Global NGO Forum on Human Rights

Mid-Decade Forum [ NGO Forum ]

Ecopeace - Middle East Environmental NGO Forum

Liaison Committee of Development NGOs to the European Communities | Liaison Committee of Non-Governmental Organisations | NGO-EC [Abbr.]

perform forum moderation | perform moderation of online forums | carry out forum moderation | moderate forum activity

Pacific Islands Forum [ Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat | PIFS | South Pacific Forum ]

non-governmental organisation [ NGO | non-governmental international organisation | non-governmental international organization | non-governmental organization | non-governmental regional organisation | non-governmental regional organization | non-governmental world organisation | non-governmental world organization ]

forum [ discussion forum ]

A group of relevant NGOs came together to organise an NGO Forum to discuss the Green Paper on European Social Policy.

However, analysis of the progress made in the light of the 4 common objectives reveals that: (a) the measures concerned with promoting access to the labour market have, in tandem with the NAP/empl, achieved considerable success; (b) pursuit of the reform of the social protection system has not affected attainment of the goals inherent in the Minimum Guaranteed Income scheme (scheme combining financial benefits with a socio-occupational integration plan); (c) the aim of having all persons in a situation of exclusion sign a "social integration contract" within one year was too ambitious and was difficult both to implement and to evaluate, since it requires multisectoral involvement and since the universe of individuals to be covered remains ...[+++] undefined (the same comment applies to the individualised follow-up of children and young persons within three months); (d) the setting up of a national social welfare helpline has made it easier for certain priority groups to obtain information and a rapid response to their problems; (e) the "Urban Social Development Contracts" and the "Rural Areas and Social Development" project, which were aimed at tackling the problems of the regional nature of exclusion, were abandoned for budgetary and policy reasons; (f) as regards mobilising stakeholders in the process, the Interministerial Monitoring Committee, set up expressly to monitor the NAPincl, operated only intermittently and its composition had to be altered following the change of government, hence its impact as an institutional co-ordination forum has been established only gradually; as regards civil society, the vague reference to the Co-operation and Social Solidarity Pact and the project for the creation of an NGOs Forum illustrates the low degree of involvement of these players.

In terms of implementation, and bearing in mind the low level of involvement of non-institutional stakeholders in the preparation of the 2003-5 NAPincl, the challenge is to adopt a partnership-based approach with civil society, the social partners and the excluded themselves through the establishment of specific structures for wide and continuing participation (e.g. an "NGOs Forum"). At the same time, steps to make the Ministries concerned more accountable must be continued within the framework of the Interministerial Monitoring Committee.

In Portugal, alongside the interministerial commission, a NGO Forum will follow the implementation and the assessment of the Plan.