Agency for Local Development Initiatives („ALDI“) and the Center for Civil Initiatives („CCI“) are pleased to emphasize that the Government of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton (BPK) Gorazde unanimously adopted the Draft on Law on Adult Education. 

The Draft on Law was on the agenda of the Assembly BPK Gorazde`s session on 11 September 2014. 

In order to advocate the adoption of quality Law on Adult Education, „ALDI“ and „CCI“ had organized a street stand on 10 september 2014. in Gorazde with aim to promote the adoption of the Law on Adult Education. During the 2014., with support of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, the campaign „Learn and Work“ (Uči i radi) has been launched, with aim to decrease unemployment and strengthen the labor market through adoption of adequate legislation on adult education, training and retraining. For this purpose, a special website www.uciradi.ba is activated, which will help the unemployed persons, journalists, students, analysts and others to understand better the importance of lifelong learning and its opportunities.

CCI and ALDI have organized the press conference in Sarajevo (Hotel Bosnia) on 11. September 2014., where they presented the situation on labor market and Report on the monitoring of legislation in the field of adult education, Law on Adult Education enforcement in the Republic of Srpska and Una-Sana Canton as well as blockages, barriers and processes of adoption of mentioned laws in the rest of the country. 

BiH is a country where over a billion KM per year is spent in the educational sector, while according to the research of UNESCO, nearly 200.000 BiH citizens are illiterate. At the same time, employment services have expenditures of around 200 million KM per year, while BiH has almost 550.000 unemployed persons in Employment Services records and 40.000 more than in 2010.

 Since October 2014, Agency for Local Development Initiatives ALDI, as one of the ACCOUNT network members, is working on the project "Capacity building of NGOs and selected municipalities on the development of strategies to fight corruption at the local level".

Gorazde Municipality is one of the six municipalities that were selected and where the Strategy to fight corruption will be developed. ALDI is local partner who will be available to the Municipality of Gorazde during the development of the Strategy. 
The main goal of this project is to provide any kind of assistance to municipalities in the development of local anti-corruption strategies at the local level. 

ALDI will participate in development of strategy as a partner organization and will give necessary directions and recommendations.

In March 2015, ALDI has agreed the cooperation with Foundation Dokukino, regarding the provision of consulting and expert services in the program "Otkucaji".

The goal of the program "Otkucaji" is to strengthen capacities of civil society organizations and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a variety of activities and initiatives on establishment of more transparent, more responsible and equitable health care system in the country. The vision of the program is motivation of BiH citizens to express their views on the health care system in BiH, in order to jointly work on finding concrete solutions for its improvement.  

We will jointly aim at strengthening and encouragement of citizens to report corruption and injustice in the field of health care, while, through our work, health care system will serve as a litmus test for the respect of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the broadest sense as well as a indicative example of how the principles of transparency and accountability in the work are functioning on a daily basis. You can find more about the program "Otkucaji" on www.otkucaji.net

Taking into account the importance of adult education and non-formal education as an instrument in increasing the participation of the population in cultural, social, economic and sustainable development and poverty reduction, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association - DVV International and ALDI have  formalized cooperation in the field of adult education and non-formal education on 1st of April 2015.  

DVV International has recognized the important role of the organization ALDI in promotion of adult education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has decided to provide professional and financial support to the implementation of the project "Advocacy on harmonized legal framework in BiH treating education, vocational training and retraining of adults in order to improve the quality of the labor market". This project is a part of DVV International’s strategy and it is consistent with the aim of "Support to Adult Education in transition countries and Stability Pact region", Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The project "EDU & JOB: strengthening the worker`s rights and labour market by advocating the adult education legislation" was launched in January 2014 in partnership with the Centre for Civic Initiatives (CCI), and funded by the Delegation of the EU to BiH.  

The overall goal of the project is  improvement of worker`s rights and labour mobility through innovation of legal framework that treats adult education, advocating the adoption and monitoring the implementation of laws on adult education at the entity, cantonal and Brcko District levels. In a scope of the Project, analysis of found situation in the field of vocational education and training of adults in BiH is created, as well as the policy proposal "Adult education as an opportunity to accelerate economic and social development in BiH", and a Web site www.uciradi.ba is created where the most actual news in the field of adult education in BiH and the region are presented. One of the most important results of this project is the unanimous adoption of the Draft of Law on Adult Education at the BPC Gorazde Assembly, and in whose creation ALDI worked together with CCI and representatives of the Government of the BPC Gorazde. ALDI plans to continue its activities in the field of adult education in the future.

In order to address the imbalance between supply and demand for labour force in the BPC Gorazde and their competencies with a view to enhance the competitiveness of local companies and employment opportunities for local labour force, in late 2009, ALDI signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" between the stakeholders from vocational and technical education and training in Bosnian - Podrinje Canton Gorazde. Within this cooperation, ALDI created a report "Qualified more than you think" for EU VET 3 Project.     

All previous activities have resulted in a reference to the signing of the Cooperation Agreement signed with the Federal Employment Institute and USAID-Sida FIRMA Project within the framework of the project "Vocational training and employment of sewers of vehicle upholstery for needs of the company Prevent Gorazde". The project is aimed at decrease the imbalances in the labour market in the Bosnia-Podrinje Canton area in relation to supply and demand, through vocational training of unemployed persons registered at the Employment Service BPC Register. One of the key results of the project is that 700 participants are successfully trained and certified to work as sewers of vehicle upholstery, through the process of professional and theoretical training, and afterwards they are employed in the company Prevent Gorazde, which ultimately affected the decrease in the number of unemployed in Bosnian-Podrinje Canton by 10 %. In addition to the aforementioned project results, project has a broader significance, because of the established partnership and communication between the world of work field and the world of education.  

Since mentioned project made a turn into active employment policies in the whole BiH, ALDI has prepared a similar project that was approved by the Delegation of the EU to BiH and within this project an agreement is signed again between: Government of the BPC Gorazde, Secondary Vocational School "Dzemal Bijedic" Gorazde, Employment Service BPC Gorazde and the Association of Employers BPC Gorazde, relevant to the strengthening of institutional and legislative framework in the field of employment and adult education.  

Through implementation of this project, the system of education and training of adults is improved, and it further influenced the reduction of imbalances in the labour market, which led to a reduction in number of unemployed persons and in employment of socially vulnerable people. The positive effect is reflected in economy development and creation of favourable environment through education of new worker`s skills that will be essential to the local economy in the coming period. As a part of this project, analysis of the situation and needs in the labour market in BPC Gorazde is created, which identified five professions that are the most demanded by manufacturing companies covered by analysis. After that, five new training programs and modules for adult education are created in accordance with economy needs where (VET) model of vocational training is applied for 200 unemployed persons registered in the Employment Service BPC Gorazde Register with a view to reduce unemployment of vulnerable categories of the population through acquisition of knowledge and skills for those there is a demand in labour market and certification of 100 employees who work in places in respect of which they do not possess adequate qualification. The training process includes nearly 400 people.

During 2010 and 2011, ALDI, in cooperation with associations "Regional Board for the return to South-eastern Bosnia" and "Association of demobilized soldiers", implemented two projects for the BPC Government’s needs. 

In a scope of those projects, ALDI prepared a detailed analysis of the socio-economic situation of returnees and demobilized soldiers in municipalities of South-eastern Bosnia, and, based on this analysis, prepared a series of recommendations to the executive and legislative authorities of the Canton in order to improve socio-economic conditions of these groups of population. 

Within the framework of socio-economic analysis, data are used from 1,400 returnee families mostly living in rural areas. The main objective of this research was contribution to the strengthening of the systematic support to sustainable return through determination of actual situation in the field of return and through identification of priority measures to support sustainable return in municipalities of the Upper Drina region area. 

Within creation of the analysis of the situation activities, employment opportunities and integration of demobilized soldiers into the economic life of the BPC Gorazde, launched with main objective - to create preconditions for improvement of the situation of unemployed demobilized members of the Army RBiH from the BPC Gorazde area, 637 unemployed demobilized soldiers was covered, which represents 80 percent of the total number of registered unemployed demobilized soldiers according to data from the Employment Service BPC Gorazde. The above mentioned analysis of the situation, in addition to unemployed people who have the status of demobilized soldiers, also includes an overview of identified priority needs of unemployed family members of veteran population. 

Both projects have resulted by creation of Database containing all data collected through research during project implementation, which are provided to the respective Ministries for permanent use.

Since October 2014, Agency for Local Development Initiatives ALDI, as one of the ACCOUNT network members, is working on the project "Capacity building of NGOs and selected municipalities on the development of strategies to fight corruption at the local level".

Gorazde Municipality is one of the six municipalities that were selected and where the Strategy to fight corruption will be developed. ALDI is local partner who will be available to the Municipality of Gorazde during the development of the Strategy. 

The main goal of this project is to provide any kind of assistance to municipalities in the development of local anti-corruption strategies at the local level.  ALDI will participate in development of strategy as a partner organization and will give necessary directions and recommendations.

In March 2015, ALDI has agreed the cooperation with Foundation Dokukino, regarding the provision of consulting and expert services in the program "Otkucaji".

The goal of the program "Otkucaji" is to strengthen capacities of civil society organizations and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a variety of activities and initiatives on establishment of more transparent, more responsible and equitable health care system in the country. The vision of the program is motivation of BiH citizens to express their views on the health care system in BiH, in order to jointly work on finding concrete solutions for its improvement. 

We will jointly aim at strengthening and encouragement of citizens to report corruption and injustice in the field of health care, while, through our work, health care system will serve as a litmus test for the respect of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the broadest sense as well as a indicative example of how the principles of transparency and accountability in the work are functioning on a daily basis. You can find more about the program "Otkucaji" on www.otkucaji.net

Taking into account the importance of adult education and non-formal education as an instrument in increasing the participation of the population in cultural, social, economic and sustainable development and poverty reduction, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association - DVV International and ALDI have  formalized cooperation in the field of adult education and non-formal education on 1st of April 2015. 

DVV International has recognized the important role of the organization ALDI in promotion of adult education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has decided to provide professional and financial support to the implementation of the project "Advocacy on harmonized legal framework in BiH treating education, vocational training and retraining of adults in order to improve the quality of the labor market". This project is a part of DVV International’s strategy and it is consistent with the aim of "Support to Adult Education in transition countries and Stability Pact region", Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The project "EDU & JOB: strengthening the worker`s rights and labour market by advocating the adult education legislation" was launched in January 2014 in partnership with the Centre for Civic Initiatives (CCI), and funded by the Delegation of the EU to BiH. 

The overall goal of the project is  improvement of worker`s rights and labour mobility through innovation of legal framework that treats adult education, advocating the adoption and monitoring the implementation of laws on adult education at the entity, cantonal and Brcko District levels. In a scope of the Project, analysis of found situation in the field of vocational education and training of adults in BiH is created, as well as the policy proposal "Adult education as an opportunity to accelerate economic and social development in BiH", and a Web site www.uciradi.ba is created where the most actual news in the field of adult education in BiH and the region are presented. One of the most important results of this project is the unanimous adoption of the Draft of Law on Adult Education at the BPC Gorazde Assembly, and in whose creation ALDI worked together with CCI and representatives of the Government of the BPC Gorazde. ALDI plans to continue its activities in the field of adult education in the future.

In order to address the imbalance between supply and demand for labour force in the BPC Gorazde and their competencies with a view to enhance the competitiveness of local companies and employment opportunities for local labour force, in late 2009, ALDI signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" between the stakeholders from vocational and technical education and training in Bosnian - Podrinje Canton Gorazde. Within this cooperation, ALDI created a report 'Qualified more than you think" for EU VET 3 Project.     

All previous activities have resulted in a reference to the signing of the Cooperation Agreement signed with the Federal Employment Institute and USAID-Sida FIRMA Project within the framework of the project "Vocational training and employment of sewers of vehicle upholstery for needs of the company Prevent Gorazde". The project is aimed at decrease the imbalances in the labour market in the Bosnia-Podrinje Canton area in relation to supply and demand, through vocational training of unemployed persons registered at the Employment Service BPC Register. One of the key results of the project is that 700 participants are successfully trained and certified to work as sewers of vehicle upholstery, through the process of professional and theoretical training, and afterwards they are employed in the company Prevent Gorazde, which ultimately affected the decrease in the number of unemployed in Bosnian-Podrinje Canton by 10 %. In addition to the aforementioned project results, project has a broader significance, because of the established partnership and communication between the world of work field and the world of education. 

Since mentioned project made a turn into active employment policies in the whole BiH, ALDI has prepared a similar project that was approved by the Delegation of the EU to BiH and within this project an agreement is signed again between: Government of the BPC Gorazde, Secondary Vocational School "Dzemal Bijedic" Gorazde, Employment Service BPC Gorazde and the Association of Employers BPC Gorazde, relevant to the strengthening of institutional and legislative framework in the field of employment and adult education. 

Through implementation of this project, the system of education and training of adults is improved, and it further influenced the reduction of imbalances in the labour market, which led to a reduction in number of unemployed persons and in employment of socially vulnerable people. The positive effect is reflected in economy development and creation of favourable environment through education of new worker`s skills that will be essential to the local economy in the coming period. As a part of this project, analysis of the situation and needs in the labour market in BPC Gorazde is created, which identified five professions that are the most demanded by manufacturing companies covered by analysis. After that, five new training programs and modules for adult education are created in accordance with economy needs where (VET) model of vocational training is applied for 200 unemployed persons registered in the Employment Service BPC Gorazde Register with a view to reduce unemployment of vulnerable categories of the population through acquisition of knowledge and skills for those there is a demand in labour market and certification of 100 employees who work in places in respect of which they do not possess adequate qualification. The training process includes nearly 400 people.

"ALDI" and "CCI" attended the third fair of job and education fair in Mostar on 27 November 2015, hosted by the Office of the EU Special Representative in BiH and the Embassy of Norway. 
"ALDI" and "CCI" presented the project „EDU&JOB“ (www.uciradi.ba) funded by Delegation of the European Union to BiH, which aims to strengthen workers’ rights and labour market by advocating the adult education legislation at entities, cantons and Brcko District.     

The Fair gathered around 160 employers, local and international educational and employment projects, non-governmental sector and employment brokers, and offered up to 1.500 jobs.

The fair provided opportunities to unemployed young people form BiH to be engaged in direct talks with companies and potential employers, as well as to get acquainted with the possibilities of employment and education in BiH as well as to to learn more about the EU and its engagement in BiH. The fair also provided opportunity for companies and institutions to present their work, exchange information, develop networks and attract the attention of job seekers and business partners.

The Agency for Local Development Initiatives (ALDI) and the Center for Civil Initiatives (CCI), with the support of the European Union, in 2014 started the implementation of the two-year project "Education and Work", aimed at improving the rights of workers and labor mobility by establishing a legal framework for adult education by creating, advocating and monitoring adult education legislation at the level of cantons, entities and Brcko District.

The project focused on the adoption of a coherent and harmonized legal framework throughout the country regarding education, retraining and additional qualification of adults in order to improve the labor market situation, in order to reduce unemployment and to improve the position of socially marginalized groups ( older and low skilled labor, disabled people, etc.). As a result of the successful implementation of the project, the laws on adult education in Zenica-Doboj, Bosnia-Podrinje, Tuzla, West Herzegovina and Canton Sarajevo were adopted.

The final activity on the project was the holding of the Conference, on April 27, 2016, in Sarajevo, entitled "Adult Education: Generational Reform", attended by representatives of line ministries, ministries of education, pedagogical institutes, non-governmental organizations. All participants at the conference had the opportunity to exchange experiences related to education, linking education with the labor market, adult education as a chance for mass employment, vocational training, retraining, etc. This conference successfully completed a project that contributed to raising awareness about the importance of adult education.

In March 2016, ALDI signed a contract to continue the successful cooperation with the Dokukino Foundation, which deals with the provision of consulting and expert services in the program "OTKUCAJI".

The aim of the program is to strengthen the capacities of civil society organizations and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina for various activities and initiatives to establish a more transparent, responsible and equitable healthcare system in the country. The program vision is to motivate BiH citizens to express their views on the health care system in BiH in order to work together to find concrete solutions for progress.

Together we will strive to strengthen and encourage citizens to report corruption and injustice in the field of health care, while through our work, the health care system will serve as litmus paper for respecting human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the widest sense and as a demonstration example of the principles of transparency and accountability work on a daily basis.

More about the "OTKUCAJI" program at www.otkucaji.net

Since April 2016, the Agency for Local Development Initiatives (ALDI), as one of the members of the ACCOUNT network, is working on the project "Development of strategic documents for the fight against corruption at the level of Foca Municipality in FBiH and Pale in FBiH".
The main goal of the project is to establish and strengthen the institutional capacities of the Foca Municipality in the Federation of BiH and Pale in the Federation of BiH for the fight against corruption.

In addition, this project aims to improve the cooperation of municipal authorities with citizens, NGOs and the private sector in the fight against corruption, and to influence the raising of public awareness and promoting the need for participation of the entire society in the fight against corruption.

ALDI will provide every type of assistance to municipalities in developing local anti-corruption strategies at the local level, and will, as a partner organization, take part in the development of the strategy and provide necessary guidance and recommendations.

Today, in Gorazde, was organized  signing of the "Cooperation Agreement" , by ALDI,  within the project  "Provision and improvement of the quality of adult education in the context of lifelong learning", which was supported by the Delegation of the European Union to BiH. Today`s signing of the "Cooperation Agreement" was organized to confirm the cooperation of partners and associates on the project, and in this way started the implementation of this project.

The signatories of the agreement are: Ministry of Education, Youth, Science, Culture and Sports BPK Gorazde, Association ALDI Gorazde, VET School "Dzemal Bijedic" Gorazde, Employment Service BPK Gorazde, Employers  Association BPK Gorazde, BPK Gorazde Chamber of Commerce and Chamber of Crafts BPK Gorazde.

At today`s press conference organized on the occasion of the signing of the "Cooperation Agreement", all signatories are addressed reporters and expressed satisfaction with the participation in this important project, and emphasized the support in the implementation of the same.

ALDI Executive Director, Meliha Gacanin emphasized that the basic obligation of all signatories of the agreement is to give maximum contribution to the improvement of the system of cooperation between employers, institutions and partners in the field of education and employment in order to reduce unemployment and increase labor mobility. 

Minister of Education, Youth, Science, Culture and Sports BPK GoraZde Damir Zuga emphasized the importance of this project, as well as the significance of the synergistic action of all stakeholders in this process, which the final goal is the promotion of lifelong learning and new employment.

This project, whose total value is 180,000 euros, will last 36 months and will be implemented in partnership with Dzemal Bijedic secondary school Gorazde.
Also, the Ministry of Education, Youth, Science, Culture and Sports BPK Gorazde, Employment Service BPK Gorazde, Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Crafts, Industry and the representatives of businessmen who support the idea of the project will have significant role in achieving the goals of the project as significant and useful for economic progress of the cantons.

The main goal of the project is to develop program and institutional capabilities, and to improve the accessibility of adult education in the context of lifelong learning. This goal will be achieved through education and training that is in line with labor market requirements and through improvement of the system of cooperation between employers, institutions and partners in the field of education and employment in order to reduce unemployment and increase labor mobility.

The Association for Local Development Initiatives ALDI Gorazde started with the implementation of a new project „Support For Smes Engaging In Apprenticeships - Getting Smes On Board“. The project will be funded by the EU within the Erasmus Plus programme. It will be implemented in Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany and will last for two years. 
CEDIT is the Project leader and project partners are: Association for local development initiatives – ALDI and Agency for economic development of municipality Prijedor (PREDA) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, OXFAM from Italy and Innovation in Learning Institute „Friedrich-Alexander-University“, Erlangen, from Nürnberg, Germany.

The Project aims is to contribute to reducing youth unemployment by increasing the supply and quality of apprenticeships. Also, the intention is to support small and medium enterprises that struggle to find suitable candidates with the required competencies.
The Project fosters the exchanges of experiences among 3 countries where there is a high potential for mutual learning: Italy, where a recent reform introduced a compulsory apprenticeship period at the secondary school level (law 107/2015), BiH, where a discussion is ongoing on how to foster SMEs and VET providers, Germany that is the leading country in this field in Europe.

The project comprehends 2.350 small and medium enterprises which will be informed about the apprenticeship opportunities, the development of a database for facilitating the exchanges between youth and SMEs (which will include 1.500 small and medium enterprises and 300 secondary vocational schools), the training to 150 entrepreneurial tutors, 90 educational tutors and 30 intermediary tutors, with aim to allow sustainability after the project completion.

Project meetings of partner organizations were held in Florence, on the 13th and 14th October 2016 where they agreed on next steps in the Project implementation.

Today in Gorazde, in the Business Center, was signed a "Memorandum of Cooperation" on the implementation of the Pilot Start-up program among stakeholders, which is the official start of implementation of the mentioned program.

The signatories of the Memorandum of Cooperation and the participants in the implementation of the Start-up Program are: Ministry of Economy BPK Gorazde, Gorazde Municipality, JU Employment Service BPK Gorazde, BPK Gorazde Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Crafts BPK, Association of Employers BPK Gorazde, ALDI Association and OXFAM Office in BiH.

The program is implemented within the project "Gorazde Business Improvement Zone" financed by the EU and with the technical and financial support of the project "Inclusive value chains for the sustainable development of rural areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania", financed by Intesa SanPoalo Bank from Italy.

The start-up program is intended to support the development of business ideas (focus on observed opportunities), business registration, work in the first months of work, training and mentoring support up to the moment of maturation. The target group of the Start-up program are potential entrepreneurs (18-35 years of age), that is, persons already intending to engage in entrepreneurship from the wider Gorazde area (BPK). The program does not target exclusively unemployed people, but young people from the Gorazde (BPK) area who are interested in starting a business.

Some of the potential sectors for starting a business are: the IT sector as a fast growing sector in BiH and the region, a small business sector that would meet the needs of existing major companies, the business sector related to tourism needs, agribusiness, and other recognized opportunities in other sectors.

Informative seminar for all stakeholders in the Project „Support for SMEs engaging and apprenticeships - Getting SMEs on board“ was held on 23 December 2016 in Gorazde at Hotel „Behar“. The seminar was attended by representatives from companies from the BPK Gorazde area, Government sector (Ministry of the Economy), the Chamber of Crafts BPK Gorazde, Association of employers BPK Gorazde and Employment service BPK Gorazde.

Besides representatives of the Association for local development initiatives – ALDI, who presented the Project, the seminar speakers were: Meho Masala - Minister of Economy BPK Gorazde, Admir Kurtovic - Director of Secondary Vocational School "Dzemal Bijedic" Gorazde, Nafija Hodo - Director of the Employment service BPK Gorazde and Rifet Becic - Director of the Secondary Technical School "Hasib Hadzović" Gorazde. They emphasized the importance of apprenticeship in educational and economic systems.

The project "Support for SMEs engaging in apprenticeships - Getting SMEs on board“ is being implemented under the Erasmus Plus program, funded by the EU. Project will be implemented in three countries: Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany, and will last two years. The project leader is Italian CEDIT, while partners are ALDI Gorazde, OXFAM from Italy, Institute for Innovation in Learning Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen, Nürnberg Germany, and Agency for Economic Development of the City Prijedor (PREDA) from BiH.

In Gorazde, in the Hotel "Behar" from January 18. to 20. January 2017. was held andragogical training for teachers and engineers from BPK Gorazde, as part of the project "Provision and improvement of the quality of adult education in the context of lifelong learning".

Lecturers at this training were Prof. Mirjana Mavrak and Emir Avdagic, director of DVV International - Office for BiH, and some of the topics that have been processed are:
- The importance, needs and functions of adult education - individual and social;
- Motivation, readiness and barriers in the process of adult education;
- The principles of educational work with adults with a special emphasis on individualization;
- Managing the dynamics of the education group - methods and tools;
- Nonverbal communication;
- Visualization in educational work with adults;
- Starting points and components of interactive training and others.

At today`s lecture, besides lecturers Emir Avdagic, Director of DVV International - Office for BiH, attendees were addressed by the director of the Association ALDI Meliha Gacanin and director of secondary technical schools "Hasib Hadzovic" Rifat Becic.
He pointed out that andragogical education aims to contribute to the economic development of modern society, as well as creating more space for effective citizen participation in solving various community issues. The conclusion from today`s lecture is: if the economic power of an individual is greater and if society is developed, then there is a greater awareness of the need for adult education in the context of lifelong learning.

The project "Provision and improvement of the quality of adult education in the context of lifelong learning" is funded by the EU. Project leaders are Association ALDI and VET school "Dzemal Bijedic" Gorazde.
The project goal is to develop program and institutional capabilities, and improving the accessibility of adult education in the context of lifelong learning.

The main results that will be achieved by this project are: 
- Developed Adult Education Strategy of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton of Gorazde
- Provided andragogical seminars for 20 educational workers and engineers;
- Certified 250 persons trained for work;
- Creating the possibility of taking a master`s exam for 30 persons employed in companies in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton of Gorazde

Representatives of the Association ALDI Gorazde and the Municipality of Gorazde on Monday, March 27, 2017. in the premises of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina attended the ceremony of awarding certificates of Grant within the Project: "Support to Local Employment Partnerships in Bosnia and Herzegovina" funded by the EU and implemented by International Labor Organization (ILO). 

The aim of the project is to increase employment through the institutionalization of partnerships and create new jobs primarily for socially vulnerable categories of population including women, youth, minority communities, returnees, internally displaced persons and hard-to-employ people. The partnerships will be provided with financial support in the form of grants in the amount of 150,000 to 200,000 euros, as well as technical and advisory support provided to them by the ILO during the entire implementation of the project, including eight cycles of training.

The attendees were addressed by Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH Mirko Šarović, Director of ILO Budapest Office Antonia Graziosia and representatives of local partnership.

Within the public call of the International Labor Organization (ILO) "Local Partnerships for Employment", which will be funded by the European Union, the Municipality of Gorazde is with partners ALDI Association, BPK Gorazde Employment Service, BPK Gorazde Chamber of Commerce, Employers Association BPK Gorazde, VET school "Dzemal Bijedic", Companies Bekto Precisa and EMKA Bosnia applied to the project "Establishing effective participation of relevant stakeholders in the process of adult education in the context of lifelong learning"

The work of the partner group resulted in the creation of a project that was rated successful and selected among the 15 best projects by the ILO (157 project ideas, 47 conceptual proposals).  Partner cooperation will continue throughout the implementation of the project, which will last for 20 months.
Key activities to be carried out during the project are the analysis of needs for professional and qualified labor in the BPK Gorazde area, Creation of a promotional film about potentials and opportunities for growth and employment in Gorazde, preparation of new curricula for the needs of production companies, organization andragogical training for professors and engineers from the BPK Gorazde area,
equipping the adult education cabinet within VET school "Dzemal Bijedic".

In order to encourage the development of skills, within the project will be organized  training, identification and selection of 100 training candidates, activities in the field of career counseling and preparation for professional training to be organized into the companies.

In order to promote lifelong learning, within the project, at eight locations, for 300 unemployed persons will be promoted opportunities to upgrade skills in accordance with labor market needs, and will be organize a job fair.

Participants who have successfully completed the training will receive valid certificates, and the most important result is that a minimum of 52 participants will get a job, and the remaining participants in this way would strengthen their competencies, in order to increase employability.

The total project value is EUR 192,765.00 where the participation of the partners is 10%. In the premises of the EU Delegation BiH March 27, 2017. was organized the ceremony of awarding certificates about grant to all holders of the application which was approved project under this public call.

At the premises of the ALDI Association, on April 12, 2017, was held a consultative meeting of the working group on the EU IPA project: "Provision and improvement of adult education in the context of lifelong learning". The project is financed by the European Union, and the total project duration is 36 months. 

The meeting was attended by representatives of ALDI, Director of Pedagogical Institute BPK Gorazde- Dika Makota , Senior Associate for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Education, Youth, Science, Culture and Sports BPK Gorazde- Amir Duhović, Director of the Employment Service of BPK Gorazde-Nafija Hodo, Director of VET School Dzemal Bijedic Gorazde- Admir Kurtović, President of Chamber of Crafts BPK Gorazde- Saudin Hadzic.   
 
On the meeting was discussed about current activities realized on the mentioned project, as well as the plan of the next activities on the project. Some of the activities that will be carried out in the following period are: development of curricula, preparation of comparative analysis of adult education strategies for the countries of the region, creation of conditions for laying V degree.

On Monday, April 24, 2017 and Wednesday, April 26, 2017. in Foca Municipality in FBiH and Pale in FBiH, Action Plan for Fighting Corruption was presented.Since April 2016, the Association for Local Development Initiatives (ALDI), as a member of the ACCOUNT network, is working on the project "Creating of strategic documents for the fight against corruption at the municipalities of  Foca  FBiH and Pale  FBiH". One of the main objectives of the project is the establishment and strengthening of the institutional capacities of the Foca Municipality in F BiH and Pale in F BiH for the fight against corruption.

The municipalities of Foča in FBiH and Pale in the FBiH are one of 11 local communities in BiH that, in the period 2016 - 2017, created and adopted Action plans for the prevention of corruption at the local level. Development of local action plans is one of the activities of anti-corruption network ACCOUNT, whose purpose is to support local communities in the development of effective measures for the prevention of corruption.

The realization of the planned activities is financially supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The adoption of this Action Plan for the fight against corruption has multiple significance for the Municipality of Foca in FBiH and Pale in FBiH. Improved the cooperation of the municipality with the citizens, NGOs and the private sector in the fight against corruption. In addition, public awareness has been raised and the need for participation of the entire society in the fight against corruption has been promoted. During this event, the citizens, as well as other employees in Municipality Foca FBiH and Pale FBiH, could learn more about the work of the Anti-Corruption Network in BiH - ACCOUNT, on the significance of the public discussion on prevention and prevention issues, on how much important participation of numerous state and local authorities in this fight.

Ceremony of award Grants from Start UP program was held today, in the premises of the Business Center.
The ceremony was attended by representative of Memorandum of Cooperation signatories and candidates who went through the process of training the Start Up program.

The Start Up program is being implemented from December 2016.
The participants in the implementation of the Start-up program are also the signatories of the "Memorandum of Cooperation": Ministry of Economy BPK Gorazde, Gorazde Municipality,  Employment Service BPK Gorazde, BPK Gorazde Chamber of Commerce, Craft Chamber BPK, Association of Employers BPK Gorazde, ALDI Association and OXFAM office in BiH.

The program is implemented within the project "Gorazde zone of improved business" financed by the EU, and with the technical and financial support of the project "Inclusive value chains for the sustainable development of rural areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania", financed by Intesa San Poalo Bank from Italy.

Activities during the implementation of the Start Up Program are:
1. Signing the Memorandum of Cooperation
2. Public announcement
3. Selection of candidates for the Start Up Program
4. Training process
5. Presentation of  candidates Business plans  and selection of candidates II
6. The Mentoring Process, by the Decision of the selection committee, made by representatives of the signatories of the Memorandum

Candidates who received grants are:
1. Faris Sivšić: "Software, Web & Hardware Services";
2. Haris Kamenica: "Framing of pictures, photographs, diplomas, certificates";

The representatives of the Association ALDI, Minister of Economy BPK Gorazde Anes Salman, Gorazde Mayor Muhamed Ramovic, Oxfam Italia Program Coordinator Rasim Tulumovic and the President of the Chamber of Commerce BPK Gorazde Dzevad Terovic addressed the participants.
Expressed a common interest in the continuation of these and similar projects, aimed at creating new jobs. Also, grant recipients expressed great gratitude on the start-up program starters and implementers on the opportunity to start their own business.
The total grant fund amounts to 15,000.00 KM. By signing the Memorandum of Cooperation, the Ministry of Economy BPK Goražde, the Municipality of Goražde and Oxfam of Italy have undertaken to participate in the  Start Up program with  5.000,00.KM.

An important precondition for planning educational programs aimed at improving the skills of the workforce is a good identification of the knowledge and skills that are needed by local companies at the present time and in the future. Within the framework of the ILO project, in the area of the Bosnian-Podrinje canton Gorazde, ALDI conducts a survey of labor demand in 185 companies, whose results will be used to develop a knowledge and skills development program for the cantonal workforce.

In the framework of the ALDI project, it is conducting research in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton of Gorazde to determine the needs of the private sector for the labor force in the period until 2020.

For this research we apply our own developed model IPRS 2017 Skill survey which provides insight into the key parameters that will determine the needs for labor force and will give answers on general labor issues, the current structure of workforce in the field of research and employers plans regarding the engagement of human resources until 2020.

The research will also identify the challenges employers face in securing the necessary human resources and the staffing policy of the companies it applies to ensure that they fill jobs with workers with the necessary expertise, skills and competencies.

After completing the research ALDI will publish research results with an overview of key findings and recommendations to help you reduce the imbalance between supply and demand for labor in the territory of Bosnia-Podrinje Canton.

The development of a vocational education and training system is a key factor in increasing the competitiveness of local industry due to its ability to provide local companies with the skilled and trained workforce needed to maximize the performance of local industry.

In order to develop the quality of vocational education, it is crucial that representatives of the private sector and social partners actively engage in these processes, not only in the process of implementation of educational programs, but also in their design. Mutual co-operation will enable the transfer of knowledge and experience in order to provide students with the opportunity to gain a stronger dimension of learning in the workplace, and wherever possible with international experience in the process of education. 

In order to contribute to ensuring quality education and the labor market of relevant professional skills and qualifications, all actors in the education process should be able to carry out activities that contribute to improving the acquisition of student experience in the workplace as part of their learning process.

Also, it is essential that the education system increases the opportunities for combining student learning experience in different learning environments, not just through school-based learning, in particular through the upgrading of existing learning tools. In order to achieve this, it is necessary for the educational authorities to support the development of higher vocational education and training through partnership with other training providers and in cooperation with the private sector in order to respond to the needs for a higher level of skills at the sectoral level.

Based on the ALDI Policy proposal "Development of new skills in the digital age", activities on the development of the Strategy for Adult Education of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton of Gorazde for the period 2018-2020, which will include goals and policies to increase the volume and quality of adult education as well as increase the supply of educational programs in order to increase the competitiveness of the workforce and to increase the involvement of the population in social life.

The process of strategy development is managed by a working group formed within the EU IPA project aimed at increasing the quality of adult education in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton of Gorazde.

The process of drafting the strategy is defined as an inclusive process and all stakeholders can join in its development. The basics used to develop the strategy can be found in our library.

After successfully completed vocational training programs for the needs of the Gorazde industry, ALDI, in cooperation with the Secondary Vocational School in Goražde, organizes a training program for companies in the Upper Drina region in the wood industry sector.

Companies from the wood industry from Gorazde, Foca, Visegrad, Rogatica, Cajnice and Rudo have the opportunity to get involved in the project in order to enable their workers to gain vocational training in the field of wood processing. This opportunity can be used by workers employed in wood processing companies who do not have formal formal education in woodworking but have a working experience in these jobs. Also, the project can include unemployed people interested in acquiring knowledge and skills in wood processing in order to increase their employment opportunities in this sector. 
The first training cycle begins ??.

One of the great challenges facing Bosnia and Herzegovina is to reduce unemployment in a situation where the skills of the workforce do not match the needs of the modern labor market. Unlike other environments, Canton Gorazde has made significant progress in reducing unemployment through broad adult education programs that have contributed to reducing the number of unemployed by 35% and increasing the number of employees by as much as 67%. Adult education programs have enabled unemployed people to acquire the skills needed by the growing export industry.

However, labor market demand is primarily focused on workers with low skills and qualifications (semi-skilled and qualified production workers), while demand for workers with four-year secondary education (SSS) and university education is far weaker. This has been particularly pronounced in the past three years (2013-2016), where despite the increase in the number of employees in the canton of 10.3%, the number of unemployed persons with secondary education increased by 15%, while the number of unemployed persons with university education increased by as much as 50%.

The lack of employment opportunities after completing general secondary and university education leads young people into danger of entering a group of long-term unemployed persons, leaving their formal education significantly more important, and thus their chances of finding a job in the profession drop significantly. Their employment opportunities through inclusion in existing training programs are also very weak because there are currently no vocational training programs in Gorazde, through which university-educated unemployed persons can improve their skills and thereby increase their competitiveness in the labor market.  

This gap between supply and demand for workers with four-year secondary education and university education can be reduced if their formal acquired skills and knowledge are upgraded with computer skills that would enable them to work more significantly more productively in the workplace using digital skills and knowledge. However, there is no institution in the wider South-East Bosnia and Herzegovina region that would allow interested people to personally develop in digital skills.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of training and training opportunities in the digital skills of the workforce, the private sector makes it difficult for the business development process to expand the application of digital technologies beyond their application in production processes. Only a few companies in BPK Goražde have implemented an informatized resource planning system (ERP), and most companies use IT services outside the cantons to develop and maintain a Web platform.   Due to the growing internationalization, the private sector has the need to digitize its business not only to improve productivity and market position, but to meet the increasingly demanding standards that the market demands. Also, while demand for workers with digital skills and knowledge is increasing, this region has very poor opportunities to take advantage of the potential that the software engineering sector provides because without the possibility of training and access to the practical acquisition of the skills of the unemployed persons they have no opportunity to develop their own careers in this authorities. As young people do not have the opportunity to train in digital skills, companies also do not have the opportunity to employ ICT professionals, but also workers with basic digital skills.

In order to respond to the growing needs of the digital economy, ALDI is launching its own Innovative Training Lab that will provide training in digital skills and knowledge, in the first place for HTML5 / CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python and JAVA. In the framework of training labs, participants will have the opportunity to improve their programming in specific programming languages and frameworks for the development of web and mobile applications. The Lab will provide training in digital skills that will be intended for all people, then in the digital skills needed to increase labor productivity, as well as training for ICT professionals.

 

Panel discussion "Adult Education: Development of New Skills in the Digital Age" was held in Gorazde on Thursday, May 25, 2017, at Hotel Behar. Panel discussion was held within the project "Provision and improvement of the quality of adult education in the context of lifelong learning".
Panelists at the discussion were: Meliha Gacanin-Executive Director of ALDI Association, Amir Duhovic-Senior Associate for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Education, Youth, Science, Culture and Sports BPK Gorazde, Admir Kurtovic-Director of VET school "Dzemal Bijedic" Gorazde, Nafija Hodo-Director of the Employment Service BPK Gorazde and Demir Imamovic-Consultant on the project.

The purpose of the panel discussion is to exchange ideas / experiences on the role of adapting the model of adult education to the needs of the modern age, activities on the drafting of adult education strategy in BPK Gorazde, the process of drafting / modifying curricula and adapting them to the needs of the labor market and the future of the labor market - trends in education.

At the Round table discussion "Systematic  regulation of apprenticeship – chance for employers", held on Friday, 20 October  2017. at the Hotel "Behar" Gorazde, participants discussed about  the role and importance of systematic regulation of apprenticeship  through the cooperation of partners from the public and private sector aimed at harmonizing education systems with the needs of the economy. 
It is emphasized that inputs from employers and their motivation for involvement in the project are essential tools for realizing the entire process of organizing apprenticeship.  For this reason, it is extremely important to provide support to create a unified approach to all actors who will participate in the apprenticeship system. 

One of the conclusions raised from the mentioned discussion is the necessity of developing the apprenticeship ordinance, which is the first step in solving the problem of the unordered apprenticeship. 

The round table has been organized as a part of the project "Support for SMEs egnaging in apprenticeship. Getting SMEs on board“ which is being implemented under the Erasmus Plus program and funded by the EU. The project is implemented in three countries: Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany, and lasts two years.  The Round Table was attended by representatives of the Government of BPC Gorazde, Ministry of Education of BPC Gorazde, the Ministry of Economy of BPC Gorazde, Employers Association of BPC Gorazde, Employment Service of BPC Gorazde, representatives of employers, educational institutions, representatives of the  German agency for international cooperation - GIZ, representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media.