ONLY 12.7 PERCENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE EMPLOYED

BiH Minister of Civil Affairs Sredoje Novic said in opening the forum that in BiH the problem of unemployment is a painful question, especially when it comes to teenagers, as the most capable part of the population.

Novic emphasized that the BiH education system is not adapted to the needs of the economy and society as a whole, noting that today there are thousands of young people who have finished school by the Bologna process, and yet they themselves do not know what they are, because their positions are not yet determined.

"Work is being done intensively these days on this. I hope that by the end of June we will solve it and that in BiH all young people can finally know which title they have," Novic said, adding that reform of labor regulations is necessary as well, because in BiH they have gone from a standstill to adapting the Bologna process.

He stressed that the question is how to employ young people, because it is not just an issue of whether they will get a job for financial reasons, but more to create a space for them to enable positive thinking.

Director of the Labor and Employment Agency of BiH Adnan Delic said that of the registered employed people, only 12.7 percent are youth, and he added that in BiH around 58 percent of young people are unemployed, which is alarming.

In 2011, according to a survey on the labor force, the number of unemployed persons with a university degrees increased, because of 8,000 new recorded young people with degrees, Delic said, adding that the education system should conform with market needs.

Delic emphasized that at the moment in BiH, the registered umemployment rate is 43 percent, and according to a survey of the labor force is about 27.6 percent.

Swiss Ambassador in BiH Andre Schaller pointed out that youth unemployment is one of the most serious socioeconomic problems that faces BiH. Schaller said that unemployment mostly affects the young population, whose unemployment rate is double the average.

He said that it is very important that all key actors in the labor market work together and exchange ideas and best practices to improve the situation.

The forum was organized in the framework of the Youth Employment Project, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in partnership with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, the Labor and Employment Agency of BiH, the Employment Agency of Republika Srpska, and the FBiH Employment Agency, Youth Employment Project Deputy Director Ranko Markus said.