On the second day of the International Conference “Youth Guarantee Programme as Prevention of Youth Unemployment”, organized by the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) examples of good practices and solutions from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Bulgaria and Austria were presented.
With the participation of a large number of experts, practitioners and representatives of public employment services, this was an opportunity to compare various employment measures, the impact of policy measures, approved budgets, the education system, and the employment service system.
The Youth Employment Project (YEP) supported by the Swiss Government and implemented by GOPA, carries out the Public Employment Services reform in order to ensure early intervention through the change of institutional activities, which will prevent the long-term unemployment of persons registered on bureaus – primarily young women and men.
In addition, the Project provides support to young entrepreneurs through an establishment of Local Employment Partnerships in order to open up new jobs and to activate not only young people but all actors in the labour market that will in turn improve the overall economic situation. Throughout this process, the “Reform Package” was created. This refers to a set of tools and processes that change and adapt the PES services (focus on target groups – unemployed people and employers) as well as the public's awareness of the PES role in the labour market.
“Every reform faces resistance. It is a long-term process that requires a large-scale professional and financial investment, and the Public Employment Services reform is not an exception – there's a long way to go,” stated Dr. Ranko Markus, YEP's Project Manager while presenting the achievements of the B&H PES reform process during the conference. There are still many challenges that B&H employment services have to face in order for everyone, foremost end-users, to recognize the importance and benefits of what has been done – the results of increased efficiency of the employment services, as well as end-user greater satisfaction with the provided services.
The participants showed great interest in the presentation of experiences from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a large number of questions were addressed; most of them concerning management system effects, training of consultants, legal framework and willingness of institutions to change.
