Florin Manole calls for funding for social assistance and education, warning that the strategies cannot be implemented without sufficient budgets

Minister of Labour Florin Manole called on Monday, at Victoria Palace, for the future budget to provide the funding needed for social assistance and education services. The official warned that Romania is among the European countries allocating the least funding to these areas, while the lack of money limits the support provided to vulnerable people.

The statements were made at the closing conference of a project dedicated to combating violence against children, carried out by the Ministry of Labour, the National Authority for the Protection of Children's Rights and Adoption, UNICEF Romania and the General Secretariat of the Government, together with international partners.

Manole argued that the limited number of social services, staff shortages and insufficient support for beneficiaries are direct consequences of underfunding. He also criticized fiscal and budgetary consolidation measures affecting spending intended for vulnerable people, saying that strategies and action plans cannot produce results without concrete allocations.

The minister announced that the seven lines of action and the 57 measures undertaken must be funded after the adoption of the new budget. The examples mentioned included increasing benefits for children with disabilities from 80 to 190 lei and raising the kindergarten voucher for children from very poor families. However, he said these amounts remain insufficient.