The International Labour Organization launched a new Local Employment Partnership - to contribute to jobs creation in Cantemir district

Local Employment Partnerships (LEP) represent an innovation based on "negotiated" planning between multiple local partners who, being concerned about the challenges faced by the community labour market, assume interconnected roles and responsibilities aimed at developing solutions tailored to local circumstances. The main purpose of LEP is job creation and transition to formal employment. 

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

The implementation of Cantemir LEP provides for the participation of about 15 public and private partners at the national and local level, including civil society organizations, financial, educational and vocational formation institutions, the employment service, associations of producers, enterprises and investors. The implementation of Cantemir LEP will cost about 231,319 US dollars. The International Labour Organization will provide financial support amounting 138,671 US dollars, 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", of which up to 80,000 US dollars are provided by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation.

Gunther Zimmer, director of the Austrian Coordination Office for Technical Cooperation in Chisinau sent a greeting message at the launch of the Cantemir LEP, in which he mentioned: “We are confident that the financial assistance provided by ADA will contribute to the sustainable economic development of Cantemir district and help local communities overcome the consequences of the pandemic crisis by launching new businesses, creating jobs and capitalizing on local resources”.

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

The launching of Cantemir district Local Employment Partnership was preceded by a territorial audit that identified the sectors with job creation potential emphasized the problems faced by socially vulnerable groups in the territory, 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 for by Cantemir LEP. 

In the period 2018 - 2019, the ILO piloted for the first time in the Republic of Moldova a LEP in Cahul district, thus contributing to the formation and formalization of 208 jobs, launching and expanding of 72 businesses, setting up of two cooperatives of honey and cheese producers. More than 880 persons in Cahul district, including those at the risk of social exclusion, directly benefited from the opportunities offered by the project. The good practices obtained in Cahul district will be replicated in Cantemir and Causeni districts.