Strengthening current and future employment and self-employment programmes through sustainable value chain management system under the Migration Resource Centres and Local Centres of the State Employment Agency
Duration
July 2017 - November 2018Budget
EUR 554.000,00 (90.25% from AMIF)
Implemented by
Arbetsförmedlingen (Swedish Public Employment Service) implemented this action with a CIM Integrated expert in coordination with the State Employment Agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.
Action implemented in the framework of the Mobility Partnership between the European Union and Armenia
Implemented by the Swedish Public Employment Service (Ar-betsförmedlingen), the 16.5-month action aimed at seeking and promoting Armenian circular labour migrants’ contributions to the development of Armenian regions (Yerevan, Shirak and Ar-agatsotn) through the repatriation of skills, experiences and fi-nancial capital. The action provided high quality services to the responsible authorities (Labour Migration Unit – LMU – of the Armenian State Employment Agency – SEA) to build upon the capacity of Migration Resource Centres (MRCs). These activities were complemented by the introduction and testing of an inno-vative approach, namely the Community Development Invest-ment System (CDIS), in regions with high-net migration rates yet lacking similar interventions.
Partners
Activities
Assessment, capacity development and activities
A thorough preliminary study allowed the Action to better identify and understand the concrete needs of the Armenian authorities as well as the value chain areas where investments would have the highest potential impact.
The Action achieved - and in many instances exceeded - the planned level of outputs. All capacity development activities planned were implemented in full with benefits received by a larger group of SEA Local Centre staff than originally planned. Thus, a totality of 100 specialists and Heads of the SEA Local Centres in Shirak, Aragatsotn and Yerevan participated in the various trainings to improve the utilisation and application of electronic resources to support circular labour migrants. Despite significant delays due to an onerous procurement procedures, the CDIS was successfully launched in May 2018. Nine businesses were selected for infrastructure grants.
Also in May 2018, a study visit was carried out in the Republic of Moldova with the participation of the project team and representa-tives from SEA, ministries and Caritas Armenia. The aim of the study visit was to share the experience of Moldova as the first country to sign the Mobility Partnership with the EU, and focused particularly on the work of the Moldovan National Employment Agency.
A final project conference was held on the 23rd of November, in Armenia.
Strategic alignment
The Action was in line with the EU-Armenia Mobility Partnership signed in 2011. The Action enhanced circular migration management in Armenia and contributed to the improvement of return and reintegration policies through the empowerment of relevant institutions. The Action’s plans fully responded to the Armenia’s National Development Strategy 2014-2025 as well as the Migration Strategy and Migration Action Plan 2017-2021.
