The Government of Asturias will invest 1.28 million European funds to promote a pioneering project that promotes the social and labour inclusion of people in vulnerable situations. It is one of the nine innovative initiatives selected by the European Commission throughout the EU to receive funding from the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation and the only one to be developed in Spain.
The project Xeitu – Innovative strategies for active inclusion through integrated local partnerships will be implemented on a pilot basis in Tineo, Mieres and Gijón, where it will initially benefit 500 people, to be extended later to the whole of Asturias if the proposed objectives are achieved.
The Regional Minister for Social Rights and Welfare, Melania Álvarez, today chaired the telematic meeting to launch the plan, whose execution period has been set at 30 months, which means that it will end in June 2024. During this period, the participants will be provided with resources in the field of income, job search and access to goods and services to overcome the barriers that prevent them from entering the labour market.
The Principality, through the Regional Ministry of Social Rights and Welfare, will lead this action, in which the Public Employment Service (Sepepa), the Institute of Economic Development (Idepa), the Ministry of Inclusion, Security and Migration, the city councils of Tineo, Mieres and Gijón, the European Social Network, the Asturias Red Cross, the Asturian Federation of Employers (Fade) and the European Anti-Poverty and Social Exclusion Network (EAPN-Asturias) are also participating.
The work pursues a paradigm shift in the current approach of the different organisations involved, which will operate in a coordinated manner and focus on the needs of the participants to achieve inclusion. The project will benefit half a thousand people on minimum income (social wage or minimum living income) who have been on income support for a long time or who face serious difficulties in accessing employment. People who are distant from the labour market for various reasons and who do not receive minimum income will also be able to take part.
The Government of Asturias expects results on three levels:
- A significant improvement in the living conditions of the participants, including their full social and labour market integration.
- An increase in the quality of the interventions for inclusion through coordinated action, which will also contribute to increase the sustainability of the autonomous system of social rights.
- Strengthening social cohesion and resilience of the whole Asturian society.
