Promotion of the "Your Job" project for youth employment in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina
About 500 long-term unemployed young people between the ages of 18 and 35, will have an opportunity to participate in training for acquiring new skills and professional orientation. The "Your Job" project, funded by the European Union, aims to increase the employability of young people in the cross-border area of BiH and Montenegro, both through professional orientation, quality professional guidance, first work experience, and entrepreneurial practice, as well as through encouraging dialogue between young people, organizations civil society, companies and public institutions.
In this regard, a three-year project to support the employment of young people and the creation of new employment opportunities in the cross-border area was presented today in Berane. The project tasks were discussed by: Mrs. Liselotte Iaksson, Deputy Head of Cooperation in the EU Delegation in Montenegro, Mr. Marko Lalevic, manager of the municipality of Berane and Mr. Marko Djelovic, director of Caritas Montenegro.
In her address, the representative of the EU Delegation in Montenegro expressed her satisfaction with participating in the beginning of the cross-border cooperation project, which will promote employment opportunities for young people.
“The EU has set aside significant financial resources for generating growth and jobs and makes a significant contribution to cross-border cooperation by financing this program with 8.4 million euros for the period 2014-2020. The EU will continue to support the development of good neighbourly relations and the economic development of border regions by financing cross-border programs, and this support will continue in the future”, concluded the representative of the EU delegation in Montenegro.
In his presentation, Mr. Marko Lalevic, manager of the Berane municipality, stated that the key resource of every country is people.
“Especially young people, while one of the biggest problems in the north of Montenegro and especially in the Berane municipality is youth migration due to the lack of employment. The easiest way to retain young people is to enable them to find employment after schooling, therefore the municipality of Berane will provide full support in all activities”, concluded Mr. Lalevic.
In the project, 12 counsellors will be educated for the "competency passport", who will work directly with young people and local businesses on a daily basis. Additionally, within the project activities, young people will receive business counselling to start their own, sustainable business through self-employment, and with the help of a counsellor, establish contacts with employers and complete an internship, i.e. their first work experience. The project will also work on establishing a dialogue for harmonizing needs and resources between civil society organizations, companies and institutions.
Fifty participants from stakeholders dealing with youth employment programs from the project region, representatives of donors and other partner organizations took part in the conference.
The European Union, through the IPA II BiH - Montenegro cross-border cooperation program, finances the "Your Job" project with grants of around 360,000 euros. Your Job project is implemented by Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with partners: Mozaik Foundation and Association for the Development of Competences "S.K.I.L.L.S." from Sarajevo (BiH), as well as with Caritas of the Archdiocese of Bar and Business Start Center Bar (Montenegro).