48-year old Victor Codreanu once lost sleep thinking about how he would manage after retirement. But now his concerns have nearly vanished. "Even though retirement is still is a long way away, I do not worry because I know exactly what my pension will be, if I keep my current job and salary level," says Victor, who works in a factory in Ialoveni town.
Like Victor, most of Moldovas population now benefits from a reformed social protection system. The reformed system has been supported in large part by the World Banks Social Protection Management Project, which was launched six years ago.
And in 1999, Moldova asked the World Bank for support in implementing comprehensive reforms of the public pension system and designing a new organizational structure for social insurance. The project included analysis, monitoring and evaluation of social policies; strengthening of social protection management by creating and implementing an integrated information system; and better public information.
As a result of the project, the capacity of staff in the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has been increased considerably through training. Social protection policies are evaluated regularly, social reports are published yearly, and the Moldovan people are well informed about reforms through public information campaigns that utilize brochures, radio and television programs, public service announcements, and newspaper articles to spread the word.
Source: World Bank.
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