Active Labour Market Programmes 2 8th Project board meeting

October 15, 2021

Maria Suokko, UNDP Resident Representative

Active Labour Market Programmes 2

8th Project board meeting

17 July 2019, Pristina

Mr. Skender Recica, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare

Mr. Izmi Zeka, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs

Partners from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Employment Agency

Colleagues from UNDP

Welcome to the 8th project board meeting of one of our biggest, longest running, and most successful projects. Thank you for being here with us.

Two days ago, the world marked the World Youth Skills Day. There are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years in the world, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population, and Kosovo proudly contributes to this number with its young population.

However, young people are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and continue to be exposed to lower quality of jobs, greater labour market inequalities, and longer and more insecure school-to-work transitions.

In addition, young women are more likely to be under-employed and under-paid, and to be in part-time jobs or work under temporary contracts and face many other forms of discrimination in the labour market.

These challenges are commonplace to many parts of the world, including here in Kosovo. We know that over half of youth in Kosovo are unemployed, and this number does not even capture the many young women and men that are out of the labour force altogether, painting even a bleaker picture.

No wonder that unemployment is continuously reported as the biggest challenge for future of Kosovo’s economy and society, and why so many young people consider migrating abroad instead of building their careers and growing the economy here.

Yet, even in my short time here, I have come to understand that youth, and their ingenuity, are Kosovo’s biggest asset. Kosovo needs all of its young people and decent work is the key to convincing them to stay and build a more prosperous future here, not abroad.

With the SDG 8 on decent employment in mind, that is why initiatives like this are of utmost importance, and I am looking forward to hearing from my UNDP team and our partners on what results we achieved recently and what plans we have for this year.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of our UNDP presence here in Kosovo, and the long-standing ALMP project has been with us for most part of the journey.

Since 2005, we have together helped over 14,000 women and men find opportunities to get new skills, find jobs or launch their own small businesses, and we have supported the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare advance many of their important policy reforms over the years, including the design of the active labour market measures, as well as the establishment of the Employment Agency.

In the recent years, we have also responded to the pressing issue of reintegration of returnees to Kosovo, and through the partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, we have been able to support several important reforms in this field, as well as to assist over 4,000 returnees with job placements, trainings, as well as business opportunities.

Last year, just as the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has launched their new Sectoral Strategy and the Ministry of Internal Affairs their Strategy on Reintegration of the Repatriated, UNDP also embarked on a new Strategic Plan where we put forward several Signature Solutions that will help us in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals; goals that Kosovo as well has subscribed to achieve.

This project applies several of them:

  • We provide opportunities for vulnerable people to get marketable skills, find jobs and run own businesses, helping to keep people out of poverty;
  • We support the public employment services to continuously improve policies and services they provide to jobseekers and employers, contributing to stronger institutions and governance here in Kosovo;
  • And we focus heavily on empowering women with employment opportunities and contributing to gender equality.

Naturally, we cannot achieve our goals without funding and commitment of partners. In this regard, the strong dedication of the Ministries, and the financial resources provided by the Ministry of Labour and Welfare are critical.

Rest assured that UNDP is also continuously seeking avenues for bringing more financial resources to our work and we will continue to do so in the future.

As UNDP, we also recognize that we are not the only ones working in this sector, and that we must ensure that the work of all Ministries’ partners must be complementary to one another, to maximize the support provided to the Ministries in pursuing their mandates. In this regard, we also rely on the Ministries to play a key role in donor coordination.

Thank you all for being here today and for the excellent cooperation and commitment, congratulations on the results achieved, and I am looking forward to a fruitful discussion during the day.

Now, I would like to pass the word to the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr. Skender Recica for his opening remarks.

Maria Suokko, UNDP Resident Representative

Active Labour Market Programmes 2

8th Project board meeting

17 July 2019, Pristina

Mr. Skender Recica, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare

Mr. Izmi Zeka, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs

Partners from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Employment Agency

Colleagues from UNDP

Welcome to the 8th project board meeting of one of our biggest, longest running, and most successful projects. Thank you for being here with us.

Two days ago, the world marked the World Youth Skills Day. There are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years in the world, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population, and Kosovo proudly contributes to this number with its young population.

However, young people are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and continue to be exposed to lower quality of jobs, greater labour market inequalities, and longer and more insecure school-to-work transitions.

In addition, young women are more likely to be under-employed and under-paid, and to be in part-time jobs or work under temporary contracts and face many other forms of discrimination in the labour market.

These challenges are commonplace to many parts of the world, including here in Kosovo. We know that over half of youth in Kosovo are unemployed, and this number does not even capture the many young women and men that are out of the labour force altogether, painting even a bleaker picture.

No wonder that unemployment is continuously reported as the biggest challenge for future of Kosovo’s economy and society, and why so many young people consider migrating abroad instead of building their careers and growing the economy here.

Yet, even in my short time here, I have come to understand that youth, and their ingenuity, are Kosovo’s biggest asset. Kosovo needs all of its young people and decent work is the key to convincing them to stay and build a more prosperous future here, not abroad.

With the SDG 8 on decent employment in mind, that is why initiatives like this are of utmost importance, and I am looking forward to hearing from my UNDP team and our partners on what results we achieved recently and what plans we have for this year.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of our UNDP presence here in Kosovo, and the long-standing ALMP project has been with us for most part of the journey.

Since 2005, we have together helped over 14,000 women and men find opportunities to get new skills, find jobs or launch their own small businesses, and we have supported the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare advance many of their important policy reforms over the years, including the design of the active labour market measures, as well as the establishment of the Employment Agency.

In the recent years, we have also responded to the pressing issue of reintegration of returnees to Kosovo, and through the partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, we have been able to support several important reforms in this field, as well as to assist over 4,000 returnees with job placements, trainings, as well as business opportunities.

Last year, just as the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has launched their new Sectoral Strategy and the Ministry of Internal Affairs their Strategy on Reintegration of the Repatriated, UNDP also embarked on a new Strategic Plan where we put forward several Signature Solutions that will help us in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals; goals that Kosovo as well has subscribed to achieve.

This project applies several of them:

  • We provide opportunities for vulnerable people to get marketable skills, find jobs and run own businesses, helping to keep people out of poverty;
  • We support the public employment services to continuously improve policies and services they provide to jobseekers and employers, contributing to stronger institutions and governance here in Kosovo;
  • And we focus heavily on empowering women with employment opportunities and contributing to gender equality.

Naturally, we cannot achieve our goals without funding and commitment of partners. In this regard, the strong dedication of the Ministries, and the financial resources provided by the Ministry of Labour and Welfare are critical.

Rest assured that UNDP is also continuously seeking avenues for bringing more financial resources to our work and we will continue to do so in the future.

As UNDP, we also recognize that we are not the only ones working in this sector, and that we must ensure that the work of all Ministries’ partners must be complementary to one another, to maximize the support provided to the Ministries in pursuing their mandates. In this regard, we also rely on the Ministries to play a key role in donor coordination.

Thank you all for being here today and for the excellent cooperation and commitment, congratulations on the results achieved, and I am looking forward to a fruitful discussion during the day.

Now, I would like to pass the word to the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr. Skender Recica for his opening remarks.