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USAID Mission to Poland
Europe & Eurasia
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Last updated: 49
Activity Reports
Special Projects
The GOP has undertaken an ambitious social sector reform program, essentially a second phase in the transition process after the fundamental political and economic reforms of the early nineties. Much to the credit of the GOP, even though it is having problems restoring cohesion to government policy and communicating its reform program successfully to the public, it has remained steadfast in its commitment to social sector reform.
Many of the USAID activities, such as assisting in the passage and promotion of pension reform legislation and the joint Harvard/Jagiellonian University Development of Health management systems in Krakow, have been contributing directly over the past years to social sector reforms. The SEED-funded Department of Labor worker adjustment project, supporting restructuring of the coal sector, has been assisting the GOP to coordinate its efforts to address the negative impact of mass layoffs. Administrative reform (decentralization and devolution of authority) has been helping to enhance the capability of local governments to deal with new social sector implementation responsibilities. The Strategic Communications project is providing assistance to the GOP to enhance its public communications (outreach) capabilities and to get the public to understand the nature and objectives of its reform program better. This last effort has been complemented by the now completed, smaller ACILS/Solidarity Center project whose purpose was to educate workers and enterprise managers in pension program options; this activity also complemented the larger scale effort on pension reform.
For more detail, look up descriptions of some activities, with the more recent ones described below:
- Polish Know-How Foundation
- Social Sector Reforms
- Regional Development Strategy - Gdansk Institute for Market Economics
- Technical Assistance to the Health Sector Reform
- Analysis of the labor market in Poland
- Small Project Assistance
Polish Know-How Foundation. This activity provided up to US$ 600,000 to provide Poland's newly established para-statal technical assistance organization with an institution-building grant to help develop the Foundation’s core operations.
Social Sector Reforms. The Strategic Communications for Social Sector Reform project worked with the Prime Minister's Chancellery and other central government agencies to communicate the message of the four social sector reforms (health, education, pension, and public administration) more effectively. The project was to result in improved communication in the four reform areas: (a) from central government to the public; (b) from stakeholders and interest groups to central government, and (c) within the government itself. The project will achieve its results by a combination of hands-on training and technical assistance, formal training (including U.S. study tours and local workshops), and some demonstration projects in public opinion research.
Regional Development Strategy - Gdansk Institute for Market Economics. The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics (GIME) (one of the most reputable policy research Institutes in Poland) implemented a project to assist new voivodships prepare development profiles as a basis for development of strategic plans. The project also included assessment and evaluation of the way the Government of Poland and voivodships are managing the regional development planning/implementation process. The project also analyzed the agricultural sector reform program and unemployment issues.
Technical Assistance to the Health Sector Reform. This grant with the Harvard School of Public Health provided support for the implementation of the Health Insurance Reform in Poland. The activity was implemented in partnership with the Jagiellonian University Foundation For Public Health. The program consisted of four components:
(a) organizing and facilitating four national conferences bringing together key GOP ministries (Health, Finance, Office of Supervision of Health Insurance Funds), their local government partners and managers of all 16 regional insurance funds to discuss progress and problems related to the implementation of reforms;
(b) technical assistance and training to one pilot Health Insurance Fund (Pomeranian Regional Fund) to prepare a comprehensive strategic development plan, based on a proper market demand analysis (client and suppliers of services), and disseminate the results to the other 15 regional funds;
(c) organizing a national seminar on negotiation and conflict resolution for health insurance funds managers and officers responsible for contract negotiation; and
(d) administering and publicizing the 1999 Patient’s Satisfaction Survey (based on the Krakow Patients’ Sample).
Analysis of the labor market in Poland. This was an activity implemented by the Institute of Labor and Social Studies in Warsaw. The purpose of the grant was to carry out research and make recommendations on instruments and methods for employment generation and relocation. The recommendations developed from this research project, will enable the policy makers, both at the central and local level, to develop approaches to reduce structural unemployment in Poland.
Small Project Assistance. Managed by the Peace Corps in Poland, SPA proposals addressed a variety of grassroots community development needs. All SPA proposals were derived from the expressed needs of community groups around Poland. A Peace Corps Volunteer then worked closely with local committees to ensure that there is direct involvement and supervision of the project by the community. The community not only received the supplies or service provided by the SPA funds, but was also given the opportunity to develop skills in problem solving, community planning, project management and evaluation, as well as skills specifically needed to carry out tasks associated with the project.
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Last Updated on: March 13, 2002 |
