Monitoring performance of the Youth Guarantee in Spain: Knowledge sharing workshop for autonomous communities

The workshop took place in Madrid from 10 to 12 May 2016. It discussed the modalities for horizontal and vertical integration during the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

Background

The Youth Guarantee (YG) in Spain – implemented since July 2014 – targets young people aged up to 29 who are neither in employment nor in education or training (NEETs). The strategy underpinning the implementation of the YG revolves around a number of key reforms in the areas of early intervention, activation and labour market integration measures. More specifically, it envisages the:
  • development of a dual VET system and the rollout of a two-year VET programme;
  • introduction of entrepreneurship education in schools to help young people make informed choices about work;
  • modernization of the Public Employment Service to respond to young people needs and ease the job matching process; and
  • design of outreach activities to support disengaged and inactive youth to access available services and programmes.
The implementation of the YG is coordinated by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security (MoESS), while the delivery of interventions is entrusted to a network of implementing partners, including the Ministry of Education, Autonomous Communities and the Public Employment Service. The EC-ILO Action “Enhancing capabilities of practitioners to design, implement and monitor youth employment policies” supports the YG coordination team in establishing a sound monitoring and evaluation framework; adjusting the design and delivery of interventions to the needs of young NEETs; and sharing knowledge and good practice for policy and programme design.

Objectives

As part of the EC-ILO Action, the ILO and the Ministry of Employment and Social Security organized on 10 and 11 May 2016 a capability enhancement workshop aimed to:
  • Share knowledge and good practice among Autonomous Communities on what works in the implementation of the Youth Guarantee;
  • Build consensus on the need of fostering horizontal integration among the different pillars of the YG (early intervention, activation and outreach and labour market integration measures) through collaboration among the implementing partners; and
  • Discuss modalities for collaboration and exchange of knowledge among the Autonomous Communities with a view to maximizing results on the Youth Guarantee scheme of Spain.

Participants

The workshop was designed for the Autonomous Communities of Spain, staff of the Ministries involved in the implementation of the YG and representatives of implementing partners. Each Autonomous Community was represented by a team of experts with experience on early intervention, activation and outreach, and labour market integration measures.