The Youth Employment Project (YEP), with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), provided support in the development of a network of job clubs, which by October 1, 2014 helped 3062 young person, 1050 of which have found employment (34%). Additional 2000 youth were employed through other project activities.
The demystification of the process of counselling in employment was the central topic of the 6th Youth Employment Forum which was held on November 13, 2014, starting at 12:45, in the Meeting Point cinema in Sarajevo. The forum is held as part of the film festival “Pravo ljudski”, and consisted of two segments: a showing of Les règles du jeu, an award-winning French film, and the World Caffee workshop which will include the following discussions:
1. How to help the unemployed (individual counseling)?
2. How to approach those who are discouraged and unmotivated (group counseling)?
3. What do youth want (creating expectations)?
In his introductory speech, Mr Ranko Markuš, Director of GOPA Representative Office in BiH stated: “During the forums, we try not to spin tales, because all the tales in this country have already been spun. We try to reach concrete conclusions and work on their implementation. During the first forum we brought together all actors from the area of employment to see what each of them can do. During the second forum we agreed on implementing a startup fund in Tuzla Canton, worth 350.000 BAM, and a web application for developing business plans. During the third forum, we discussed ways of increasing the number of opportunities for women, joined forces with other SDC-funded projects and actively worked on re-qualification resulting in jobs for more than 300 youth. We provided info packages through which over 1000 pieces of information were shared, and then used by hundreds of youth, we established cooperation with ProCredit Bank within the Young Banker programme. During the fourth forum we agreed to intensify our efforts on developing opportunities for youth, and agreed on the implementation of local initiatives – over 400.000 BAM was invested in almost 500 jobs for youth. During the fifth forum we searched for solutions for addressing the crisis caused by the floods, and we can say that Switzerland is the biggest individual donor. Today, we are endeavouring to strengthen the advisory role, which has been introduced in the employment services of Republika Srpska and Sarajevo Canton, with our help.
The Youth Employment Project (YEP) with the support of the Swiss Cooperation Office of the Embassy of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through select bureaus and Job Clubs, has been working continuously on developing the advisory segment of public employment services. The conclusions from the forum will also be used as material for future activites of public employment services aimed at youth.
YEP is organising youth employment forums in order to prioritise the problem of youth unemployment. So far, 5 forums have been organised, and YEP and the institutions of BiH have invested significant funds in their implementation.
Leave a comment