According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kosovo represents an emerging economy with an average GDP growth rate of 4.2% over the past five years, which is among the highest in the Western Balkans. But, considering the population growth of about 2% every year, such improvements in the growth per capita in Kosovo has been irrelevant. Kosovo’s estimated population is 1.793,467 inhabitants, with working age population of 1.202,982, which represents almost two thirds of the total population. According to data from Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS), Kosovo even now has one of the highest official unemployment rates in the region that is at 30.5% and in addition, 63.5% of females in the labour force are unemployed. The gender factor is also an important indicator that females are in a disadvantaged position compared to males at all levels of education, thus, more likely to become or remain unemployed.
Moreover, people with disabilities also face limitations prominently affecting their employment status, and a large percentage of them are unemployed. Despite the fact that 43% of people with disabilities (PwD) show interest or have potential to develop their skills, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the employment rate of people with disabilities (PwD) is 6,47%.
Responding to these immediate employment needs, the European Union Office in Kosovo has designed and launched a tailored EUR 3.5 million grant scheme, titled: “Improving labour market access of disadvantaged groups through social enterprises and active labour market measures”. This grant scheme aims to support additional active labour market measures such providing tailor-made support for training, on-the-job training, internship and self-employment to the disadvantaged groups in Kosovo. Additionally, through this support the EU aims to support the development of social enterprises as an opportunity for creating employment prospect for particularly most vulnerable groups in labour market, since social enterprises serve the community’s interest (social, societal, environmental objectives) rather than profit maximization.
The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals are:
- support development of social enterprises in Kosovo;
- support enhancement of employment of disadvantaged groups, primarily women and youth.
What type of financial support does the grant scheme offer?
The Call for Proposals for this grant scheme is divided into the following 3 Lots:
Lot 1 Indicative amount per lot: EUR 1,000,000.00
- To support further development of enterprises in Kosovo in expanding their business practices to enhance employment opportunities for youth and women and disadvantaged groups.
Lot 2 Indicative amount per lot: EUR 500,000.00
- To support the establishment and development of new social enterprises in Kosovo
Lot 3 Indicative amount per lot: EUR 2,000,000.00
- To increase employability of youth and women and disadvantaged groups through development of skills and knowledge required in the local labour market; and
- To support sustainable job creation and self-employment opportunities for youth and women and disadvantaged groups.
How can interested applicants apply?
To apply for this call for proposals the lead applicants need to:
Provide information about the organisations involved in the action. Please note that the registration of this data in PADOR is obligatory for this call for proposals:
Concept note step: Registration is obligatory for lead applicants applying for EU contributions of more than EUR 60 000.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 11 Nov 2019 at 12:00hrs.
Turn your ideas into projects proposals:
In order to ensure good qualitative proposals in compliance with the Guidelines of Application, the European Union Office in Kosovo hosted a series of information sessions across Kosovo with civil society organisations (CSOs), businesses and representatives of local authorities to promote these grant opportunities. Around 250 representatives of CSOs, local and central authorities and businesses attended the information sessions facilitated by Project Cycle Management experts. Additional sessions (Project clinics) will be organized by project experts from 04th to 08th November 2019, with the aim of assisting applicants whose project proposals are at an advanced level of preparation and who need final assistance in designing of the action or description of the relevance in order to improve the quality of project.
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