EU launches new projects under the EU4Youth Grant Scheme in Armenia
Visiting European Commission Director for Neighbourhood East, Mr. Lawrence Meredith together with the EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Świtalski formally launched the EU4Youth programme in Armenia. This is part of a new Youth and Education Package agreed at the Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2017.
Ahead of his participation in the launch event, Lawrence Meredith, the European Commission's Director for Neighbourhood East, said: "The European Union's support to young people is one of the key priorities in our cooperation with Armenia. The development of young people's skills, having an equal access to education, offering mobility opportunities and employment, empowers them to be active citizens in the Armenian society."
"I am very pleased that we are launching this major initiative in Armenia, which, I believe, is an important support to youth clubs in the form of an additional training and mentoring as well as creating new jobs and entrepreneur opportunities. The four new EU4Youth projects underscore the priority of the European Union to help addressing the dire situation of youth unemployment", the EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Antoni Świtalski said.
The four projects launched today will help Armenian youth and particularly young people from a disadvantageous backgrounds benefit from additional training, life-skills development, internships and on-the-job learning. The projects will work primarily in smaller cities outside Yerevan to help foster the active participation of young people in the society and their employability, by developing those skills that can support them in becoming leaders and entrepreneurs.
Background:
The Brussels Eastern Partnership Summit of November 2017 endorsed the Eastern Partnership "20 Deliverables for 2020", focusing cooperation on tangible results for citizens. Amongst the key deliverables highlighted in the Summit Declaration is the new Youth and Education Package.
The core of the Youth Package is the EU4Youth programme (total EU funding: € 26 million). The aim of the programme is to increase the employability and the active participation of young people in society and economy by developing their skills and supporting them in becoming future leaders and entrepreneurs. The programme consists of three components:
1. A capacity building component for youth organisations, civil society organisations and/or private companies, as well as youth workers and leaders, under the Erasmus+ programme. A total of 53 projects have been selected, of which 20 for civil society fellowships and 15 for partnerships for entrepreneurship;
2. A Grants Scheme, which supports educational opportunities and employment perspectives for youth through regional grants, with particular attention to disadvantaged groups. Among recently signed regional grants, there are initiatives supporting in particular:
• entrepreneurial potential of young people, with grants focusing on promoting entrepreneurship and building entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, including in specific sectors (e.g. agriculture);
• better education and skills-matching with labour market needs, with grants aiming to increase the number of young people possessing relevant technical and vocational skills, as well as to enhance formal and non-formal education opportunities;
• building cooperation among state and non-state actors and private sector, thus supporting the creation of cross-sectorial youth policies.
3. A coordination component aimed at fostering synergies among the programmes' components, as well as among the EU4Youth and other actions targeting youth in the EaP region, and at ensuring coherent communication and visibility for the EU4Youth programme.
At the following link you will find a summary of the EU4Youth programme: http://www.euneighbours.eu/en/east/eu-in-action/projects/eu4youth.
At the event, four new EU4Youth projects were presented and shared their activities in Armenia which will amount to investments in the range of EUR 1.9 million.
The projects are:
1) EU4Youth: Fostering potential for greater employability
2) EU4Youth: Better skills for better future
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/armenia/41664/eu4youth-better-skills-better-future_en
3) EU4Youth: Employability and stability
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/armenia/41660/eu4youth-employability-and-stability_en
4) EU4Youth: Say Yes – skills for jobs
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/armenia/41662/eu4youth-%E2%80%93-say-yes-skills-jobs_en