14th CONFERENCE OF THE UNION OF CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN CAPITALS
Zagreb, October 2010

 MAIN TOPIC
Urban Poverty – City Policies in Promoting Social Inclusion
          Following a European Commission proposal, the European Parliament proclaimed 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. Improving social cohesion, achieving appropriate economic growth and higher employment rate is not possible without a coherent strategy for the battle against poverty and social exclusion. At the same time, intense social changes, especially in workplace and family structure, followed by difficulties in financing social protection systems, increase poverty in urban areas. What are the characteristics of urban poverty and social exclusion and how can city policies prevent or reduce negative consequences of these processes?
SUBTOPICS

1. Vulnerable social groups in the process of impoverishment and social exclusion

Poverty and social exclusion mainly strike the most sensitive and vulnerable social strata: children, women, persons with disabilities, the elderly, migrants and others. These categories often have limited access to employment, health and educational services, social protection and other systems. Can regular city social policy measures rescue them from “the poverty trap”? What are the innovative experiences of cities in the protection of the most vulnerable social strata?

1. Economic policy and employment measures for equal opportunities

Economic development and employment are the most important drivers of poverty decrease and social inclusion. An important role in developing incentives for employment is played by local employment plans, adapting national measures to their own locally specific conditions. Although large cities usually display comparatively better employment indicators, they also hide structural unemployment “gaps”. What are the measures of economic development and employment promotion cities have at their disposal and how do these measures contribute to equal opportunities for all?

1. Civil society role in combating poverty

In addition to the state and local government, an indispensable player in the battle against poverty and social inclusion promotion are civil society organisations. The city level is the right one to efficiently develop new partnership between cities and associations. How much are civil society organisations dedicated to combating poverty? What are the programmes they are developing, how are they financed and do they evolve? How is coordination between different stakeholders in battle against poverty developed on the city level?