The Slovenian Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Ms Marjeta Cotman, opened the international two-day Conference on ‘Intergenerational Solidarity for Cohesive and Sustainable Societies’ at Brdo pri Kranju. In her opening address she emphasised that solidarity is one of the values which, even in a modern society, should not be neglected.
Ms Cotman noted that solidarity was an integral part of all European systems. “Social protection systems, pension and sickness insurance, and health insurance systems are all based on solidarity. However, solidarity should not be understood in merely financial terms. We should place equal importance on the mutual cooperation, understanding and co-existence of generations,” emphasised the Minister and expressed her belief that the conference would substantially raise awareness of the overall importance of intergenerational solidarity, since, according to the Minister Cotman, sustainable social development was feasible only with genuine contact and coexistence between all generations based on intergenerational solidarity.
The central topics of the two-day conference were intergenerational solidarity and long-term care, on which the participants at the conference exchanged knowledge, experience and good practices.
The meeting was attended by the Slovenian Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Ms Marjeta Cotman, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimír Špidla, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity of the Portuguese Republic, Pedro Manuel Dias de Jesus Marques, the Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, Viera Tomanová, and numerous national and foreign experts as well as representatives of key interest groups.
