From the 20th to 24th of May, NGO workers from three different Western Balkans countries –Bosnia and Hercegovina, Montenegro, and Albania – had the opportunity to meet in Podgorica and successfully participate in an international training for the Erasmus+ project “NURTURE.”
The goal of the NURTURE project is to empower young people to find their career path, especially those with fewer opportunities, and to promote the NGO sector as an employer.
The training served as an opportunity for partners to meet each other, present the work of their organizations, and further exchange leading practices in the NGO sector. Over the course of these five days, representatives from each country had the opportunity to:
- Understand the unemployment situation across the Western Balkans;
- Examine employment trends in various industries;
- Discuss effective mentorship qualities by sharing personal experiences;
- Develop an action plan for different project phases;
- Prepare a list of next steps to implement the project;
LEARN MORE ABOUT NURTURE PROJECT:
In order to achieve above specified aims, the project will conduct work in the following areas:
1) management and coordination
2) building capacities of youth organizations
3) empowering young people
4) promoting NGO sector as employer
One of the major results of the project will be the establishment of National Support Points (NSPs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Montenegro. These will serve as the main actors to build the capacity of NGOs in the Western Balkans and contribute to the career development of young people. NSPs will organize seminars and workshops for young people and NGO representatives, provide career counseling to young people, and support the implementation of apprenticeships in which 90 young people (54 of whom will be young people with fewer opportunities) will get their first job working in the NGO sector, thereby gaining the skills and competencies necessary to participate in the labor market.
This work will be supplemented by a promotional campaign titled “Nurturing the world can be a job.” The aim of the campaign will be to raise awareness about NGOs as important potential employers for young people as well as to inform the general public about the work of the NSPs and the role of NGOs in society. The campaign will also inform young people about the apprenticeship opportunities and disseminate project results.