Announcement of The World Bank's Employment and Social Protection Project in Romania on March 7, 1995

5FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 95/57ECA Contact: Jan Pakulski Tel: (202) 473-1797 ROMANIA: EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION PROJECT The following is information on a project approved by the World Bank's Board. DATE: March 7, 1995 WORLD BANK GROUP SUPPORT: World Bank loan: $55.4 million. The World Bank loan is for 20 years, including five years of grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.09. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. TOTAL COST: $95.2 million OTHER PROPOSED FINANCING: Government of Romania $37 million; Government of Canada $0.7 million; Government of Germany $0.9 million; United States Department of Labor $1.2 million. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MOLSP) ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: March 2001 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The objectives of the project are to: (a) strengthen the labor offices' capacity to administer the increasing numbers of claims for unemployment benefits; (b) develop a flexible adult training system which responds to evolving labor market demand; and (c) implement reforms in social insurance and assistance programs, targeting the most vulnerable population groups. The project will finance civil works, equipment and materials, vehicles, computer hardware and software, technical assistance, external and local training, and incremental operating costs. The project consists of the following components: (i) General management and policy: (a) monitoring and policy analysis to provide the MOLSP the capability to evaluate and improve the cost-effectiveness of its labor-related programs; (b) automation of the labor and social protection offices; and (c) project management support to expand the already functioning Project Coordination Unit under the Technical Assistance and Critical Imports Project; (ii) Employment and training: (a) employment services which will improve the organization and delivery of services in the labor offices, including development of Industrial Adjustment Services to deal with large-scale layoffs; (b) Career Information and Counseling to develop modem materials and techniques to support occupational counseling in labor offices and schools; and (c) adult training for employed and unemployed workers to reorient and improve their skills for a market-oriented environment; (iii) Social protection: (a) social insurance reforms which will restructure the Social Insurance Agency to unify the various pension funds, and improve its financial management, contributions records system, and benefit disbursements; and (b) social assistance reforms, which will develop an integrated system of cash benefits to replace the currently fragmented system, improve the organization and effectiveness of social service delivery and target assistance on the poorest. Archives/Records Center, H B1-OO1 ( 1)