Youth Employment Project (YEP)
Young people are most affected by unemployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which remains the key development challenge faced byBiH. Youth unemployment in BiH is high, with almost 38% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 unemployed. The YouthEmployment Project aims to tackle the issue of youth unemployment by improving the work of public employment services andpromoting the self-employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for young people.
The focus of the Youth Employment Project is on improving the work of the Public Employment Services (PES) by introducing new methods of work, which enable them to provide better services to young people, to match them with prospective employers and to encourage self-employment. Additionally, the project contributes to raising general public awareness of youth employment issues.
To establish more effective services with a proactive involvement of PES staff, the project introduces individual and group counselling services for the unemployed. Within these, counsellors devote more time to motivate unemployed assisting them to actively look for jobs. The other staff members cater to the passive users, ensuring their right on health insurance. This model is being introduced to all other offices in the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska.
Also a network of 27 Job Clubs was established within the PES, where young unemployed people improve their job search skills and are encouraged by club leaders to explore different opportunities on the market, as well as self-employment prospects.
The second intervention line supports the development of innovative active labour market measures and initiatives promoting social entrepreneurship. The aim is to support 30 employment-based initiatives and 27 social enterprises.
| Strategic Domain | Economic Development and Employment |
|---|---|
| Status | Completed |
| Implementers | GOPA Consultants |
| Projects implemented in | Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, Brčko District |
| Cantons | Una-Sana Canton, Posavina Canton, Tuzla Canton, Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia –Podrinje Canton, Central Bosnia Canton, Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, West Herzegovina Canton, Sarajevo Canton, Canton 10 |
| Municipalities/Cities | Banja Luka, Banovići, Brčko distrikt, Bugojno, Busovača, Čapljina, Cazin, Centar Sarajevo, Čitluk, Derventa, Doboj, Fojnica, Goražde, Gradačac, Gradiška, Grude, Hadžići, Ilidža, Ilijaš, Jablanica, Jajce, Kakanj, Kalesija, Kladanj, Konjic, Livno, Lukavac, Modriča, Mostar, Neum, Nevesinje, Novi Grad, Novi Grad Sarajevo, Novi Travnik, Novo Sarajevo, Orašje, Pale, Posušje, Prozor-Rama, Rudo, Srbac, Teslić, Travnik, Tuzla, Vogošća, Zenica, Živinice, Zvornik |