PROGRAMME OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA FOR 2001-2004
VILNIUS, 2001 (excerpt)

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I. LABOUR AND SOCIAL SECURITY

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1. 3. Income Guarantees and Poverty Reduction

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To combine joint efforts and activities of state and municipal institutions, NGOs and people in reducing the spread of poverty.

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1. 4. Social Care

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To expand the market of social service providers by supporting and developing efforts and initiatives of NGOs and private persons.

To employ legal measures to solve problems arising from co-operation of local authorities and NGOs in the area of social services.

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1. 5. Integration of the Disabled

To review the social and professional integration procedure of the disabled and in co-operation with NGOs of the disabled to draft and launch a new National Integration Programme for the Disabled.

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II. EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

2. 1. General Education and Vocational Training

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To promote NGO activities by financial measures, support initiatives of young people. To strengthen the co-operation between the Council of Youth Affairs and youth organisations as social partners.

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IV. CULTURE

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Pursuant to the cultural policy provisions and in co-operation with those working in the field of culture, artists, scientists and the relevant NGOs to work out a national cultural programme and its long-term implementation strategy.

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To support organisations and individuals investing into the renovation and preservation of cultural heritage entities.

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To ensure state support for the cultural development of the Lithuanian ethnic communities. To guarantee freedom and independence of the cultural activities of cultural, regional and ethnic communities.

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X. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

To create preconditions for the implementation of the principles of integrating sustainable development and environmental protection into other sectorial policies by improving, correspondingly, legal and economic instruments of environmental management. To strive towards economic development, which does not impair overall quality of the environment and secures clean and healthy environment for the human population.

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To promote environmental education, public awareness raising and publicity at all levels. To support activities of non-governmental organisations, their participation in decision making and enforcement of key decisions in this field.

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XI. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND LAW-AND-ORDER

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11. 3. Personal Security and Law Enforcement

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To encourage public initiatives that help enhance people’s security and protection of their property; to support crime control and prevention programmes developed by local authorities. To enhance co-operation between the police, non-governmental organisations and the public.

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XII. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

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To carry out audits of public administration in central administrative institutions the results of which shall serve as a basis for cutting down expenditure for public administration and increasing administrative efficiency by means of the de-concentration and decentralisation of public administration. To revise functions of ministries and other public institutions and to transfer part of the services to municipalities or non-governmental organisations.

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To involve the public into the decision-making process on the essential issues of public administration. To expand the role of the following institutions: the Lithuanian Academy of Science, Lithuanian Association of Municipalities, Youth Council, Trilateral Council, Chamber of Industry and Trade, Chamber of Agriculture, and other associated or non-governmental organisations; to increase their influence in administrating public issues. To develop democratic self-control as well as political, economic, social, and cultural democracy.

To provide a possibility to representatives of the mass media, public organisations, trade unions, and ethnic communities to participate in the meetings of public and municipal institutions on all levels whenever issues important to them are addressed.

Before making decisions most relevant to the people to commit to clarifying the significance and consequences of these decisions to the public and, after the assessment of public opinion, to make decisions by co-ordinating the interests on different levels.

To oblige the elected and designated civil servants to regularly report to the public, to announce their reports in the press for the electorate to let them know how their interests are protected by the people they elected and designated.

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XIV. FOREIGN POLICY

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14. 4. Economic and Cultural Diplomacy

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To promote the development of the external relations between Lithuanian self-government structures, public and non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, youth organisations and their foreign counterparts.

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14. 5. Implementation of the Foreign Policy Goals

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To seek transparency and publicity for the implementation of foreign policy goals by involving representatives of a wide political spectrum, academic institutions, non-governmental organisations and by encouraging a public dialogue on the most acute issues of Lithuania’s future as well as its participation in the process of globalisation.