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Erasmus+ Study Visit to Resolve Youth Unemployment “Go NGO Go”

Towards a Solution to Youth Unemployment: Erasmus+ Study Visit “Go NGO Go”

Youth Work Association and representatives of youth organizations from 7 countries visited institutions and organizations working in the field of employment in Istanbul. With the study visit organized within the scope of Erasmus+, solutions were sought for youth unemployment.

About the project

The “Go NGO Go” Study Visit project was organized by the Youth Work Association with the grant of the Turkish National Agency within the scope of the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union, together with 32 youth workers from Spain, Greece, Portugal, Macedonia, Serbia, France and Turkey, between 1-7 August 2021 in Istanbul.

The partners of the project, hosted by the Youth Work Association: Paragraf International (France), ASSOCIACIÓ Globers (Spain), Neoi Ellados Se Eyropaiki Drasi (Greece), Arte M Associacao Cultural e Artistica na Madeira (Portugal), Together Macedonia (Macedonia) , Klub Za Osnazivanje Mladih 018 Udruzenje (Serbia) and Yinfo – Youth Information Center Association (Turkey).

Within the scope of this study visit, Impact Hub Istanbul, Istanbul Bilgi University and Regional Employment Offices were visited and their work was observed on site. At the end of the study visits, 7 new Erasmus+ Youth Projects were produced and preparations for the next term application were started.

In addition, Istanbul Bilgi University’s BilgiTalent department supported this project as a local partner and hosted the one-day event.

Background of the Project

A person’s labour force status falls into one of three categories: employed, unemployed or economically inactive. Eurostat uses the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s definitions of employment and unemployment. The labour force also called the active population, comprises those employed or unemployed. These concepts are explained in detail in an article on the EU-LFS methodology. The definitions apply to young people just as they do to any other age group. People are classified as being employed or unemployed irrespective of whether they are in education or not. In other words, Eurostat unemployment statistics, in line with ILO standards, do not exclude students from unemployment just because they are students. The same criteria that apply to the rest of the population also apply to them. This means that the fact that someone is in education is irrelevant for his/her status regarding employment or unemployment. However, participation in the education of the population as a whole has an indirect effect on youth unemployment indicators.

The main indicator of youth unemployment is the youth unemployment rate for the age group 15-24. This uses the same standard definition as the unemployment rate for the population of working age. For a given age group, it is the number of those unemployed divided by the total number of people in the labour market (employed plus unemployed). In the EU-28 in 2012, there were on average 5.6 million unemployed persons aged 15-24 and 24.4 million persons of that age group in the labour market, according to the EU labour force survey. This gives a youth unemployment rate of 23.0 %. (Eurostat: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/) Youth Unemployment Rate in European Union decreased to 14.20 percent in August from 14.30 percent in July of 2019. Youth Unemployment Rate in European Union averaged 18.97 percent from 2000 until 2019, reaching an all-time high of 24.10 percent in February of 2013 and a record low of 14.20 percent in June of 2019.

Youth Unemployment Rate in Turkey increased to 24.80 percent in June from 23.30 percent in May of 2019. Youth Unemployment Rate averaged 19.36 percent from 1988 until 2019, reaching an all-time high of 28.60 percent in February of 2009 and a record low of 11 percent in September of 2000. (Trading Economics: https://tradingeconomics.com) Youth Unemployment is the real problem of today’s Turkey, Europe, and the World. As well as a future problems!

The aim of this Study Visit was to provide an opportunity to take the info about the inter-sectoral cooperation between the business world, civil sphere, government agencies, educational institutions that are working on the employment of young people and to share expertise, knowledge and good practices with participants for future partnerships.

Objectives:
– To look at different ways of doing things that can be adapted and transferred to improve practice in inter-sectoral cooperation between the business world, civil sphere, government agencies, educational institutions in Europe.
– To contribute to the solution of youth unemployment with programmes, activities and new Erasmus+ Projects
– To share know-how on different practical approaches to organize responses to youth unemployment problems in locals

Results:

– Participants developed new competencies in entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship,
– Participants had the opportunity to examine the examples on the subject of preparing a business plan, applying it and creating cost calculations,
– Participants were informed about the work of Impact Hub Istanbul, Regional Employment Office and BilgiTalent and made plans to take these examples to their own countries,
– Collaboration among young people has been encouraged and they have access to new networks in the field of entrepreneurship,
– Participants worked on new tools to provide career counseling to local youth,
– The participants were shown on-site examples of inter-sectoral cooperation and they were given the opportunity to see how these relations were established, how they were protected and sustainable,
– Participants had detailed knowledge and skills about Erasmus+ Opportunities,
– New collaborations have been established between participating non-governmental and youth organizations, and 7 new projects have been designed.

About the Erasmus+ Program

Erasmus+ Program is the program that covers grant support in the field of education, youth and sports of the European Union. Within the scope of the program, individuals are offered the opportunity to take part in youth activities based on education, training, internship, professional development and non-formal learning abroad. In addition, collaborations between institutions are supported through partnership activities. European Solidarity Program (European Solidarity Corps, ESC); is a new European Union initiative that aims to meet social needs, creating opportunities for young people to volunteer, work or network on projects that benefit society in their own country or abroad, while promoting their personal, educational, social, civil and professional development.

Erasmus+ provides grants for different actions aimed at promoting innovative policy development, policy dialogue and implementation, and promoting knowledge exchange in the fields of education, training and youth. It offers opportunities for Youth Dialogues that take place at home and abroad and bring together decision makers and young people. It provides students, trainers, youth and youth workers the opportunity to study and study in another country. It also allows young people between the ages of 18-30 to engage in voluntary activities in their own countries in projects that benefit society.

Youth Work Association (GENCA) is particularly concerned with topics such as, culture, ethnicity, faith and identity, in order to promote cultural diversity. It has a keen interest in contributing to new approaches in relation to young people and extremism, and in promoting international partnerships which support further learning and exchange in this area.

Result Slideshow:

Some photos from the project: