The Thirty-First Meeting of the Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee was held in Alexandroupolis on 24-25 September 2008. The members of the Committee discussed the Draft Report and Draft Recommendation on “Impact of Globalization upon Social Policies in the BSEC Member States”.

The PABSEC recognizes that globalization, as a process of interconnecting people across the world through freer cross-border exchanges of ideas, knowledge, goods and services opens up the potential for higher growth, advanced human development and prosperity for the BSEC Member States. At the same time, the Assembly is fully aware of the challenges created by international competitiveness and its effects on people, families and communities. The Assembly welcomes the effort of the BSEC Members States to parallel the economic development with social sustainability, by increasingly giving priority to social policies, particularly with regard to improving social security and fighting poverty and unemployment. Furthermore, the Assembly stresses the fact that the recent economic growth of the BSEC region allows for and requires more than ever before the strengthening of the significant human capital of the region.

The Thirty-Second Meeting of the Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee will be held on 8-9 April 2009 in Tbilisi. The main subject on the Agenda will be “Migration in the BSEC Member States – social and cultural aspects”. The Rapporteur on the Recommendation will be Mr. Alexandros Dermentzopoulos, Chairman of the Committee, and on the Report – Mr. Nikolay Pozitkov, Member of the Committee (Russia). The additional subject to be discussed will be “Necessity for the protection of children from commercial exploitation in the BSEC Member States”. The Rapporteur on the Recommendation will be Mr. Namik Dokle, Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Albania, and on the Report – Mr. Alexander Bednov, Member of the Committee, Russia.