Promoting the World Urban Forum (WUF11) and representing our country at the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the New Urban Agenda were the main objectives of the first day of the Deputy Minister Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak's visit to New York.

The 14th European Economic Congress (EEC), a forum for debate on the future of the European and Polish economies, is coming to an end. On the first day of the EEC, Minister Grzegorz Puda took part in the "Investments and Challenges” session. Deputy Minister Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak participated on 26 April 2022 in a debate on preparations for the 11th World Urban Forum and in discussions on investment in cities and local governments.

- Investments made with European funds strengthen the competitiveness of the Polish economy in Europe and in the world. The scale and value of the projects are of vital importance to every citizen and to the development of the region and the country as a whole. When selecting projects, priority is given to investments of strategic importance for the state, Minister Grzegorz Puda said during the first day of the 14th European Economic Congress.

The budget of the European Funds for Podkarpackie 2021-2027 (EFP) regional program will amount to more than EUR 2.18 billion. The Deputy Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak and representatives of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship’s Board - Marshal Władysław Ortyl and Deputy Marshal Piotr Pilch - signed the Program Contract.

A delegation led by Elisa Ferreira, EC Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform, arrived in Poland at the invitation of Minister Grzegorz Puda. The talks dealt with the refugee and humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, as well as Poland's assistance to Ukrainian citizens. There was also talk of creating a funding instrument to support refugees. The commissioner's visit to Rzeszów was also an opportunity to visit the border crossing in Korczowa and the reception point at the Kiev Hall.

Dragoş Pîslaru, Chairman of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL), and Younous Omarjee, Chairman of the Regional Development Committee (REGI), understand the situation regarding the influx of people fleeing the war in Ukraine very well, according to the Development Funds and Regional Policy Minister Grzegorz Puda. After meeting with them in Brussels, he said that they had pledged all their help in working out the next package of changes to the cohesion policy regulations, the kind that Poland needs and expects in order to effectively help Ukraine. The Minister also met with Commissioners Elisa Ferreira and Nicolas Schmit.

More than EUR 920 billion for the regional program from the cohesion policy for 2021-2027 will be received by the Opolskie Voivodeship. Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy Waldemar Buda and representatives of the Opolskie Voivodeship Board - Deputy Marshals Zuzanna Donath-Kasiura and Zbigniew Kubalańca - signed the Program Contract. It is an agreement that will form the basis for negotiations with the European Commission on the "European Funds for Opolskie for 2021-2027” regional program.

Municipalities will be able to receive EU funding to improve safety at pedestrian crossings in areas with the highest number of accidents and around public buildings such as schools, health clinics and train stations. There will also be money for children's education. The "Safe Pedestrian - retrofitting of pedestrian crossings and retrofitting schools in the field of traffic education" competition is being launched.

We have prepared another form of support for the government's Accessibility Plus Program - grants for more than 600 local governments. The amount of PLN 81.5 million from European funds is additional money that municipalities can apply for to improve accessibility in an office, community center, health center, school or kindergarten, said Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Grzegorz Puda. The announcement of the "Accessible Local Governments - grants" call was also attended by Deputy Minister Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak and Krzysztof Michałkiewicz, President of the State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled People.

Supporting activities in the area of digital transformation of the country is the main objective of the European Funds for Digital Development programme for 2021-2027, which was approved by the European Commission.