Bologna changes in MA degree programmes. Convergence of the public administration programmes in South-Eastern Europe

The provisions of Bologna Declaration are ongoing implemented in several South- Eastern European states, members or non members of the European Union. For most states, important restructuring processes for the legal framework and organisation system of higher education were imperative. At the same time, the content of the programmes for all the three cycles was revised in order to follow closely the finalities stipulated in the European documents, substantiating the European Higher Education Area. In this context, the current paper aims to carry out the comparative analysis for the actual level attained by the mentioned states in implementing Bologna Process, with special attention towards higher education in the area of public administration. Research teams, led by the author of this paper have analysed the degree of curricular compatibility of the Bachelor programmes from various European states. This time, the research will focus on describing the process of convergence related to the delivery modalities and the content of the Master programmes in the area of public administration, corresponding to the second cycle of Bologna system. The indicators of convergence will be defined related to the standards of evaluation,used by EAPAA for accreditation of the public administration programmes.Bologna process,M A public administration programmes,convergence

Moldova: Assessment of Civil Society and Democratic Institutions

Non governmental organizations have been active in Moldova since 1989, but a civil society started its today’s formation as a result of radical reforms in economic and political areas only after the country became independent in 1991. Since that time the establishment of a transitional civil society in Moldova is under way. However, starting from 2001, when the Communist Party won the general elections, development of the nongovernmental sector has become slower. Although several positive patterns evident at the end of the nineties indicate progress in the development of Moldovan non-governmental sector, there is a number of sensitive issues (e.g., freedom of media, human rights protection) in relation to which certain regress has been observed especially in the last two years. Media market in Moldova is far from being free, and protection of human rights remains to be a problem (in all respects, situation of non-governmental sector in Transnistria is much worse than in Moldova). Finally, it needs to be emphasized that critical socio-economic situation seems to be the main threat to democracy and the rule of law in the country. This is because further significant economic decline can provide fertile ground for non-democratic political forces and extremists. Economic collapse could be a real threat to the achievements in the area of democratization and civil society development. Thus, only results of a successful economic reform process may reverse undesirable patterns and change socio-economic situation in Moldova, increase income of population, decrease poverty, guarantee stability and irreversibility of Moldovan achievements in democratization and development of civil society.Moldova, Transnistria, civil society, democratic institutions

Inequality and poverty in the CIS-7, 1989-2002

This paper examines the impact of a decade of transition on the living standards of people living in seven of the poorest Republics of the former Soviet Union – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan (known as the CIS-7). Data are drawn from a wide variety of sources, providing a comprehensive overview of household and individual welfare within the region. The picture painted is a bleak one, with rising income inequality, high levels of material poverty, and deterioration in health status and in access to health and education services. However, there are now the green shoots of economic recovery. Since 2000 all countries have experienced positive economic growth. The challenge for policy makers is to ensure that the benefits of this growth are shared equally amongst the population and that human capabilities are protected and strengthened

Institutional Framework and Poverty: A Transition Economy Perspective

Institutions, Poverty reduction, Growth

Institutional Framework and Poverty: A Transition Economy Perspective

This paper focuses on the role of institutions in poverty alleviation, where both poverty and institutions are interpreted broadly. The broadening of the poverty notion is important at least from the policy perspective. Even if one were convinced that higher growth would reduce income poverty to an acceptable margin, there appears to be little concrete policy measures that one may offer so as to harness greater growth. Besides, the weight of the empirical evidence to date, if not squarely founded on the transition economies of the EEFSU region, is that reducing average poverty is not enough. Existing and possibly rising inequality would ensure that a great many would fall through the cracks, and not benefit from high growth, even if that was achievable. The non-income elements of poverty, on the other hand, are more directly open to influence by policy interventions such as the easing of micro credit and other public and private ventures in health, sanitation, literacy and numeracy fronts. Finally the modest amount of information available at our disposal indicates that the underlying strength of the institutions (economic, political and social) is possibly the single most agent of significance to bring about the alleviation of non-income poverty. There is a further possibility that the same institutional forces would also materially affect the income measure of poverty as well in a discernible fashion.

Expansion of health insurance in Moldova and associated improvements in access and reductions in direct payments

Background Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. Economic constraints mean that Moldova faces challenges in protecting individuals from excessive costs, improving population health and securing health system sustainability. The Moldovan government has introduced a state benefit package and expanded health insurance coverage to reduce the burden of healthcare costs for citizens. This study examines the effects of expanded health insurance by examining factors associated with health insurance coverage, likelihood of incurring out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for medicines or services, and the likelihood of forgoing healthcare when unwell. Methods Using publically available databases and the annual Moldova Household Budgetary Survey, we examine trends in health system financing, healthcare utilisation, health insurance coverage, and costs incurred by individuals for the years 2006-2012. We perform logistic regression to assess the likelihood of having health insurance, incurring a cost for healthcare, and forgoing healthcare when ill, controlling for socio-economic and demographic covariates. Findings Private expenditure accounted for 55.5% of total health expenditures in 2012. 83.2% of private health expenditures is OOP payments – especially for medicines. Healthcare utilisation is inline with EU averages of 6.93 outpatient visits per person. Being uninsured is associated with groups of those aged 25-49 years, the self-employed, unpaid family workers, and the unemployed, although we find lower likelihood of being uninsured for some of these groups over time. Overtime, the likelihood of OOP for medicines increased (OR=1.422 in 2012 compared to 2006), but fell for healthcare services (OR=0.873 in 2012 compared to 2006). No insurance and being older and male, was associated with increased likelihood of forgoing healthcare when sick, but we found the likelihood of forgoing healthcare to be increasing over time (OR=1.295 in 2012 compared to 2009). Interpretation Moldova has achieved improvements in health insurance coverage with reductions in OOP for services, which are modest but are eroded by increasing likelihood of OOP for medicines. Insurance coverage was an important determinant for healthcare costs incurred by patients and patients forgoing healthcare. Improvements notwithstanding, there is an unfinished agenda of attaining universal health coverage in Moldova to protect individuals from healthcare costs