RYCO in Montenegro and EBRD Discuss Possible Cooperation

PODGORICA – Head of the RYCO Local Branch Office in Montenegro Mr Edin Koljenović met on Tuesday with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Specialist for Economic Inclusion Ms Dragana Marjanović and EBRD Montenegro Advisor for Small Businesses Ms Vanja Kljajević when they discussed possibilities for future cooperation between the organizations.

Mr Koljenović presented the work of RYCO at both regional and local levels and emphasized that the organization aims to enhance the role and impact of youth, as well as build a more favorable environment for youth throughout the Western Balkans by focusing on promoting intercultural dialogue, youth cooperation and reconciliation.

He also presented the ongoing activities, recruitment processes in RYCO, future plans and the results of RYCO open calls for project proposals and added that around 77 secondary schools and NGOs from the region were supported through RYCO calls for proposals so far, while the number of direct beneficiaries of these programs exceeded 5000.

“This is one of the indicators showing that RYCO is able to make a tangible difference in the region,” Mr Koljenović concluded.

Ms Marjanović said that looking from the lenses of the organization that she represents youth is considered as an important cross-cutting issue. She added that besides the fact that many programs implemented in the region are focusing on youth-related issues certain groups of youth still remain excluded from these processes.

“It is especially important to develop a tailored-made approach in order to efficiently include youth belonging to marginalized or vulnerable groups, e.g. youth living in rural areas, women, etc.” Ms Marjanović concluded.

The meeting also discussed the potential future cooperation between EBRD and RYCO, underlining that the main objective of this cooperation would be designing tailor-made strategies that would substantially contribute to the needs of young people belonging to the specific target groups (NEET, youth living in rural areas, Roma, youth without qualifications and long-term unemployed youth). The ultimate goal of this endeavor would be improving the skills of individuals belonging to the mentioned target groups that would match labor market needs, consequently leading to their better positioning on the labor market.

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