News

Last Thursday and Friday we were in Vilnius with 70 representatives from Lithuanian social NGOs to discuss the social priorities of the upcoming Lithuanian presidency of the EU.

This was a great experience of interactions, exchanges, and sharing between local, national and European social NGOs. Participants from Kaunas, Brussels and Vilnius discussed with the Minister of social security and labour – Mrs Algimanta Pabedinskiene – the key priorities of the next presidency, including: better job opportunities, better protection of workers (including migrant workers), a European Alliance for apprenticeship, pensions, gender equality, women on board, and some others.

This visit to Lithuania was so successful due to the hard work of Ariella in this office along with the support of the team and our members. Angelė Čepėnaitė from ICSW Lithuania, who organised everything in Vilnius, must also be thanked for her hard work and dedication. We managed to have political priorities presented by both European and Lithuanian representatives highlighting that EU policies are a concern for both EU and national organisations.

In the evening the field visits allowed us to see the positive work of social NGOs in areas such as: protecting victims of domestic violence, supporting the education of Roma children in dump ghettos, and in supporting former drug addicts and prisoners to reintegrate into society. Lithuanian social NGOs are doing an amazing job with the support of their members.

On the second day, our members had high level bilateral meetings with the Minister of Economy, the Vice minister of Justice, the Vice Minister of Social Security and Labour, the Substitute Ombudsperson for Children‘s Rights and Ombudsperson of the Office of Equal Opportunities, and the European Institute for Gender Equality.

We concluded that second day with a common lunch at “Mano Guru”, a social reintegration salad bar in the center of the capital. A trendy place if you were in Brussels with more than 60 salads on the menu at a highly competitive price… and tasty. So why social? It’s only because our hostess told us that the people working there were previously socially excluded. This is what people doing politics need to understand about the positive outcome of social inclusion policies.

What is the link with the EU? This restaurant – as other projects – was supported by the European Social Fund. It has also won a number of EU awards: not from the Commissioner on Social Affairs, but from the Commissioner of Industry and Entrepreneurship and another from the Commissioner for Regional policy.

Coming back to my office on Monday with this experience on my mind is comforting. We can do a lot together with the support of each other. We will go back to Lithuania as soon as July 11 for an informal meeting with the Minister of Employment and Social Affairs to discuss the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union. But that, my friends, is another story that I will have to tell you later.

Pierre Baussand

Director