Brussels – Good news for Sicily: European funds are being put to good use and are delivering the promised results, according to Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President responsible for Employment and Social Rights. Specifically, the resources made available to the Sicilian region through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) have helped address shortages in early years services and female employment. In this regard, “Sicily’s programme evaluations document the implementation and outcomes of ESF+ measures,” Mînzatu said in response to a parliamentary question submitted by Giuseppe Antoci (M5S/The Left).
As part of the ESF+ Regional Programme for the period 2021–2027, the Executive Vice-President points out that a total of 58.1 million euros has been earmarked to support the integration of women into the labour market, while 264.2 million euros is earmarked to fund the work-life balance directly, as well as reductions in nursery fees, in synergy with the national programme “Youth, Women and Jobs” and other EU funds, which allocated 3.24 billion euros to create 150,480 additional early years education and care places for children aged 0 to 6, “including for projects in Sicily.”
It is in this context that “the implementation and outcomes of the measures” referred to by Minzatu are recorded in Brussels. As a general principle, she adds, “the disbursement of EU resources is subject to compliance with enabling conditions,
including the horizontal condition on gender equality, which Italy currently fulfils.”
The European Social Fund (ESF+) is one of the five financial cohesion policy instruments, comprising a set of measures, reforms and investments aimed at bridging gaps between EU countries and between regions – both European and national. It provides political support to Member States to ensure that all regions enjoy the same level of competitiveness and prosperity.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
