Muhammetaly Miraliev, Head of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the City of Turkmenbashi.

UNDP: Tell us about your experience of working with youth.

Mr. Miraliev: Since last year, our department has been working closely with the United Nations Development Program on youth project funded by the Government of Japan. This project aims to create opportunities and support young people in finding work. In the project, we work with youth - university graduates who have received education abroad, as well as youth without education who are in search of work. We also help young people who find themselves in difficult situations with acquiring labor skills and employment.

UNDP: Are there any “special” approaches to working with vulnerable youth?

Mr. Miraliev: Currently, specialists from our department are using profiling methods and case management, the best practices of European countries, in working with young people. According to this method, when filling out a questionnaire with young people who have arrived for employment support services, a detailed interview is conducted. This is a set of questions which help to establish the desires, interests, skills and opportunities. Their marital status, professional characteristics, motivation, as well as factors affecting their employment are established. According to the results of the profiling, young men and women who want to work, but for some reason cannot find a job receive the necessary support.

We also work with young people who find themselves in difficult life situations, with whom individual meetings and interviews are held and appropriate assistance is provided for employment and self-employment.

UNDP: What are profiling and case management? Tell us more.

Mr. Miraliev: Those are special technics used to support employment of young people. For example, our specialists compile a detailed summary of young person’s profile, and then recommend to send them to special seminars on compiling resumes conducted by UNDP in cooperation with the City Council of the Youth Organization of Turkmenbashi . When referring young people to the employer, they are given tips on how to prepare for the interview, how to present themselves and their skills. Seminars are also organized on this topic as part of the project. With the assistance of UNDP, training opportunities for short-term training courses are created for young people with low level of education, or with education that is not suitable for the available vacant positions. Thus, young people take part in them in accordance with the direction received for the relevant work. Over the past three months of 2019, 7 young people have been trained in professional courses and 3 of them have got jobs in accordance with their profession.

UNDP: How are graduates from foreign universities involved?

Mr. Miraliev: Young people who have graduated abroad are offered seminars on “Entrepreneurship training and writing a business plan”. At the seminar, young people learn the basics of entrepreneurship, how to get from a business idea to drawing up a specific plan of action and resources for starting their own small business that generates income. Young people who decide to start their own small business after the seminar can submit a well-thought-out business plan to UNDP and will be given an opportunity to receive a grant under the Youth Project to purchase appropriate equipment for production and launch of their business activities. Last November, 4 young people from our city, registered with the Labor Department and attending a seminar on the topic “Entrepreneurship training and writing a business plan”, were approved for receiving a grant.

UNDP: What has changed in your work over the past year?

Mr. Miraliev: At present, our specialists treat young people who have arrived at the Employment Department as clients, conduct individual work with them and give them appropriate consultations. Our specialists from employment department regularly attend training sessions conducted by UNDP on introducing new methods of working with young people who request for support from the employment services.