Promoting Inclusive Labour Market Solutions in the Western Balkans

The overall objective of the sub-regional Project is to assist the Western Balkan countries and territory in their efforts to build more inclusive labour markets. It will do this by promoting an integrated approach to employment and social policies. The project will strengthen the institutional capacities of public employment services (PES) and Centers for Social Welfare (CSW) to develop mechanisms to reach out to those at risk of exclusion; will support the piloting and scaling up of innovative programmes to reach those who are most distant from the labour market; and will establish mechanisms for multi-stakeholder partnerships to tackle unemployment and social exclusion. The target group consists of those who are not employed, the long term unemployed, and those who are unlikely to be reached by standard active labour market policies. There will be a particular focus on youth, but the groups at risk of exclusion will vary from country to country. The project will impact the work modalities of national and local level branches of the PES, CSWs, and social partners from the private sector and civil society, as well as national Ministries of Labour and Social Welfare. Some interventions have an explicitly territorial focus and approach, and they will involve local government authorities and where appropriate incorporate actions to assist the employment of asylum seekers. The overall objective of promoting inclusive labour market solutions will be achieved through three interlinked outputs : 1. Labour market governance: Public employment and social service agencies have greater capacity to implement integrated user-centred approaches to improve outreach to vulnerable and hard-to-employ groups 2. Innovation for fostering inclusive labour markets: Public employment and social service agencies implement innovative programmes for employment of disadvantaged groups and scale them up at the regional level 3. Knowledge systematization for effective policy making: sustainable mechanisms for exchange of experience, peer learning and peer review are established

Project symbol

RER/15/02/UND

Admin unit

DWT/CO-Budapest

Start date

01/06/2016

End date

30/09/2018

Total allocation

445714

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

445399

Development Partners

United Nations Development Programme

Country/Countries

Central and Eastern Europe

Outcomes

More and better jobs for inclusive growth and improved youth employment prospects