Belgrade / Nis, March 30, 2011 - Nis' Pantelej municipal Youth Office presented the results of three programs designed to reduce youth unemployment by promoting entrepreneurship as a career option. The separate programs, targeting different populations in different parts of the municipality, included training on conducting a job search, preparing resumes and interviewing, and starting a business (business planning, registration, finance and marketing).
Pantelej's YEAP strategy, which USAID's Preparedness, Planning and Economic Security program helped to create in 2010, targeted two groups of youth most vulnerable to unemployment: rural youth and single mothers. More than 300 people participated in the four months of activities that ended in February.
The Youth Office reports that to date, 15 of these young people have begun the process of starting a new business. The PPES program has worked with 23 municipalities to create Entrepreneurship Action Plans.