The Government of Croatia is committed to reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion. To this end, the Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family, and Social Policy (MLPSFSP) initiated an important project to build a modern comprehensive policy framework for the fight against poverty and social exclusion, founded on an evidence-based diagnostic of poverty and social exclusion at sub-national level.
The results of the technical assistance Project - Support to Improve Poverty Diagnostic and Social Policies Monitoring, were presented during a two-day conference. The project focused on supporting the MLPSFSP in developing a practical methodology to effectively use subnational administrative data on poverty and social exclusion in Croatia. This will assist policymakers to make better informed decisions leading to improved policies and programs, how to allocate financial resources strategically, and how to improve the design of interventions that address the root causes of poverty and social exclusion. The project was funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) and implemented by the World Bank, in cooperation with the Directorate General for Structural Reforms of the European Commission (DG REFORM).
The event provided a platform to present and discuss the knowledge gains from this project, and to highlight the importance of these findings in the context of strategic planning and the use of EU funds. Participants, comprising representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation, State Geodetic Administration, Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, the European Commission, the World Bank, academia and civil society organizations, exchanged ideas on how to jointly enhance the implementation and sustainability of policy solutions identified as part of the project.