Eighth thousand of unemployed persons will receive assistance so as to improve their competitiveness on the labour market and find job through EU-funded project. Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Zoran Stavreski and EU Ambassador Erwan Fouéré signed Wednesday the grant contract worth EUR 1.3 million, for realizing the Project’s first phase.
 
Project is intended for the most vulnerable groups on the labour market, i.e. unemployed persons up to the age of 27, unemployed women and long-term unemployed. Specific programmes are envisaged for each category. Internship for young people up to the age of 27, which would help during their first employment, trainings for general skills for improving competitiveness of unemployed persons on the labour market and trainings for special skills, i.e. re-qualifications for the long-term unemployed.
 
First phase, which will last around 15 months, should improve the possibilities for first employment of 512 young people with completed education, improve the opportunities of 6,600 unemployed persons on the labour market through trainings and provide for re-qualification of 820 long-term unemployed persons. It will cover unemployed persons from all regions in Macedonia. Interested beneficiaries can apply through public notice. Project will be implemented by the Employment Agency.
 
According to the Minister of Finance, this Project will provide new opportunity for these persons to become competitive on the labour market through trainings and internship.
 
According to the latest data from the State Statistical Office, as Stavreski said, there are nearly 290,000 unemployed people in the Republic of Macedonia. Even 35 percents of them have only primary education. Almost 37 percents of the unemployed persons in the country are 29 years old, and almost 64 percents of the unemployed have sought job for more than four years.
 
– These people are not statistics- they all have different destinies and diverse problems that need to be solved separately. The very purpose of this Project is to provide the necessary assistance to everyone, so as for all people to be able to make contribution for both their own benefit and the society in future, Minister of Finance pointed out.
 
Next year, as Stavreski stressed, additional EUR 2.3 million are envisaged, by which, it is expected for the number of beneficiaries on the labour markets to increase, as well as for new employment measures and policies to be adopted.
 
This is the first grant the European Commission allocates within the IPA Component for Human Recourses Development. Funds are part of the Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2012, worth EUR 39 million, being already allocated.
 
Andrijana Sukova – Toseva Director in Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities –said that support was provided for 10 million Europeans, and Macedonia will now also receive such support. 
– Contract we signed today is a specific result of our commitment to help the country and those who need it the most, Sukova-Toseva said, adding that although international institutions assess that the macroeconomic stability is maintained, the reality shows that the number of people living in poverty increases.
 
According to her, it is of essential importance for this Project to be successful. That, as she said, will provide for EU to continue to finance this initiative next years, and the financial assistance amounting to EUR 8 million has been already allocated.
 
– In addition, this will show that the country made significant step as regards the development of sound capacities for implementing one of the main forms of assistance the EU uses.(MIA)
