Quarterly Report, April 1 – June 30, 2011: Youth Employability Skills (YES) Network

The project focuses on three operational areas: Strumica, Tetovo, and Bitola. During the quarter ending June 30, 2011, the project staff complement was fully hired, with the Senior Technical Specialist for Public-Private Dialogue and the Regional Coordinator for Strumica joining the team in April. The project made significant progress in creating local Social and Economic Councils through discussions with municipal heads in each community. Technical meetings were held with local economic development and education departments to further develop the councils. The only functioning local economic and social council was visited, and its members agreed to participate in awareness-raising events planned for each community. Arrangements were made for a regional expert to conduct local events on council formation and functioning. The project's activities are centered around six key areas: facilitating public-private dialogue, developing venues for meeting labor market needs, strengthening job services capacity, providing continuing professional development opportunities for teachers, implementing creative innovative mechanisms, and integrating productive connections with USAID and other donor workforce-related projects. The project also places a strong emphasis on monitoring and evaluation, with activities such as the YES PMP Baseline Study, internships, and forming and training the M&E team. In terms of specific accomplishments, the project facilitated public-private dialogue through discussions with local economic and social councils, established career centers and job clubs, and developed individual career plans for VET school youth. The project also provided continuing professional development opportunities for teachers, including "Work Readiness Skills" training and "Work Based Learning" programs. Additionally, the project strengthened the job services capacity of ESA and private job matching companies, ensuring that trained youth have access to up-to-date information on job openings and career development opportunities. The project's administration and finance activities are also noteworthy, with a focus on ensuring effective management and oversight of project resources. The project's administration activities and outcomes are reported in detail, including activities proposed for the next quarter. The project's appendices provide additional information on participants' evaluations of workforce readiness training, participation in YES work readiness skills trainings, and USAID/YES Network project application forms for schools interested in participating in project activities.