1. ART: NFE, Volunteering and Youth Unemployment
Presents: Karine Kocharyan
NFE as a Lever for Youth Employment in Europe
October 19-20, 2017
Yerevan, Armenia

2. ART’s partners in work with youth
Dioceses and their youth unions
Social Educational centers in the marzes created by ART in collaboration of the local Diocese of AAC
Non-governmental organizations

3. Specific groups of young people ART works with
Socially vulnerable people (communities with highest poverty rates)
Syrian-Armenian refugees
Young people with disabilities
Girls and women
HIV-affected youth, people living with HIV

4. ART approach to combating unemployment
Vocational training to the most vulnerable layers of the society including young people of 18 to 30 years of age
Since 2014 to the present day, about 900 people, out of which about 70% women, have participated in various vocational training courses, the majority of which included craft professions, as well as some beginner courses on computer programming for Syrian refugees
About the half of these people report to earn income through self-employment
About 50 people were recruited by local businesses or public institutions based on the recommendations of the organizations

5. Main challenges for youth employment identified by local partners
Lack of jobs and small salaries in the communities
Absence of work experience
Gap between the formal education content and the current demands of the labor market
Professional orientation
Formal education provides mainly general theoretical knowledge
Quality and content

6. Main challenges for youth employment identified by local partners
Low motivation to work
A mindset that is more common among people living in extreme poverty
Choice is between low salaries and small social benefits
Are not used to working (mainly true about women)
Passive life-position (especially true to smaller communities)
No hope for improvement and no effort in that direction
Lack of youth leisure opportunities
Looking for ways to leave for bigger cities or for work or life abroad

7. Young people – Syrian refugees
Language barriers, cultural integration and adaptation to the new social and cultural realities
Vocational training courses that also serve for social integration
Development of dependence on social benefits

8. Volunteering: Goals of Volunteering in Armenia
Engage in community life: socializing, developing sense of belonging, regaining self-confidence
Build a network
Understand whether a certain type of profession is right for one’s interests, skills and personality
Build specific set of skills, that will be helpful later in professional life

9. Necessary steps to improve environment for volunteering
Need to be recognized as work experience
Be better organized: clear expectations on both sides, well set boundaries, sense of responsibility
Exploitation of volunteer work
Current situation:
Draft law developed by the civil society
Ways for recognition competencies acquired through volunteer work

10. Role of the civil society
Raising awareness
Encouraging participation and active citizenship and ownership over the life circumstances, strengthening values of democracy
Advocating for recognition of non-formal education programmes and volunteering experience
Highlighting the gaps between the existing policies aimed for socioeconomic wellbeing of young people and their implementation

11. Non-formal education niche for the present moment
Entrepreneurial attitude and skills, information about possible fin resources, social entrepreneurship
Continuous development of intellectual and interpersonal skills
Personal growth and youth empowerment
Soft skills: communication skills, negotiation skills, ethics and styles in customer service, etc.

12. Thank you!