UN-RADIO
Until two months ago the river ‘Lushta’ in Mitrovica was
dirty with heaps of garbage floating in the water and up the riverbanks. Now,
the stream is almost completely cleaned up.
Muhamet Hajrizi is one of the workers cleaning up the river.
Until two months ago he was one of Kosovo’s many unemployed.
Actuality No. 1 This project helped us a
lot, the unemployment level is huge, and this is a good help for us.
Muhamet takes part in a joint project of the United Nations
Development Program, or UNDP, and Kosovo’s Ministry of Labor and Social
welfare. Their aim is to employ around 1700 workers: 900 in the public sector
for a period of 6 months, and another 800 in the private sector. The workers in
the ‘Lushta’ river are among the first to be employed in the public sector as
part of this project.
The Mitrovica centre for professional training is one of the
places where people are being prepared for jobs in the private sector. Besim
Barku takes part in a training and hopes to be employed after finishing it.
Actuality
No. 2 I am being trained for three
months. I knew the theory and I came here to learn the practice. I am ready to
work if there is a need for a worker. I hope that I will get employed.
If Besim finds a job, then for the first 6 months half of
his salary, up to a maximum of 100 Euro, will be paid from the budget of the
employment project. This means his future employer would only need to pay him
half a salary during that period.
This way UNDP and the ministry of Labor and Social Welfare
make it attractive for companies to hire more workers and give unemployed
people a chance to gain experience.
Of course the initiators of the project hope that employers
keep their new recruits also after the first 6 months are over, even though
from that moment on they have to pay the full salary.
The total cost of the scheme - both in the public and
private sector – is 175.000 euro. This sum was brought together by UNMIK, the
Office of the Prime Minister, the Danish foreign ministry and UNDP.
Levent Koro from UNDP explains that this method to fight
unemployment is nothing new.
Actuality No. 3 “This model was and is
being used elsewhere in Europe, and we - in cooperation with the ministry,
thought that we can use it too in Kosova.”
According to Ylber Shabani from the Ministry of Labor and
Social Welfare this project can benefit all the workers registered in the
unemployment centers throughout Kosovo. However, priority will be given to
those trained in the ministry’s centers for professional training.
Actuality No. 4 “All job seekers that are trained in centers for professional
training will get help for employment and they will get subsidies on their
salaries. This component is very important if we want to make a connection
between the training and job seeking. “
Similar employment schemes proved effective elsewhere: the
majority of people employed during the 6-month project kept their job also
after that. The initiators of the project in Kosovo hope for a similar
long-term success. Although it will only help 1700 people to get a job while
the total number of unemployed in Kosova is 300.000, still it’s a push in the
right direction.
And it brings us to the end of today’s program. Stay tuned.