The objective of the project is to improve the socio-economic situation and living conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina with better employment opportunities for vulnerable groups. The project aims to develop and implement innovative employment programmes, and contribute to the employment and labour market inclusion of young people, women from rural areas, persons with disabilities, Roma and members of other vulnerable groups in BiH.

The project will provide grant schemes and high-quality technical assistance to relevant labour market institutions. It will ensure the improved design and implementation of active labour market policies. Hard-to-employ people will receive training/retraining with the support of companies, educational institutions, NGOs and other relevant organizations. The project will work on innovative activation services in cooperation with centers for social protection and other partners. Finally, it will also prepare a roadmap for the implementation and monitoring of the reinforced Youth Guarantee. 

Ambassador Johann Sattler, Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina stressed at the event: “We know that job creation and economic growth are the number one priority for all citizens across the country. The programme we present today will specifically address the structural labour market challenges in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have particularly affected women, youth, and vulnerable individuals, such as long-term unemployed persons, persons with disabilities, Roma people, and beneficiaries of social assistance. The European Union has recognized these issues and we are working to ensure equal opportunities for all, including the most vulnerable”. 

Carin Jämtin, Director General of the Swedish Agency for International Development and Cooperation, added that she is honoured to be in Sarajevo today, especially because Sweden is a very active member state of the European Union and a trusted partner of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the development of its society. "I am especially happy because the project that we are officially presenting today should not only ensure additional job openings in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also remove certain barriers to employment, especially for vulnerable individuals for whom it is difficult to find employment. We believe that EU4Employment is an opportunity for precisely such groups of individuals to overcome the difficulties they face," said Ms. Jämtin.

Biljana Čamur-Veselinović, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially thanked the European Union and Sweden. She stressed that it was a very important project that recognized the need for additional reform of the employment sector, and also because it provides financial support in the form of grants to hard-to-employ people. 

"We expect that “EU4Employment - Jobs for all” will contribute to the employment of at least 625 people from vulnerable groups, and over 1,200 of them will be included in the activation and motivational job search programmes in the next three years. We are grateful to the EU and Sweden because they recognized the International Labor Organization as a reliable partner in the country. We have already proven our previous, long-term global experience in managing large projects that combine our technical assistance and transparent management of grants in BiH, through other EU projects such as EU4Business, EU4BusinessRecovery, Local Partnerships for Employment I and II,”− explained Markus Pilgrim, director of the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe.