Support for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship
The Economic Security program is committed to working with young people in Serbia by promoting youth entrepreneurship and by increasing their potential for employment. The program’s youth initiative aims to address fundamental deficiencies in the practical education of Serbia’s youth. The program works with both the public and private sectors, and with civil society to strengthen their respective roles in enhancing entrepreneurship education which will yield long-term benefits in Serbia’s underdeveloped municipalities. The program’s youth development strategy concentrates on four areas:
1) Support for youth entrepreneurship (through such programs as Junior Achievement);
2) Support for the Ministry of Youth and Sport’s strategy to promote youth employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship;
3) Assisting Serbia’s private sector to improve internship opportunities; and,
4) Development of educational exchange programs.
Support for Junior Achievement
USAID in partnership with Junior Achievement Serbia (JAS), a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, has supported JA program activities in high schools in south Serbia since 2003.
The Junior Achievement program enhances the skills of youth and increases their participation in the economy and helps to bridge the existing gap between the knowledge acquired through education and the skills required by the job market. Junior Achievement does this by enhancing students' leadership, business entrepreneurial, problem-solving, communication, and soft skills.
The JA program works with volunteers from the community to help them gain hands-on experience in running their own businesses by establishing student-run companies.