Local Employment Partnerships Solve Labour Market Problems in Cantemir and Causeni Districts

The LEP implementation partners presented the results obtained during the last three months of the six LEP Actions that are carried out in each district. Accordingly, the National Youth Council, involved in identifying inactive youth and groups of people affected by Covid-19 (returned migrants, seasonal workers and people working informally), reported the identification of 388 people and their registration at the Territorial Employment Subdivisions to benefit from employment services and programs, as well as from the opportunities offered by local LEPs.

The local and national Association of Beekeepers identified, in the two districts, 95 persons, who afterwards were trained in the field of beekeeping and the basics of entrepreneurship. After the training course, the participants had the opportunity to participate in a competition of business plans, after which 40 beneficiaries were selected to receive grants in the form of hives and bee families and assistance in launching and registering a business. 36 of these beneficiaries have already registered their individual enterprises and are about to launch their business in apiculture.  

Within the national programs "Start for young people" and "Women in business", implemented in partnership with ODIMM, 70 persons were identified, and they will benefit from training, mentoring and full funding for starting a business.

The Saving and Loan Associations have identified 147 entrepreneurs who want to expand their businesses, of which 72 have received online training and mentoring to develop business expansion plans and receive grants to employ the unemployed individuals.

Within Causeni LEP, a collaboration was initiated with the "Pro Familia" Maternal Centre, which offers support and accommodation to women, victims of domestic violence. Ten beneficiaries of the Centre were identified to receive training and assistance in starting a business, in order to gain financial independence from the aggressors.

During this event, Ms. Ana Gherganova, Head of the Occupational Policy and Migration Regulation Department, of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection mentioned that LEP is a model for decentralized implementation of employment policies and can contribute to solving the local labour market problems.

"The labour market of the Republic of Moldova has been affected by the Covid pandemic, resulting in jobs losses, increased inactivity rate, especially among youth and women, and recorded a high incidence of informal employment.  LEPs can address these issues through a set of rapid interventions at the local level to generate jobs and counteract the short-term impact of the crisis,” mentioned Ms. Ana Gherganova.

It is worth to remind that the Local Employment Partnership (LEP) of Causeni was launched on February 24, 2021 and Cantemir LEP - on May 5, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection, the National Employment Agency, District Councils and local labour market stakeholders.  Both LEPs will be rolled out during 2021.

The budget for the implementation of Cantemir and Causeni LEPs is approximately 446,000 US dollars. The International Labour Organization provided a support worth $285,200 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." The Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of the Austrian Development Cooperation, provided a total of US $ 160,000 to support the implementation of the Cantemir and Causeni LEPs.

The Organization for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (ODIMM) will provide grants to complement the lines of intervention aimed at business development and the establishment of small enterprises. Training service providers, public institutions, enterprises and local producers’ associations will provide non-monetary contributions for the implementation of Partnerships.