Fifteen chefs and eleven waiters in Čapljina will be offered jobs after they acquired skills and knowledge through training funded by the European Union.
They presented their skills and received certificates on training completion on Friday, 2 March. Most of the participants were young unemployed people, but there were also elderly people who did not give up on their search for a better job.
“I wanted to take control over my life and do something useful for myself. It is important that one learns something and believes in himself and his knowledge. For me, this is a great experience and I feel young again“, said Zrinko Zelenika, a fifty-year-old chef from Čapljina, father of two.
Zrinko participated in the second cycle of the training together with 25 other people.
His peer Lidija Tadić, mother of three daughters, completed the training in the first cycle, after which 22 persons received job offers.
She received three job offers following the training and is very happy to have a job after being unemployed for 13 years.
“Sounds incredible, I had the chance to choose, and even yesterday I thought I would never find a job. If I had to pay for this training, I would never succeed, because this is expensive and I would not be able to afford it,” Lidija said joyfully.
During the certificates handover ceremony, Head of Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation of the EU Delegation to BiH Gianluca Vannini congratulated all the participants and expressed satisfaction with the results achieved.
“When we approved the financing of this project, our goal was to create new jobs and improve the living standards of BiH citizens. I’m happy to see the concrete results of our help on the ground. The project continues, in Čapljina as well as in other cities in BiH“, Vannini said.
The project “Establishment of the Centre for training and reskilling Čapljina” was funded with EUR 194,400, in order to reduce unemployment and improve the labour market. During its implementation, a total of 150 people will be trained and reskilled, out of which 70 will be employed. The project is implemented by the Regional Development Association REDAH in cooperation with the Employment Service of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Čapljina Municipality, Čapljina High School, Bizz Solutions d.o.o., Tourist Cluster and Tourist Board of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.
The local partnership of Čapljina is one of 15 partnerships in the country under the “Support to Local Employment Partnerships in BiH” project. This EUR 4 million-worth project funded by the EU and implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) aims to increase employability of some 2,000 people and to create at least 620 new jobs in 22 municipalities.
The project is part of the EU Programme for Local Development and Employment, funded by the EU with EUR 19 million, with the aim of reducing unemployment and improving living standards in BiH.
