Murcia, September 08, 2022. This morning, a representation of the Network for the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion of the Region of Murcia (EAPN-RM) met with the Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia to address the situation of employability programs whose continuity is not guaranteed as of October 1.
Employability programmes are a specialised resource for the social and labour integration and improvement of employability of people in situations of or at risk of social exclusion, through socio-labour integration itineraries and other complementary measures.
They are managed by the Murcian Institute of Social Action (IMAS) and are financed by the Regional Operational Programme (European Structural and Investment Funds) and by funds from the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia itself. The current execution ends on September 30, 2022. The lack of anticipation and planning has meant that the continuity of these programs is not assured from next month.
Currently, 45 programmes are being carried out, involving a total of 3500 people living in poverty and social exclusion. One characteristic of these programmes is their importance in the region. There are many municipalities in the region where they are carried out and if they could not be continued, it would mean a significant loss for the affected municipalities.
On behalf of EAPN-RM, Pedro López, Vice President of Political Incidence, and (representing the 18 entities of the network that carry out these programs), Andrea Nieto (Fundación Cepaim) and Ginesa Rubio (El Candil) attended the meeting. Pedro López pointed out that “the responsibility for social policies lies with the Public Administration” and that “it must be the Regional Government that ensures the continuity of these programs.” He also pointed out that “at the center of all this are the 3500 people who participate in the employability programs.”
On behalf of the FMRM, its president, María Dolores Muñoz, accompanied by the General Secretary Manuel Pato, has insisted that “the main thing to resolve this and other similar situations suffered by social services in the region and that affect the town councils, is the urgent need to develop the Law of Social Services that the CARM announced a few months ago, but this has been stalled without implementing the measures it contemplates”. The representative of the FMRM and mayor of Bullas has stressed that, “this type of organisation such as EAPN covers services that complement those already provided by the Social Services of the Town Councils, and therefore improve the service that users need. Muñoz Valverde has finished by saying that, “for this reason we must continue to support the work they have been doing regulating the aid programmes with financing and planning, since it is unacceptable to leave thousands of beneficiaries and 150 workers stranded”.
-ADDITIONAL INFORMATION-
The list of municipalities where there are programs of this type is as follows:
Albudeite
Sewer
alguazas
Murcia
archena
calasparra
River Fields
caravaca de la cruz
Cartagena
Cehegin
Ceuta
Cieza
Fuente Alamo
Jumilla
Yecla
The Union
Las Torres de Cotillas
Lorca
Lorquí
Los Alcázares
Mazarrón
Molina de Segura
Moratalla
Mula
Murcia
Sheet
Puerto Lumbreras
San Javier
San pedro del pinatar
Santomera
pacheco tower
Totana.
Yecla
