Euro-Mediterranean Partnership’s Education and Training for Employment (MEDA-ETE) Project

Education and Training for Employment (Component 3: Support for young unemployed people in the areas of self-employment and micro-enterprise creation)

Description

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership‘s Education and Training for Employment (MEDA-ETE) project is a unique regional initiative that works to set up a regional agenda on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and its links with labour markets in the Mediterranean region.

Education and training have been identified as one of the key instruments for the promotion of social stability and economic prosperity in the Mediterranean region in a number of policy documents and bilateral cooperation programmes under the so-called Barcelona Process.

Among other measures to support this process, a special regional MEDA programme – Education and Training for Employment (MEDA-ETE) – was launched by the European Commission (EuropeAid Cooperation Office), and is being implemented by the European Training Foundation (ETF) between 2005 and 2008. This project aims to support 10 Mediterranean Partners – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip – in the design of relevant education and training policies that can contribute to promote employment through a regional approach.

MEDA Partners are characterized by their heterogeneity regarding their size, demography, and geographical, economic and political situations. However, most countries in the region can be defined as economies and societies in transition, characterized by a young population (60% below the age of 25), the predominance of a tertiary sector mainly activated by SMEs, concentrated in a limited number of sectors and an important informal sector.

In the light of explanations above, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) may be considered as one of the key means to reinforce competitiveness, employment and integration in the MEDA Region. Although at different pace, reform of TVET systems is considered as top priority by the majority of countries in the region.

The overall objective of the project is to support MEDA partners in the design of relevant technical and vocational education and training policies that can contribute to promote employment through a regional approach. Based on a common consensus among Euromed partners, ETF was selected as Implementing Body of the project.

The project has four components:

Component 1- Yearly Euromed Forum on TVET for Employment
Component 2- Euromed Network on TVET for Employment
Component 3- Support for Young Unemployed People in the Areas of Self-Employment and Micro-Enterprise Creation
Component 4- Development of e-Learning for training in information and communication technologies and technical and vocational education and training.

Component 3 is concerned with the identification and networking of service providers which work for young unemployed people in the areas of self-employment and the creation of micro enterprises in the MEDA region, the analysis of practices, methods and tools, matching of supply and demand in this area, the implementation of pilot projects to transfer good practice, methods and tools, and their dissemination in the region. The main direct beneficiaries of the project are public and private providers of support, counseling training and follow-up services and low skilled young people and young graduates who are assisted by service providers are the final beneficiaries.

The specific objective of the project (i.e of component 3) is to reinforce the capacities of service providers in MEDA partners countries working for young unemployed people in the areas of self-employment and the creation of micro enterprises.

More specifically, the project results are:

21 best Practices in European countries and 18 best practices in MEDA countries were identified and shared amongst service providers in MEDA and EU countries
12 Best practices on support, counselling, training and follow-up services available to young would-be women entrepreneurs have been transferred to selected core service providers in the MEDA region
The selected service providers in the MEDA region have been able to widen their scope and include different aspects of entrepreneurship development in their package of services, which they did not offer previously (i.e. self-assessment tools to measure entrepreneurial potential, effective follow-up services to start-ups and existing businesses, comprehensive entrepreneurship and business development package etc.)

Services

Conduct project management
Provide administrative support
Provide national as well as regional staff when needed
Set up of focal points
Set up a Compilation of Inventory of service providers in the area of entrepreneurship training and micro enterprise creation in 10 MEDA and 15 EU countries (A directory is available online (www.meda-ete.net))
Set up Compilation of inventory of national policies and project and programmes in the area of youth unemployment, entrepreneurship training and micro enterprise creation in each of the 10 MEDA countries
Set up Compilation of inventory and in depth analysis of around 50 best practices identified in MEDA and EU countries
Facilitate peer reviews in MEDA and EU countries (These peer reviews aimed to exchange training practices and to assess the transferability of methodologies and practices from one country to another)
Match service providers that want to exchange and transfer best practices in the area of entrepreneurship training and micro enterprise creation
Facilitate transfer of best practices to selected core service providers in MEDA countries (Adaptation of materials, TOTs, exchange visits)