The first in the series of eight technical assistance sessions and training courses for the 15 newly created local employment partnerships began today in Bijeljina. This technical assistance marks the beginning of the concrete activities on the creation of at least 620 new jobs and the provision of vocational education for some 2,000 employed people under the EUR 4 million worth Support to Local Employment Partnerships in Bosnia and Herzegovina project funded by the EU and implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The project is being implemented in 22 municipalities and the new jobs will be created for socially disadvantaged categories of population including women, youth, minorities, returnees, internally displaced persons and hard-to-employ persons in the areas of wood, metal, textile and leather processing; agriculture; production of food; tourism; information technologies; visual communications and entrepreneurship.
“In line with the project plan, following the award of direct EU grants to 15 partnerships in the total amount of 3 million euros, the ILO will provide continuous support to the local employment partnerships through out the project implementation and will guide them through all stages of the implementation of their activities,” said Džemal Hodžić, ILO’s Project Coordinator.
“The first training course and the technical assistance session focuses on the management of the partnerships and the implementation of their activities on the ground and it also covers financial management and monitoring and evaluation of all activities so that any potential obstacles in the execution of the project activities could be timely detected and addressed,” added Hodžić.
The ILO will implement each of the eight technical assistance seasons and training courses individually with each of the 15 partnerships – which include cities or municipalities, public employment services, employers, education institutions and non-governmental organizations – to best address their specific needs in line with their current experiences in the implementation of projects.
The first technical assistance sessions will thus consecutively be delivered in Bijeljina, Orašje, Banja Luka, Prnjavor, Prijedor, Bosanska Krupa, Petrovac, Sarajevo, Goražde, Čapljina, Travnik and Zavidovići from 12 June to 7 July 2017. Support to Local Employment Partnerships in Bosnia and Herzegovina project is part of the EUR 19 million worth Programme for Local Development and Employment funded by the EU and implemented by the UNDP, GIZ and ILO.
For more information please contact ILO’s project office via e-mail at: lep@ilo.org
