THE World Bank is providing a 50.8 million euro loan for the promotion of employment and to fight poverty in Bulgaria.
The Social Investment and Employment Promotion Project was approved in December last year by the bank's board of directors.
It will help to improve the standard of living of people in poverty in Bulgaria, among them long-term unemployed and ethnic minorities.
The World Bank said these vulnerable groups faced multiple disadvantages, including exclusion, weak social capital, poor access to markets and basic services, and low levels of education and employment.
Finance Minister Milen Velchev and World Bank country director for Bulgaria, Andrew Vorkink, signed an agreement in support of the project last Wednesday.
Vorkink said the project was geared to assist the poorest people, many of whom were living in remote and most often rural communities, and had limited access to productive assets, and needed investments in basic infrastructure, education, health care, and other social services.
"Bulgaria had achieved the main condition aimed to reduce unemployment, that is, macro-economic stability and economic growth," Vorkink said.
He said that Bulgaria's progress was significant compared to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Vorkink said the project would involve the establishment of business incubators and mediating services for finding jobs.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Policy Lidia Shuleva was present at the ceremony, together with representatives of the tripartite Steering Committee of the Social Investment Fund, and the National Association of Municipalities.
Shuleva said that the project would help improve the living standards of less developed communities, enhance the quality of the labour force so that long-term unemployed would be able to rejoin the labour market, and would contribute to the development of the civil society, because it would be implemented with the active participation of the non-government sector.
Velchev said the project supported one of the most important Government priorities, which was the establishment of social capital and social integration, which would facilitate poverty alleviation and improvement of the living standards of all Bulgarians.
The project will be implemented by the Bulgarian Social Investment Fund under the patronage of the Labour Ministry. The project will support the creation of more than 700 000 employee days of labor.
It will help create new opportunities for workers who need short-term employment between jobs. Participating communities will make decisions to identify and implement projects, which have local benefits.
The total cost of the project is estimated at 67.77 million euro, including 17 million granted by the Bulgarian Government and participating communities.
It will support two main initiatives - Community Infra-structure for Development and Bulgarian Active Labour Market.
The Social Investment and Employment Promotion Project was approved in December last year by the bank's board of directors.
It will help to improve the standard of living of people in poverty in Bulgaria, among them long-term unemployed and ethnic minorities.
The World Bank said these vulnerable groups faced multiple disadvantages, including exclusion, weak social capital, poor access to markets and basic services, and low levels of education and employment.
Finance Minister Milen Velchev and World Bank country director for Bulgaria, Andrew Vorkink, signed an agreement in support of the project last Wednesday.
Vorkink said the project was geared to assist the poorest people, many of whom were living in remote and most often rural communities, and had limited access to productive assets, and needed investments in basic infrastructure, education, health care, and other social services.
"Bulgaria had achieved the main condition aimed to reduce unemployment, that is, macro-economic stability and economic growth," Vorkink said.
He said that Bulgaria's progress was significant compared to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Vorkink said the project would involve the establishment of business incubators and mediating services for finding jobs.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Policy Lidia Shuleva was present at the ceremony, together with representatives of the tripartite Steering Committee of the Social Investment Fund, and the National Association of Municipalities.
Shuleva said that the project would help improve the living standards of less developed communities, enhance the quality of the labour force so that long-term unemployed would be able to rejoin the labour market, and would contribute to the development of the civil society, because it would be implemented with the active participation of the non-government sector.
Velchev said the project supported one of the most important Government priorities, which was the establishment of social capital and social integration, which would facilitate poverty alleviation and improvement of the living standards of all Bulgarians.
The project will be implemented by the Bulgarian Social Investment Fund under the patronage of the Labour Ministry. The project will support the creation of more than 700 000 employee days of labor.
It will help create new opportunities for workers who need short-term employment between jobs. Participating communities will make decisions to identify and implement projects, which have local benefits.
The total cost of the project is estimated at 67.77 million euro, including 17 million granted by the Bulgarian Government and participating communities.
It will support two main initiatives - Community Infra-structure for Development and Bulgarian Active Labour Market.
