The consequence of education system that is not fully adjusted to the market needs is the decrease in youth employment in spite of increase of the labour force demand, leading to the youth apathy and social exclusion. This is accompanied by the real threat of “brain drain” since many young persons express the desire to migrate out of the country.

“In Bosnia and Herzegovina 58.5% of young people aged 15 to 24 are unemployed. This represents the highest of any other age cohort in the country and is almost four times higher than the average among EU countries. This programme addresses key issues that affect young people at the global level and in BH: high youth unemployment and irregular migration”, said Florence Bauer, UN Resident Coordinator a.i.

“The Joint Programme that we just signed will ensure improvement of the employment of young women and men by use of direct and indirect means. It will also address the problems and potential links with the youth migration patterns”, said Sredoje Noviĉ, Minister of Civil Affairs of BH.

The Youth Employability and Retention Programme (YERP) aims to improve the employability of BH youth, while providing new entry points to the labour market. Internal and external migration support will be developed to optimise the potential of migration as an individual employment-seeking strategy that can alleviate local labour market pressures.

The Youth Employability and Retention Programme (YERP) is supported through the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund funded by the Spanish Government. The Programme duration is 3 years, with an estimated budget of 6,000,000 USD. The Programme is jointly implemented by UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, IOM and UNV in partnership with the BH Ministry of Civil Affairs, BH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, Entity Ministries responsible for labor and education, BH Agency for Statistics, Entity Agencies for Statistics, Public Employment Services offices across the country, primary and general secondary schools, municipalities and rural communities, individual firms as well as private sector associations, and civil society organizations from the community level to the Diaspora.

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For additional information please contact Pavle Banjac, Communications Associate at UN Resident Coordinator's Office by fax + 387 33 552 330 or e-mail pbanjac@undp.ba;