The International Labour Organization supports the launch of a new Local Employment Partnership - to contribute to jobs creation in Causeni district

Local Employment Partnerships (LEP) represent an innovation based on "negotiated" planning between several local partners who, as they address community labour market challenges, take on interlinked roles and responsibilities to develop solutions tailored to local circumstances. The main purpose of LEP is job creation and transition into formal employment. 

This initiative was launched today in the city of Causeni in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection, the Causeni district Council and local stakeholders and will be implemented during 2021. The LEP for Causeni district is designed and implemented under the auspices of the Territorial Commission for Collective Consultations and Bargaining (CTCNC) - a social dialogue platform that brings together representatives of local public administration authorities, trade unions and employers’ organizations. This platform acts as a catalyst for labour market stakeholders to identify specific actions to remove barriers to job creation and the transition from informal to formal employment. 

The implementation of Causeni LEP foresees the participation of about 15 public and private partners at the national and local level, including civil society organizations, financial,    educational and vocational training institutions, and the labour service, associations of producers, businesses and investors. The implementation of Causeni LEP costs about 146,529 US dollars. The International Labour Organization is providing financial support amounting 129,879 US dollars, of which over 80,000 US dollars are provided by the Austrian Development Agency, the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, for different intervention lines through the project “Reactivating social dialogue for an effective Covid-19 response in Moldova and applying it to local job creation through Local Employment Partnerships".

"We are pleased to support this project, which will effectively contribute to the creation of new opportunities for business and job development and will create better conditions for the socio-economic development of the Causeni district. In this difficult period, ADA's assistance is a way to save the livelihoods of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova and the sectors particularly affected by the pandemic crisis", said Gunther Zimmer, Head of the Austrian Development Cooperation´s office in Chisinau.

The Organization for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (ODIMM) will provide grants to complement the lines of intervention focused on businesses development and small enterprises creation. The remaining amount includes the contributions of local partners involved in Causeni LEP, i.e. public and vocational training institutions, enterprises, producers' associations.

The launch of Causeni district Local Employment Partnership was preceded by a territorial audit that identified the sectors with potential for job creation, emphasized the problems of socially vulnerable groups in the area, as well as the local and national actors willing to get involved in the partnership to solve the problems of the labour market. The elaborated document represents the basis for the formulation of five main actions provided by Causeni LEP. 

In the period 2018 - 2019, the ILO piloted for the first time in the Republic of Moldova an LEP in Cahul district, thus contributing to the creation and formalization of 208 jobs, the launch and expanding of 72 enterprises, setting up of two cooperatives of honey and cheese producers. More than 900 people in the Cahul district, including those at risk of social exclusion, benefited directly from the opportunities offered by the project. The good practices gained in the Cahul district will be replicated in Causeni and Cantemir districts.