations are still lacking

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1. The particular importance of social inclusion
for ECA

• The challenge of convergence is still large, even
  at todays rapid growth rates
• Increasing both labor force participation and
  productivity are the only solutions
• Including those in the current populations who
  are excluded, into jobs, and good (higher
  productivity) jobs is a fairer and more
  sustainable solution

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2. Cross-sectoral approaches

• The quality of delivered services (e.g.,
  education quality) is central for attaining CCT
  goals
• Increasing labor demand is a prerequisite for the
  most successful activation policies
• Community-based approaches are inherently
  cross-ministerial
• Child care needs to involve education and health
• Mobility requires action on housing markets

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3. Mainstreaming approaches

• There are many successful experiences, but they
  need to be embedded within a broader social
  policy
• Employment
• De-institutionalization
• CCTs (and their relationship to existing
  transfers)

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4. Inter-generational focus

• Addressing exclusion in a generation is
  difficult, but for the next generation it is
  affordable (long-term unemployed hardest to
  reach, to move).
• Better educating kids (CCTs, REF approaches for
  Roma, skills-building for most marginalized
  groups, better social care for children) a
  necessary approach

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5. Available resources

• For many ECA countries, the marginal resources to
  make costly program changes exist
• EU funds (ESF/structural funds for member states,
  IPA for candidates, or neighborhood funds)
• Oil/mineral revenue
• Savings from increasing efficiency (e.g., from
  better targeting transfers)

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6. Evaluation is essential

• Social inclusion, by its very complexity, needs
  experimental/pilot approaches
• Scientific, well-designed evaluations are
  critical
• For understanding results/successes
• For not wasting time and resources on falures
• For building political support