Working together to inform about progress in combatting youth unemployment

The official launch of the Youth Employment Magazine is announced on the UN International Day of Friendship. Nearly 200 institutions from 26 European countries implementing projects financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway unite to share results of their initiatives aimed at combating youth unemployment in Europe.

Launched on July 30, the Youth Employment Magazine (https://youthemploymentmag.net/) will function as a content resource for all projects implemented under the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment. Its editorial team consists of experts implementing the projects themselves, who are regularly developing materials about the progress and results of each project. The platform is established by the Fund Operator,a consortium of JCP Italy and Ecorys Polska.

The burning question for Europe

According to recent data shown in the Eurostat database¹, approximately 15 million young people aged 20-34 were neither in employment, nor in education and training (NEET) in the EU-28 in 2018. In Italy and Greece, with the highest youth unemployment rate, more than a quarter of young people were out of the labour market. To promote sustainable and quality youth employment in Europe, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway launched in 2017 the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment amounting to 60 million euros. The 26 large-scale projects selected to receive funding are now implementing their initiatives that aim to help around 25 000 young people find a job or create new ones.

“Vulnerable youth often fall outside the formal education and training systems as well as the ordinary labour market, and there is a great need for innovative solutions, transfer of good practice and impact studies on which interventions work and which do not. The 26 projects will develop, pilot or adopt almost 100 new approaches, methods and practices, underlining the innovative nature of the Fund for Youth Employment,” quoting Mrs Grethe Haugøy, Senior Sector Officer for Regional Funds and Global Fund for Social Dialogue and Decent Work at the Financial Mechanism Office, the Secretariat of the EEA and Norway Grants.

One platform beyond borders

Compared to other initiatives of the EEA and Norway Grants, the added value of the Fund for Youth Employment is its transnational focus. This is in line with the Europe 2020 strategy and the EU cohesion policy that takes account of the crucial role regions and cross-border cooperation play for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Although the range of the Fund is enormous (project consortia bring together 195 entities from various sectors covering their activities
in 26 countries), disseminating results at the level of countries where projects are implemented and the flow of information beyond borders faces significant challenges. This is the main reason why a common communication platform in the form of an online magazine is created. It is not accidental that the official launch of the “Youth Employment Magazine” falls on the UN International Day of Friendship, since consortia implementing projects remain in harmonised, constant relations with each other, sharing good practices and exchanging experiences.

Local activities, global information

The newly created magazine will aggregate content prepared by all projects: not only news about current achievements and information on their progress, but also longer substantive articles and various multimedia. Furthermore, the constantly updated calendar will allow the audience to follow all events organised by projects across Europe and the Donor States.

“The online magazine will serve as a platform to inspire, connect and raise awareness among young people in Europe and will become an online hub for all the entities involved in the Fund,” said Raquel Torres Prol, Communication Officer for the Fund for Youth Employment at the Financial Mechanism Office, the Secretariat of the EEA and Norway Grants.

About the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment

• €60.6 million in funding.

• 3 donor countries – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway.

• Supporting 26 transnational projects that promote quality youth employment.

• Intends in particular to reach the long-term unemployed in the age group 25-29, to be complementary to existing EU funding.

• More information: http://eeagrants.org/fundforyouthemployment.