[Challenge:Future] Semi finals - Mladiinfo: Matching Point Initiative
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The Matching Point Initiative is a program created by Mladiinfo in Macedonia to address high youth unemployment. It connects educated but inexperienced young people with organizations seeking volunteers or trainees. Over the course of a year, participants will complete 3-4 month placements with 2-3 different organizations to gain diverse skills. This provides young people experience and training, while organizations obtain temporary assistance. The initiative aims to launch locally, then expand across Mladiinfo's network and internationally to connect more youth with opportunities.
[Challenge:Future] Semi finals - Mladiinfo: Matching Point Initiative
- 1. Mladiinfo Team Project Name: Matching Point Initiative Team members: Tamara Miletic Ana Despotovska Milan Zálešák Country: Macedonia
- 2. Issue addressed Mladiinfo identified several roots causing the ever growing youth unemployment issue: Lack of information flow Lack of access to quality education and non-formal educational opportunities Youth with good education but without an opportunity to put knowledge into practice and gain experience Lack of job opportunities Gap between skills acquired with education and skills required on the labor market Young people’s dependence on welfare benefits or parents Practice has shows us that large number of educated young people, who have appropriate qualification but have never had the chance to practice their acquired knowledge and gain experience, are out of work at least for a years after completion of studies. The real problem: lack of job opportunities at the labor market for the educated skilled young people Our target group: educated skilled young people with or without experience
- 3. MLADIINFO CHANNEL Young people with appropriate educational qualifications but without concrete experience and skills Companies Enterprises Institutions NGOs Solution: Mladiinfo Matching Point Initiative specialized program for promotion of “paid” volunteering positions and traineeships As a platform offering services and available opportunities for youth (with 145.000 visitors per month), Mladiinfo is the perfect matching point where jobless young people can find PAID opportunities to “WORK” as volunteers or trainees for a period of 12 months The real innovation of this programme is that during their service, candidates will have an opportunity to combine and collaborate with 2/3 different actors for the period of 3/4 months each. In this way they will have an opportunity to acquire more experience and to become more flexible, communicative, tolerant, team players and organized, while being useful to the community at the same time. The programme of volunteering/traineeship will be planned in accordance to prior education, interests and needs of the candidate.
- 4. How can the Matching Point Initiative be Realized? The Initiative envisages three phases of implemenation involving different actors in each phase: The step: establish official collaboration with the local actors (NGOs, Companies, Universities, Institutions, etc.) interested to take part in the educational programme. Collaboration agreements will be established between all parties (Mladiinfo, candidates and institutions/companies). Mladiinfo will help candidates define the best combination of the programme they wants to develop. Each candidate will have an opportunity to combine and collaborate with 2/3 different actors in one year of experience (3/4 months per each institution/company) to acquire more experience and skills at the same time. The implementation at local level is envisaged for a period of 2 years in order to get feedback. In case of positive feedback we will proceed with the next steps. The step: extand at network level and involve the Mladiinfo branches (Mladiinfo Slovensko, Mladiinfo Czech Republic, Mladiinfo Montenegro and Mladiinfo Slovenia), as well as the Mladiinfo country representatives from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Kosovo and Romania. The step: extend at international level through research and involvement of global actors (NGO’s, Companies, Universities, Institutions, etc.)
- 5. Why is it a good idea? Benefits Short-term Long-term Youth acquire experience communication and organizing skills creativity, confidence self-control, patience adaptability, flexibility become emplyoable become competitive get employment get an idea for business Organizations/ Companies Get young energetic workers eager to work and bring in fresh ideas Find valuable employees who might contribute greatly to their development Community/ Society Keep unemployment rates stagnant Reduce the welfare burden Reduce unemployment rates Raise the living standard