On that occasion, Ursula Läubli said that “From Education to Employment – E2E” is a project supporting both the young people and the local companies: “It was obvious that youth needed support to start a successful working career. We are glad to see that now young men and woman have an opportunity to get additional training for work for different occupations mainly in domestic private companies. In Pirot and Knjazevac some 300 young people had the opportunity to use the career counselling services, while 100 of them received work based learning in the companies and 60 got employment. This is a result of the efforts and commitment of all the involved in the project, especially at the local level. Switzerland is committed to further support youth employment, as well as dual education reform. In the next four years, Switzerland will assign 10 million Euros for youth employment, which is one of the highest priorities for the Government of Serbia.”

Mira Zlatkov representative of “ZIP Center for youth”, E2E partner organization at the local level, stressed that: ”Separate funds were allocated to employment of hard to place youth and vulnerable groups. In Pirot, the focus was on young Roma women without any formal education or who only completed elementary schools. 80 women received some kind of skill building support in line with current requirements of  the companies. 50% of those who completed the training got employment either in companies they were trained at or elsewhere which is a big success. This means that young people who have the opportunity for work based learning have greater chances for employment.”

More about the project “From Education to Employment – E2E” and new Opportunity Fund call for the companies and youth can be found at E2E website .