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 a project to build a modern comprehensive policy framework for combating poverty and social exclusion, founded on an evidence-based diagnostic at the sub-national level.
The technical assistance Project - Support to Improve Poverty Diagnostic and Social Policies Monitoring, presented during a two-day conference, 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 in making better-informed decisions leading to improved policies and programs, strategic allocation of financial resources, and improved design of interventions addressing 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 activities under this project will have multiple benefits for all stakeholders.
Firstly, through obtaining a more granular picture of poverty and social exclusion at the subnational level, policymakers will be able to develop better-targeted and more comprehensive social policies.
Secondly, an advanced monitoring and reporting system for the five national social strategic plans will enable the Government to implement evidence-based social policy, evaluate progress, adjust its course as needed, and demonstrate results.
Finally, enhanced stakeholder engagement mechanisms will ensure that everyone contributes to the social policymaking cycle—government institutions, social partners, academia, civil society, and beneficiaries themselves.
The event provided a platform to present and discuss knowledge gains from this project while highlighting their importance in strategic planning and EU fund utilization. Participants included representatives from various ministries such as Labor; Finance; Justice; Public Administration; Digital Transformation; State Geodetic Administration; Croatian Bureau of Statistics; Regional Development; EU Funds; along with members from the European Commission; World Bank; academia; and civil society organizations. They exchanged ideas on how to jointly enhance implementation and sustainability of policy solutions identified during this project.