The departure of young people is an acute problem in all countries of the region and urgent measures need to be taken to stop this trend, it was pointed out at the Youth Employment Fair organized in Mostar as part of the cross-border project “EU support for employability and employment opportunities for young people in the cross-border area”.
The mentioned project is financed by the European Union in the amount of over 360,000 euros in grants. It is implemented by Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina, in partnership with the Association for the Development of Competences “SKILLS” and the Mozaik Foundation from Sarajevo, as well as the Business Start Center Bar Foundation and Caritas of the Archdiocese of Bar (Montenegro).
Project manager Miroslav Valneta spoke about the results so far:
“In the past year and a half, we have had over 800 direct beneficiaries through the project. As a concrete result, we employed 25 interns in 25 companies, most of them stayed to work in those companies, we started 14 new companies where people through the self-employment program received some form of support for starting their new businesses, trades, joint-stock companies and the like”.
Also, as part of the project, 400 young people were educated for the so-called soft skills, such as creating a CV and writing cover letters.
Survival of the state
The youth employment fair was also visited by the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Adnan Delić, who said that youth employment is one of the most important, if not the most important, tasks of the local authorities.
“The survival of this country depends on the survival of the working population. Young people who complete their education are our only guarantee that we will move forward, that we will catch up with the developed countries of Europe and the world, and that we will accept new technologies, the modern, digital world we live in today,” said Minister Delić.
The trend of young people leaving the country must be stopped, he added, reminding that the FBiH Government adopted the Strategy for Employment in the FBiH and that the Law on Mediation in Employment and Social Security of Unemployed Persons is currently in the procedure.
“We are piloting an important employment model. It is called the Youth Guarantee and is being piloted in Čitluk and Visoko. I hope that we will transfer that model to the level of the entire Federation as soon as possible. It implies shortening the period from leaving the education system to first employment. That deadline should be shortened from a year to four months ,” Delic said.
Stop the brain drain
The head of cooperation in the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stefano Ellero, warned that the employment of young people is an acute problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, as well as in other countries of the region.
“It is crucial to stop the brain drain in the Western Balkans. Encouraging the employability of young people by bringing them into contact with companies and local authorities is of critical importance for improving the situation on the labor market and stopping the negative trends of emigration”, said Ellero.
He recalled that the EU financed the project “EU support for employability and employment opportunities of young people in the cross-border area” with around half a million euros, and he promised further support from the European Union for this and similar projects.
Director of Caritas BiH Tomo Knežević said that one of the tasks of Caritas in general, including this project, is to give young people the opportunity to realize themselves in their country, based on their own ideas.
He pointed out that the perception that new generations are passive and disinterested is completely wrong.
“I was a university professor for thirty-five years, and it was always said that the world would fall with this generation. They won’t. It didn’t fail with ours, it won’t fail with this one either. This is a young, smart, capable and hard-working generation with whom Bosnia and Herzegovina can count on a bright future,” said Knežević.
Source: akta.ba
