Public, private and civil sectors united for employment and social inclusion in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The final conference of the three-year project “United for Jobs and Stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina” was held in Trebinje, bringing together representatives of institutions, local governments, civil society organizations, companies, and project partners to present the results achieved through joint efforts aimed at improving employment opportunities and economic inclusion for socially vulnerable groups across Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The project was implemented by ASB South East Europe and LIR CD, with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
During the conference, participants emphasized the importance of cooperation between the public, private, and civil sectors in creating sustainable employment models and strengthening local communities.
Over the course of the project, significant results were achieved:
- 240 people successfully completed vocational training programmes;
- 90 beneficiaries gained employment in 47 companies;
- 96 beneficiaries received support through self-employment and small business development programmes;
- The project was implemented in six local communities across Bosnia and Herzegovina: Trebinje, Teslić, Travnik, Vareš, Zavidovići, and Goražde;
- Hundreds of beneficiaries participated in professional trainings and support activities aimed at improving employability and economic resilience.
A special focus of the project was placed on supporting women, youth, people living in rural areas, and other socially vulnerable groups, contributing to stronger social inclusion and long-term opportunities for decent work and economic stability.
Elmir Bojadžić, Regional Director of ASB SEE, highlighted that the project demonstrated how strong cooperation between the public, private, and civil sectors can provide effective responses to the challenges of social inclusion and employment.
”𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 LIR CD 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑆𝐵 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑡. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐, 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑.
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡, 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑜-𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑗𝑜𝑏, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵𝐴𝑀, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 37% 𝑐𝑜-𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 100,000 𝐵𝐴𝑀 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦.”
The conference also served as an opportunity to exchange experiences, discuss future cooperation, and underline the importance of continuing investments in inclusive employment and local economic development initiatives throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
