During the period 23-28 January, the international training: ‘’WEstern Balkan youth WORK(s) for youth Employability! - Regional initiative for a common approach to youth employability’’ was held in Belgrade, and 36 youth workers from six Western Balkan countries participated in it (Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia).
The training objectives were:
- Improving the youth work quality in the field of youth employability
- Encouraging the development of the informal learning for youth employability program
- Promoting the strategic cooperation between state institutions, the business sector and youth organizations for youth employment
Through a five-day training, participants had the opportunity to attend lectures by representatives of various organizations, as well as to participate in workshops for developing employability skills and share experiences. During the training, participants had the opportunity to attend the lecture by expert Vesna Fabian, representative of the ManPower staffing agency and of the National Association of Youth Work Practitioners. After that, the young people developed programs and training courses aimed at increasing youth employability, and which could be implemented in countries they come from. One of the important training components was encouraging intercultural dialogue, breaking down prejudices and stereotypes, and getting familiarized with the work of youth organizations from different countries, and all in the goal of improving cooperation between youth workers.
The training was held as part of the Erazmus+ project: ‘’ WEBWORK (WEstern Balkan youth WORK(s) for youth Employability). WEBWORK is a regional initiative of six organizations dealing with the issue of youth employment, and which has as its goal the creation of a regional(joint) portfolio containing key skills and competencies that young people require in order to find employment more easily. The portfolio is intended for youth workers who work in the field of improving youth employability. The idea is, that we build the youth workers’ capacities through trainings within the project, so as to help young people looking for jobs.
The project is realized by the Belgrade Open School, along with five other partner organizations from the region: Youth Association Alfa Albona from Croatia, Center for Intercultural Dialogue from Macedonia, Institute for Youth Development KULT from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Beyond Barriers from Albania and the Center for Civic Education from Montenegro.
The project is financed by the Erasmus+ program within the KA2 component, Western Balkan Youth Window, and the project activities are realized in the period from July 2016 until July 2017.
