On December 1, the Tuesday Salon with the theme: “Recovery from 2020: How to rebuild the economy and social policies in 2021?” was held. Part of the panel in this Salon were: Besnik Bislimi, First Deputy Chairman, Lëvizja Vetëvendosje and Artan Mustafa, Lecturer of Social Policy.
The introductory speech of this salon was made by the director of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Kosovo, Mr. Rene Schlee who expressed his gratitude for the organization and maintenance of Tuesday salons during 2020 despite the challenges and difficulties that these salons were organized virtually, bringing to society debates between experts in various fields, citizen participation and elaboration of numerous topics and problems with which this year was characterized.
Mr. Besnik Bislimi as the first speaker of this panel emphasized the fact that from the beginning of the pandemic it was clear that the way it presented, will create a over proportional effect on the poor, hence the first measures taken The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has been doubling social assistance for the most vulnerable categories, that in Kosovo there are about 25,000 families which benefit from this social scheme. The economic recovery package, the drafting of objectives and its harmonization with the existing laws of the Republic of Kosovo were also discussed.
Mr. Artan Mustafa started the discussion by raising the concern of lack of information and transparency about the expenditures of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo after the first 100 days of government. Continuing the discussion, Mr. Mustafa emphasized that the government for 2021 should take into account the lessons learned from the institutions during the pandemic, taking the example of measure 15 of the Emergency Package which provides a payment for families who have unemployed members, and apply them so that the most vulnerable do not feel doubly endangered by the pandemic and poverty, as well as together with the panelist Mr. Besnik Bislimi discussed the design of potential strategies that would face the pandemic and would help different segments of citizens to overcome this challenge as easily as possible.
The moderation of this Salon was realized by Nora Latifi Jashari, Executive Director, GAP Institute, while the Op-Ed will be written by Berat Thaqi, policy research, GAP Institute.