In a social media post, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, instead of the usual review of the previous week’s government performance, makes a brief reference to what stands out from 2022 in the form of an epilogue to the holiday season.

Starting with initiatives for young workers, he more broadly addresses the problem of employment in conditions of peak unemployment, the “first stamp”, as well as a double increase in the minimum wage, a digital work card. Also the introduction of reciprocity in supplementary pensions, a new organization of employment, as well as employee training programs through Greece 2.0.

However, the Prime Minister also refers to housing, professional and educational policies in general, to initiatives to combat domestic and gender-based violence. He specifically commends the cancellation of all outstanding basic pensions, as well as the massive Fofi Gennimata screening program for breast cancer and the National Health Service’s advocacy efforts, as well as programs to support citizens with disabilities. It concludes with a reference to efforts to make Greece an attractive destination for international television and film producers.

And overall, he concludes that: “2022 has been a year full of challenges, but also steps forward for our country. We all know how many things we would like to see improved in the functioning of the state. Each of you will have complaints, ideas, problems that the state should solve. So at the end of the day what sticks in my memory is not what we have already done, but what remains to be done. That’s why we work every day.”

In detail in his post, the Prime Minister states:

“Usually on Sundays we do a (I know, not very brief!) review of the past week. But today, as we leave the holiday season behind us, I would like to share with you what I selectively highlighted from what happened in 2022.

I will try to be as brief as possible, and of course I am not going to write to you about all the events of 2022, as I do not think I have the right to abuse your time in such a way. That is why I will not dwell on economic indicators, in which Greece’s performance is a positive surprise for Europe, but will focus more on policies for youth, women and young families, on the efforts that we are making to change the lives of citizens for the better. I really hope that you will be interested.

I want to start with our initiatives for young workers. Youth unemployment was one of the main problems created by the decade-long crisis. It is important that we do our best to help the next generation start working life.

The First Badge, voted on in 2021 and premiered in 2022, is designed for young people aged 18-29 with no previous addiction work experience to help them find their first job. With the “first badge”, each new position with a full-time contract is subsidized with €3,600 for the first semester. Of these, the state pays 1,800 euros directly to new hires, increasing their income, and 1,800 euros is paid to the employer to cover part of the salary costs.

We also had a double increase in the minimum wage, followed by a third increase this year in April.

Another “revolutionary go-to” that took place in 2022 was the introduction of a digital work card since the summer, starting with large companies, in an effort to crack down on clock evasion and unpaid overtime.

In 2022, the introduction of reciprocity in supplementary pensions also began, i.e. creation of an “individual piggy bank” for each new insured person entering the labor market from 2022.

This is a revolutionary change for our country, which provides higher and more secure pensions, and also gives the insured the opportunity to control their pension. 150,000 young people who have found a job for the first time have already registered with TEKA and now they know that their own contributions cover their own pension.

I will focus on the topic of employment, noting the excellent results of the transformation of the former OAED into a modern employment agency. The Public Employment Service, as it is now called, is no longer a “benefit agency” but gives new skills to the unemployed, provides job training through partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco and Google, rewards those who genuinely seek work. , and in 2022 it offered 95,000 jobs.

At the same time, Greece 2.0 launched the largest training program for workers and the unemployed ever undertaken in Greece. In total, it has a budget of 1 billion euros and concerns the training of 500,000 citizens in digital and green skills.

In 2022, we also launched the My Home program, which brought together 140,000 people under the age of 39 and our economically disadvantaged fellow citizens to get rid of high rents and high property prices. After all, affordable housing is one of our priorities for 2023 as well.

In education, it is worth noting that model and pilot schools reached 120 in 2022 (up from just 60 in 2019), and today 30,000 of our students attend quality, open, free educational structures that promote excellence and educational innovation.

We have also stepped up vocational training by focusing on high-demand sectors. We installed 24 standard EPALs, 15 experimental public IEKs, and 10 thematic public IEKs.

In addition, we expanded the afterschool program to Kindergarten and Primary School to end at 5:30 pm instead of 4:00 pm with additional participation. I believe that together with the universal two-year pre-school education from the age of 4, the increase in nursery vouchers, “neighborly nannies” and 120 new nurseries at enterprises, we are gradually expanding the network of support for working parents, primarily working women, who, however, bear the heaviest burden in family. And, of course, this year we have increased the duration of special maternity leave from six to nine months.

We are very concerned about domestic and gender-based violence, and we have taken many steps to combat it: we have expanded police operations for domestic violence, we have included sex education programs in schools, we have increased penalties in penal codes, we have introduced a useful risk assessment tool, an alarming button, work and legal support for victims, and a plan to combat sexual abuse of minors. We called on the victims to break the silence, and it is significant that in the first 10 months of 2022, 9,192 calls to 15900 and 9,515 calls to ELAS were made – almost twice as many as in 12 months of 2019. Society is now talking and this is especially positive.

A year of work is also credited to the Children’s Home. This is a specially equipped area where child victims of serious crimes can testify in a safe and friendly environment. The examination is carried out by a specially trained psychologist and in accordance with international standards, which reduces the likelihood of the need for additional conversations with an already traumatized child.

Of the actions of the government last year, one of the most important for me was the repayment of all outstanding basic pensions. It was an obvious thing that hadn’t been done in years. We were indebted to our pensioners, who had to wait an average of 1.5 years (!) to receive their pension.

I hope that this is a step towards restoring trust between the state and the citizen. So that every citizen knows that the state respects him. Thus, today new applications are issued in just 2 months, and during 2023 all unpaid additional pensions will be paid off.

In 2022, the first major breast cancer screening program “Fofi Gennimata” started. Until 2022, Greece did not have a population screening program. With the “Fofi Gennimata” program, the state first comes to the citizen and encourages him to undergo an examination, while significantly facilitating the appointment process, since mammography can be done in public or private structures.

To date, more than 4,000 women have received early diagnosis and are already receiving treatment. For these women, this appointment may have saved their lives.

And this is just one of the 4 screening programs of our Spyros Doxiadis initiative, which are implemented for the first time with funding of 300 million euros from the Recovery Fund.

Protecting the NHS is our highest priority and program goal for 2023. Thus, in 2022, the recruitment of 6,000 medical workers was approved. We also continued to increase the pay of NHS doctors, as well as intensive care and emergency room workers, who were the first line of defense during the pandemic, and we will never forget the battle they fought.

2022 has also been a year of support for our fellow citizens with disabilities. We have eliminated mandatory screening for people with irreversible diseases, installed a personal assistant for 2,000 disabled people, created Digital KEPA for electronic confirmation of disability, and implemented the Digital Dignity Card – a permanent requirement of the disability movement – as proof for everyone without exception. public services, without our disabled fellow citizens, who are constantly looking for new disability certificates every time they apply to the state. Let’s be honest: it was an outrageous and insulting ordeal.

I will end a little differently: our efforts to make Greece an attractive destination for international TV and film producers. We have increased the EKOME funding program for the production of films, television series and documentaries and simplified the selection framework. This policy is the practical basis of modern civilization, and it already matters:

Last year alone, we had 200 productions in Greece, including television and film productions from major Hollywood studios. However, we are particularly pleased that government support and the Greek Cypriot Association have helped create exportable Greek content on foreign networks. Two TV series – Maestro and The Quiet Road – and three films – The Waiter, Monday, Magnetic Fields – have been acquired and will be shown on popular platforms such as Netflix, HULU and HBO Max.

I think I’ve already written a lot. 2022 was full of challenges, but also steps forward for our country. We all know how many things we would like to see improved in the functioning of the state. Each of you will have complaints, ideas, problems that the state should solve. So, in the end, what sticks in my memory is not what we have already done, but what remains to be done. That’s why we work every day.

The photo accompanying this lengthy text was taken on the way back from Gavdos, which I visited for Epiphany. These are the majestic White Mountains of Crete, visible from behind the clouds. A small reminder of the beauty of our Motherland. Thanks for your time and I hope you have a very nice Sunday!“, – concluded the prime minister in his post.

Source: RES-IPE