Social Transition Team Intranet
This web site has been designed for internal users throughout the agency and the E&E region. It is an online tool for professionals interested in the social
sector to gain access to data, knowledge, and people. The Social Transition team covers five key sub-sectors: education, labor markets, social services, social insurance and social assistance. On these pages you will find current and relevant information pertaining to these sub-sectors; the status of social sector reform in E&E countries; strategic approaches to social sector programming; publications and tools which represent best practices and lessons learned; and contact and background information about E&E social
sector personnel.
What is Social Transition?
The overall challenge of the social sector in any society is to manage the risks
people inevitably face and to assist people to reach their full potential as
productive members of society. A sound and healthy social sector — which
includes a well-functioning and flexible labor market, an education system that provides the skills needed in that market, social services appropriate to different segments of the population, public and private insurance to manage risk across the lifecycle, and social assistance for the vulnerable — is a prerequisite for a thriving economy and a stable democracy.
Social Transition it is the foundation of economic growth, as a number of studies have recently shown that an inverse correlation between growth and greater income inequality between groups in a society. Moreover, social transition is also the foundation of democracy, as studies have shown that income levels are directly correlated with support for democracy. With this as prologue, one critical goal of any social program is to assure that people who can work are employed and that the vulnerable are provided with social assistance to raise their income levels.