Donors: Royal Netherlands Embassy in Belgrade, German Government through Stability Pact for SEE, cities of Nis and Vranje, and municipalities of Bujanovac, Gadzin Han, Pirot, Preševo

Budget: 1.401.175,00 EUR

Duration: October 2008 – March 2010

Region: South Serbia – Nis, Vranje, Bujanovac, Gadzin Han, Pirot, Presevo

Description: The programme focuses on the educational and economic support to local development in south Serbia with the main aim to increase the employability of youth.

The components of the programme, which will lead to the direct job creation of at least 400 registered employees and will improve the situation of the youth in the target municipalities in their future social, cultural and professional life are the following:

• Direct job creation and improving the employability of youth through:
• Provision of 320 grants average value of 2,000 EUR for start up businesses     ( 60% of supported businesses are run by young entrepreneurs)
• Business and vocational trainings (at least 320 business and 160 vocational trainings)
• Traineeships within private companies (at least 30 attending professional trainings in companies)
• 20 clients supported through a pilot grant credit scheme
• Development of cooperatives (special initiative based on findings within previous projects)
• Enhancing local capacities and advocate for youth employment policies at country and regional level (in cooperation with existing youth associations and other civil society organizations) through:
• youth job fairs and other networking activities
• small scale initiatives implemented by youth associations

As for the creation of the start-up businesses by young entrepreneurs and the job creation for youths through in-kind grants to small and medium businesses, HELP will apply its own procedures and methodology developed since 2002 in South Eastern Europe. The supported entrepreneurs will be trained, advised and monitored by HELP’s experienced Grant Officers.

Through its offices in Serbia, HELP will assure a continuous dialogue, exchange of lessons learned and synergies whenever possible.

Assistance to the private sector development will be exclusively provided within the frame of the existing local development strategies.

The beneficiaries of the programme will be the targeted municipalities and their local institutions dealing with economic development and particularly with business incubation (such as: Regional Agencies for Economic/SME Development, local offices of the National Employment Service). 

The overall objective of the programme is to contribute to the sustainable development in Serbia with the main focus on the empowerment of the local economic structures in the targeted municipalities.

The specific objective of the intervention – educational and economic support to local development in south Serbia with the main aim to increase the employability of youth:

• Direct job creation and improving the employability of youth through in kind grant support, training and vocational education to at least 320 small businesses, sponsored traineeships, grant credit scheme and development of cooperatives
• enhancing the local capacities and advocate for youth employment policies at country and regional level( in cooperation with existing youth associations and other civil society organizations) 

According to HELP’s previous experience and objectives of the programme the selection criteria were set to prioritise the following target groups:

• unemployed
• youth
• women

Main obligations of HELP client’s will include:

1. to repay 20% of the total value of the donated equipment and/or material 
2. to perform at least 15 hours of communal work within the local community
3. to register his/her business activity in accordance with the Serbian legislation before receiving donation 
4. to attend trainings specified by HELP.

Current activities:

After 18 months of implementation the project activities have been ended. All the activities envisaged by the project proposal have been more than just achieved. Due to the savings within procurement of equipment HELP has finally supported 343 clients in total, out of which 329 are start-up micro businesses. All supported business, of course assisted by HELP and its stakeholders, have managed to reach full capacity of started businesses and keep the path. The obvious achievement can be found at the income generated ranging from moderate to doubling it in the period of ten months of operation.

Approximately 57% of the finally selected micro enterprises are run by persons under 35 years of age.

Yet, far best results have been achieved in provision of business and vocational trainings. Even at first taken with precaution, various training modules were later highly appreciated by clients itself. Business training attended 377 participants, and vocational 288 participants reaching 180% of planned trainings attendance. In a number of cases more than one person from start-up businesses participated in training activities. Often family members took additional training, and in some cases employees of the new micro-enterprises participated in addition to the business owner. Through the survey conducted, all participants expressed satisfaction with the quality of the provided business training and found marketing and general business administration to be especially useful.

In addition to the individual in-kind grants, traineeship for youth, grant-credit scheme (combination of HELP grant and commercial bank loan) one of components was the establishment of cooperatives, i.e. associations gathered arround one unique goal – establishment and functioning of organization enabling new employment. With the partner organization Life Aid from Vranje, five associations were established: bakery  Tradition and Entrepreneurship,  incubator station Hibro Pullus, dairy Natural and Healthy,  and two associations Healthy vegetables and Vegetables of our region, having the primary goal the greenhouse production of vegetables. Within these associations employment was secured for more than twenty unemployed. For the sake of sustainability of associations, all of them have been linked to the external commercial experts with their own concrete interests in the success of cooperatives, closely and continuously guided by HELP local partner organization Life Aid.

May 2009, Bujanovac, Niš

Within the project activities Bujanovac and Nis offices have successfully ended both selection procedures of the registered candidates.

In the cooperation with the local stakeholders the final lists of clients have been finalized and HELP proceeded with the contracts signing.

In such a way the final list of 40 clients from Bujanovac Municipality has been made, as well as in the City of Vranje, a list of total of 80 clients, all selected according to the HELP’s standard procedures.

May 2009, Pirot

In the Municipality of Bujanovac, in the first phase of the project, 17 start-ups were supported while the remaining 23 clients have signed their contracts on May 11 in the presence of the President of the Municipality Mr. Shaip Kamberij and the local media. The contracts in Vranje were signed on May 12. On that occasion the Mayor Miroljub Stojcic emphasized the importance for the local economy which would be achieved by the supported clients through the sustainability of their small businesses initiated by the HELP’s assistance.

Grant contracts were also signed in the municipalities of Gadzin Han and Pirot. The total number of clients supported within the project in Gadzin Han, signed on two occasions is 46 as well as in Pirot (46). The first contracts were signed in November 2008, while the remaining 22 in Pirot have put their signatures on May 8 and May 15.

May 2009, Vranje

It is expected that the clients in Nis will be informed on the status of their applications and sign their grant contracts till the end of May.

Beside the in-kind grant (equipment / material) average value of 2.000,00 EUR, both offices have already started the procedure of acquisition; the supported clients will receive the business and vocational trainings, based on their individual needs and interests. The organization of the trainings has already been initiated.