The event for the presentation of the new period of the Swiss-Lithuanian Cooperation Programme took place in Palanga on 1 August. Almost EUR 53 million will be allocated for the Cooperation Programme’s investment in Lithuania.
“Today we celebrate not only the statehood of our reliable and important partners, but also the cooperation between our two countries: the start of the new period of the Lithuanian-Swiss Cooperation Programme. This is the third time in the history of independent Lithuania, when the commitment of Switzerland and Lithuania to reduce social and economic disparities through bilateral cooperation is consolidated. Joint investment in children’s health promotion, the promotion of volunteering, the quality of vocational training, seemingly mundane, but indeed very important areas for the development of people’s citizenship, activity, participation in social life or the labour market”, said Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė in the event.
The new financing period will aim to continue investment in the improvement of obstetrics and baby health services and the development of child development services. The development of apprenticeships and the integration of migrants through vocational training will also be pursued. The initiatives of promoting civic engagement and volunteering will also receive investment. These initiatives will be financed once separate, different- field programmes are in place, to be implemented by the end of 2029.
The field of children’s health particularly benefit from the Swiss investment in Lithuania. According to Dr Rimantas Kėvalas, Head of Kaunas Children’s Clinics, Swiss investment in Lithuania has fundamentally changed the situation of children’s health. “I would venture to say that the investment of this programme has significantly contributed to the fact that today’s infant and child mortality rates in Lithuania align with the indicators of the most advanced countries in Europe and the world”, Dr Rimantas Kėvalas states and immediately substantiates his words, “I spent most of my career working in the field of children’s paediatric intensive care, where children who are seriously ill and traumatised are provided with emergency care. A difficult situation related to a child’s health or even life is solved in a minute or even seconds. Children’s paediatric intensive care specialists of Bern Clinics in Switzerland have trained us to provide modern, advanced emergency specialized assistance to children. They developed a completely different concept of emergency care for children.”
Almost EUR 53 million will be allocated for investment in Lithuania under the Cooperation Programme. Most of the funds, about EUR 46 million, will be allocated by Switzerland, while the rest – almost EUR 7 million – will be co-financed by Lithuania.
