A European Union project supporting local partnerships for employment has helped to establish 19 local partnerships in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and enabled the creation of about 550 new jobs in its first phase. To build on this success, the EU has now allocated an additional €4 million to continue supporting such partnership initiatives in the labour market.

The second phase of this project will enable representatives of local authorities, education, public employment services and NGOs to work with employers to create sustainable, partnership-based mechanisms at the local level, which will increase access to formal employment. In cooperation with the International Labour Organization, the European Union will support 20 new local partnerships that will train more than 1,600 unemployed people for the local labour market, of whom at least 600 will be employed by the end of 2023. Grants will be available through a public call for local employment partnership projects.

The first phase of the Local Employment Partnership project was funded by the European Union with €4 million. Thenew phase of this project creates opportunities for new ideas in localities where there is still no formal alliance of key actors in the labour market. The main purpose is to activate and integrate unemployed people into the labour market while responding to the specific needs of employers.