The task was to evaluate the use of the European Social Fund with specific respect to social inclusion and poverty reduction. The task was carried out through finding new examples of good practice and interviews with included stakeholders. Unemployment in Croatia, particularly that of a long-term nature, is the main cause of social exclusion and poverty. Therefore, after joining the EU in 2013, Croatia took the opportunity to use EU funds in order to combat high unemployment, especially among the youth population. Since, at the time, Croatia had the third largest youth unemployment rate, after Greece and Spain, it met the conditions for access to funds from both the European Social Fund (ESF) and Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) in steering policies aimed at activating and employing the youth population, mainly through the Youth Guarantee (YG) scheme. Simultaneously, in Croatia, adequate attention has been dedicated to the reduction of unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment – i.e. waiting for a job more than 12 months – and the prevention of falling into long-term unemployment.