Unemployment remains a growing concern for many Serbians. The country’s statistical office reports that Serbia’s unemployment rate rose to 19 percent in June 2016. The Belgrade region had the highest unemployment rate of 20.5 percent, and southern and eastern Serbia had an unemployment rate of 20.2 percent. However, work is being done to increase employment opportunities in Serbia.
New Jobs Opening in Serbia
In March 2017, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic attended the signing of an agreement with the U.S. company NCR that plans to create 1,500 new jobs in Serbia. NCR will have more than 3,600 permanent employees in Serbia once the new jobs are created. This will be a significant increase from the 300 employees that NCR hired when the company arrived in Serbia in 2011.
In September 2017, Turkish investors expressed interest in opening 3,500 jobs in southern Serbia within the next three years. Zoran Djordjevic, Serbia’s labor minister, says talks will be held with the investors to explore all potential opportunities for cooperation. Djordjevic also presented the investors with Serbia’s new laws that will have an impact on their business activities.
Investing in Serbia’s Youth
The Center for Advanced Economic Studies presented a study entitled “Mapping Barriers to Youth Entrepreneurship in Serbia” to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC) at a panel discussion on April 25, 2017. Marko Čadež, the SCC president, mentioned that entrepreneurship is a key solution for increasing employment opportunities in Serbia. Čadež added that the SCC is continuously working to encourage and support business start-ups.
Axel Dittmann, Serbia’s German ambassador, noted that youth unemployment is an important segment to be addressed. Dittmann also said that Serbia’s youth have the greatest potential to boost the country’s economic growth. Snežana Klašnja, Serbia’s assistant minister of youth, says that while only 817 young Serbians have been employed through her ministry’s initiatives, there is still much work to be done.
Serbia’s Increasing Employment Rate
In October 2017, there were 622,000 unemployed people in Serbia, a slight decrease from the 55,000 additional Serbians unemployed in 2016. “We expect for the annual unemployment rate to further drop,” says Zoran Martinovic, the director of the National Employment Office. Martinovic also revealed that 206,000 Serbians found employment in the first nine months of 2017.
Martinovic added that IT professionals, engineers and financial experts are most in demand for Serbia. A few unemployed Serbians expressed interest to participate in retraining programs as well. Serbia’s government is implementing a retraining program for 900 IT professionals who are preparing for more complex IT jobs.
ICT Hub’s Success in Serbia
Decreasing job opportunities have also caused many Serbians to leave their country. However, a program known as ICT Hub is working to increase employment opportunities in Serbia. Launched as part of a partnership with USAID in 2014, ICT Hub mentors Serbia’s entrepreneurs, helping them avoid the risks and costs of pursuing innovative ideas.
“Many of my friends left Serbia, but I believe one can succeed here just as anywhere else,” says Uroš Mijalković, a Serbian entrepreneur who managed to create a mobile gaming application with ICT Hub’s help. Mijalković’s gaming application Karate DO is now played by 12,000 people in 162 countries. “So far, 25 businesses with market potential have gotten off the ground at the ITC Hub,” says Kosta Andri, the ICT Hub’s director.
While these efforts are helping Serbian citizens find more job opportunities, there is still much work to be done. The growing rate of Serbians leaving their country can still decrease based on the help of Serbia’s government, ITC Hub and other entities. For now, the main goal of these projects and efforts is to increase employment opportunities in Serbia.
– Rhondjé Singh Tanwar
Photo: Flickr
Farmers Gain New Options for Credit Access in Burundi
Burundi is a resource-deficient country that has been struggling to emerge from years of civil war. Underdeveloped in the manufacturing sector with the agriculture area accounting for roughly 40 percent of its GDP and employing over 90 percent of the population, the large majority of Burundians rely on agriculture to make a living. In order for the people of Burundi to grow income-generating businesses in the agricultural sector, the demand for financial assistance must be able to meet the supply. Poverty among the population has limited the capacity for credit access in Burundi.
Being able to obtain a loan at banks in Burundi is not easy; Burundi ranks 129th out of 137 economies in the 2017-18 Global Competitiveness Index compiled by the World Economic Forum. As a result of this difficulty, most entrepreneurs turn to loan sharks.
Traditional banking services are not sturdy or large enough to serve the population’s needs in building assets and establishing property. Retail and corporate banking is at a very early stage of development and many depend on microcredit or informal lending for credit access in Burundi.
Burundian farmers rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, and One Acre Fund (OAF) has experienced an immense demand from these farmers for the services they offer. One Acre Fund is a nonprofit that offers credit and guidance in order to assist small landowners in growing their way out of famine and help them build thriving futures. Burundi is just one out of the many developing countries they serve.
OAF offers a complete package of services, utilizing a four-step market-based strategy that allows the organization to remain financially sustainable and grow to touch the lives of more farmers each year.
Financing for quality seeds and fertilizer is given to farmers on a credit basis, and they are offered a flexible repayment plan that allows them to repay their loans in any amount throughout the term.
Farm inputs are delivered to areas that are within walking distance of all the farmers that OAF serves.
Trained professionals offer the farmers guidance on advanced agricultural techniques throughout the entire season.
Solutions for storing crops and techniques on monitoring the constant variations of the market are taught to the farmers so that they are able to time the sale of their crops in order to maximize profits.
This strategy has allowed for thousands of families to yield higher-quality crops without spending additional funds. With Burundi being one of the poorest countries globally, farmers that are usually starting at a low-profit baseline have seen large improvements in their earnings since being involved with One Acre Fund. Subsequently, retention of farmers and loan repayment rates in Burundi are some of the highest of all the countries OAF serves. By providing all of these services in one, One Acre Fund allows farmers a useful way to get farming help and credit access in Burundi.
– Zainab Adebayo
Photo: Flickr
Expansion of Credit Access in Vietnam Vital for Small Businesses
Access to loans is important to SMEs, especially those just starting up, and many of them need this option to survive in the market. Many SMEs require money from loans to invest in new machinery and technology to become more efficient, stay competitive and make a profit.
SMEs struggle to stay competitive not only because of credit access in Vietnam, but also because of well-funded, larger businesses. This is where one of the issues with access to credit comes into play. Large enterprises are not only preferred by foreign investors, but also by local banks. With a better guarantee to make a profit, banks prefer providing loans to these steadier businesses instead, believing that most SMEs are too much of a risk.
It may come as a surprise that approximately 70 percent of SMEs technically have credit access in Vietnam. The issue arises in the fact that many of the businesses taking out these loans face other difficulties in the access of these funds, and most would prefer not to. SMEs often pay up to 10 percent interest or even higher on loans, while larger enterprises only pay around 5 percent at the highest. Banks also tend to require fixed collateral for the loan, such as land.
Another issue regarding credit access is that of gender. Traditional gender roles in Vietnam often affect a bank’s decision in providing a loan, worrying that women will make less profit than a man would, or simply denying access because they are female. In addition, most females do not own land to provide the fixed collateral. This is an obstacle for females in large businesses, but especially for those in SMEs.
To combat this, some peer to peer platforms, crowdfunding for businesses by investors, have appeared in Vietnam. Although this gets around stricter banks, allowing loans to be given to what the bank would consider high-risk businesses as well as more equal opportunities for both male and female business owners, it still is not enough. Not only do the current platforms not have enough willing investors providing loans to SMEs, but they also still struggle to compete with large enterprises that are well funded by the banks.
There is plenty of potential for SMEs to help improve the country’s economy and GDP, but credit access in Vietnam is preventing this from happening. In the future, the government may possibly enforce better rules to allow more SMEs to flourish, but until then, investment is one of the few ways SMEs can be funded with loans. The country simply needs more interested investors, both local and foreign.
– Keegan Struble
Photo: Flickr
Better Credit Access in South Africa to Boost Economic Growth
Previous research from the University of Cape Town had already shown the strong relationship between economic growth and credit expansion in South Africa. Recently, economist Roelof Botha from the Gordon Institute of Business Science reiterated the idea that credit expansion – especially by financial institutions lending money to unsecured borrowers – could invigorate the struggling economy.
Though South Africa is experiencing a declining economy, the household debt to income ratio has dropped consistently, from 87.8 percent in 2008 to 73.2 percent in 2017. This ratio appears to be exceptionally low compared to South Africa’s trading partners like Australia, which exceeded 200 percent in 2017 despite its growing economy.
Notwithstanding a high percentage of homeownership (more than 54 percent), Botha argues that the low value of the homes – which disqualifies them as collateral – has become “unnecessary obstacles” for the households to obtain credit from formal channels.
Lowering the bar for obtaining credit allows consumers to purchase more goods or even to start small businesses, which are both beneficial to the overall economy. Furthermore, research from Innovations for Poverty Action shows that better access to credit could not only increase the quality of life of the borrowers, but also give lenders more profit.
In an article published by Boston Consulting Group in April 2017, researchers claimed that though the percentage of South African adults who have borrowed from commercial banks rests at a modest 12 percent, informal credit accounts for a greater portion of the entire credit market.
Compared to formal channels, debts from informal channels are more difficult to regulate and might exacerbate the financial situation of already unsecured borrowers due to the sky-high interest rate.
In addition, the South African informal debit market bears an alarming default rate of an estimated 12 percent – much higher than countries that are risk-averse like China (1 percent) and Germany (2 percent).
The Reserve Bank has already started to lower its repo rate and plans to reduce the rate further to increase credit access in South Africa in 2018, expecting better economic growth. The steady inflation rate, averaging 4.9 percent through most of 2017, also provides households with better credit affordability.
From a long-term perspective, Botha said, the number of households with a buying power of R120,000 or higher per year experienced a dramatic increase from 200,000 in 2002 to 2.7 million in 2016, making the average real growth 15 percent, which is much greater than the average economic growth rate. Therefore, credit expansion should have the potential to further this growth.
Expanding credit access in South Africa provided by regulated financial institutions has the potential to increase purchase power, lower unemployment rates and eventually boost economic growth while removing the financial barriers imposed by unregulated informal credit, helping people to exit poverty.
– Chaorong Wang
Photo: Flickr
Relief from Crisis as US Issues TPS for Syrian Refugees
About 400,000 deaths have resulted from the Syrian conflict since April 2016. Nearly 13.5 million people living in Syria face threats, displacement, hunger, injury and death. 6.1 million people living in Syria are displaced from their homes, and more than 4.8 million have fled the country.
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have taken in millions of Syrian refugees. The majority of refugees are children, who face malnutrition, forced labor, child marriage, militant drafting, disease and death. A recent survey by U.N. cooperatives shows that children living in Lebanese refugee camps are more vulnerable to forced labor and child marriage than ever before. Syrian refugees in Lebanon live on less than $4 a day.
Jordan, considered one of the United States’ partners in alleviating the Syrian refugee crisis, has recently made breakthroughs to alleviate the dependence of refugees. As part of a compact deal that has increased international aid to Jordan, the country was able to issue more than 88,000 work permits to Syrians, allowing refugees the ability to meet their basic needs. Of the 655,000 Syrian refugees exiled in Jordan, approximately 80 percent of them live outside camps, living below the poverty line on less than $3 a day.
Recognizing the terror that Syrian refugees face by returning to their home country, the U.S. has decided to grant a TPS for Syrian refugees for 18 more months. This decision was directly influenced by the extraordinary conditions surrounding the ongoing armed conflict. The TPS for Syrian refugees only applies to those who have continuously resided in the U.S. since August 1, 2016, and have been continuously physically present in the United States since October 1, 2016. The designation of the TPS for Syrian refugees is subject to be renewed based on conditions in Syria after the 18-month period expires.
This TPS designation comes after years of abuse by Syria’s Assad regime, and extremist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The crisis in Syria is by far the most tragic humanitarian crisis in the world today.
The U.S. government has spent nearly $6 billion on humanitarian assistance in response to the Syrian conflict. Funding supports the provision of emergency food, medicine, safe drinking water and other relief supplies to conflict-affected people in Syria and neighboring countries. This humanitarian aid comes in the form of cash for medicine and food, stoves and fuel for heating, insulation for tents, thermal blankets and winter clothing. Shelter kits, non-food items, protection services and psychosocial support are provided to those who have been displaced but remain in Syria.
International officials ministering to Syrian refugee camps state that more international aid is needed for humanitarian efforts to lift millions of Syrian refugees out of poverty.
– Alex Galante
Photo: John Stanmeyer
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Fiji
According to the U.S. Department of State, assistance from the U.S. to Fiji is focused mainly on humanitarian services, such as hurricane relief and security assistance.
Democratic Assitance
In 2006, a tumultuous coup suspended democratic rule in Fiji. In 2014, the country held elections to restore the democratically elected government. The U.S. was one of 13 countries to oversee the elections to maintain security measures and ensure a peaceful political process. In return, the U.S. received increased access to trade and resources in the region.
Tourism
One of the most important trades the U.S. and Fiji take part in is the tourism industry. According to the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, 842,884 foreign nationals visited Fiji in 2017. While not all of these were U.S. citizens, the number of Americans visiting Fiji is increasing. In addition to tourism, Fiji’s economy is stimulated by foreign consumers buying Fijian products.
Exports
The biggest exports from Fiji to the U.S. are bottled water, tuna and sugar. In return, the U.S. exports transport equipment and food. However, access to Fiji’s tuna is one of the U.S. fishing industries’ most vital investments. The U.S. created a multilateral trade agreement with the Pacific Islands (including Fiji), which allowed U.S. fishers to access the tuna-infested waters in the Pacific Islands.
The agreement also protects the Fiji fish population from overfishing and other things that may cause harm to marine life in the area. This, along with the trade of other natural products, increases both Fiji’s economy and natural resource protection. It also helps with U.S. relations in the area and product importation.
Fiji is a small island with a large economy, which not only needs the U.S. to help support economic prosperity but also to protect democracy in the region. The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Fiji through access to crucial natural resources and through Fiji’s influence as a newly reorganized democracy in the Pacific Island region.
– Molly Atchison
Photo: Flickr
The Intricacies of the Politics and Diplomacy of Global Health
“Pure science is not pure anymore; if it ever was,” says former U.S. diplomat Judith Kaufmann. The Borgen Project recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by Kaufman where she discussed her views on the politics and diplomacy of global health. She spoke of global health issues and how they have evolved, and analyzed multiple examples of these issues in recent years. She had one overall message: “Every skill is needed, and everyone can make an impact.”
Political Background
Kaufmann graduated from Miami University in 1969 with a degree in Political Science. In her own words, she says she was “backed into public health.” She had no prior experience in these fields, but she had been a foreign service officer and knew how to interact within and between countries. When she was hired in the field of public health, she learned what was necessary about each health issue to craft proper policy.
She was told, “you can’t always teach doctors diplomacy.” She went on to work for the State Department, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Health Organization; she now acts as an independent consultant for groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Past Global Issues
Kaufmann gave several examples of how multiple disciplines and skill sets have been required to tackle issues involving global health. The first instance involves the Nigerian polio vaccine boycott. In 2003, states in Northern Nigeria boycotted the polio vaccine introduced to the area by the World Health Organization that resulted in a resurgence of the disease.
WHO did this due to a lack of trust in the organization caused by divisions within the Islamic community and between the North and South. According to Kaufmann, the WHO believed “Nigeria would be easy,” and waited until later in the campaign to target the country because it didn’t factor in the Nigerian history of conflict and division.
Kaufmann believes this could have been prevented if there had been someone involved in the vaccination campaign actually familiar with the culture of the region.
Another example she gave involving the politics and diplomacy of global health occurred within the United States. She describes how the second Bush administration used politics to gain funding for the emergency plan for HIV/AIDS relief.
The President continued his campaign strategy of “compassionate conservatism,” but what really gained support for the program, in Kaufmann’s opinion, was his choice to frame the issue as a matter of national security. According to Kaufmann, “he realized you have to appeal to emotion and rationale.”
The Path Forward
In Kaufman’s view, the politics and diplomacy of global health will only continue to grow in complexity. As an example, she cites China’s “New Silk Road” project and the health impacts on the multiple countries it passes through, and that these must be addressed by the World Health Organization in order for the project to move forward.
She also addressed the problem with U.S. apathy towards global health. In her words, “support for global health has flatlined in the United States.” Her hope is that the youth continue to care about and give their skills to addressing global health because “the problems have gotten too big and global health is too complex to be left only to doctors.”
– Megan Burtis
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Ecuador
The U.S. often has something to gain when it chooses to lend a hand to a country in need. The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Ecuador by sponsoring structured efforts to eradicate narcotics and human trafficking. Ecuador has a long history of being an essential piece in the transportation of such networks. This has subsequently been a focus of foreign aid from the U.S. to Ecuador for quite some time. Despite USAID leaving Ecuador in 2014, the country has continued implementing the strategies fostered by American and Ecuadorian relations.
Thanks to the relations between the U.S. and Ecuador, the country has made significant progress to curb drug trafficking and modern-day slavery because of these initiatives:
Ecuador is working to increase the seizure of illicit drugs, especially cocaine, as well as the vigilance of law enforcement in arresting key players in the narcotics trade. The country has been incrementally successful and is seeing new progress each year.
The supplanting of restorative systems returns benefits to the U.S. As one of America’s largest commerce partners, it remains crucial that trade stays legal and in compliance with human rights. The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Ecuador because the decrease in narcotics transit spares the U.S. from networks of volatile crime.
To address human trafficking, the U.S. began implementing steps within Ecuador to aid the country with this prevalent issue. America and Ecuador are aiming to educate the people of Ecuador with:
Additionally, the American Bar Association (ABA) has been working continuously in Ecuador to strengthen its justice system. The ABA has aided Ecuadorian lawyers in transitioning from the old inquisitorial criminal justice system to an adversarial criminal justice system, which has proven to be a challenge, as the judiciary still clings to the previous system.
According to the ABA website, the organization has aided in the institution of hybrid law, “a mixture of civil law and common law systems” and analyzing the effectuality of such law in Ecuador specifically.
Similar to the reduction of illegal narcotics transportation, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Ecuador through reciprocatory change. By pushing Ecuador in the right direction to minimize illegal trade, America is consequently minimizing active human trafficking within its borders.
Essentially, the trade and transport of narcotics and human trafficking webs in Ecuador directly affect the same trade and transport in the United States. These dual-effort relations have resulted in a consistently increasing number of arrests, seizures and preventions of human and narcotics trade. Each time America helps Ecuador target this issue, it also directly targets the issue within its own borders.
– Lydia Lamm
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Ethiopia
In addition to saving lives, foreign aid produces a positive return on investment for the United States. As people transition out of poverty into the consumer class, new American jobs emerge, along with new markets for U.S. companies. In 2012, foreign direct investment surpassed overseas development assistance in Ethiopia for the first time. U.S. investors are flocking to the opportunities created by Ethiopia’s private sector growth. An upward-trending Ethiopian economy means new economic partners for the United States. These are three examples demonstrating the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Ethiopia:
As a part of its Partners in Learning initiative, Microsoft has signed the Education Transformation Agreement (ETA) with the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia to transform the way students learn with information and communications technology. The ETA aims to “promote inclusive digital access, encourage innovative and creative thinking, develop critical 21st-century skills and build the capacity of local teachers.”
Apposit, a software development company based in Ethiopia, has partnered with American billionaire Tim Draper to build and maintain the platform for PAGA financial services, one of Draper’s investments in the region. Apposit is a burgeoning company aiming to deliver solutions for businesses and development challenges in Africa.
New technology companies are now emerging not only in California, but in Sheba Valley, the growing tech hub in Ethiopia. Sheba Valley is home to Icog-Labs, a research and development laboratory co-created with American researcher Ben Goertzel. Icog-Labs focuses on the development of artificial intelligence technology, the first laboratory to do so in Ethiopia.
These investments and innovations have primed Ethiopia to grow into a nation with abundant jobs in the technology and finance sectors, creating job opportunities for both Ethiopians and Americans and opening the door to economic opportunities for the U.S. These private investments can be expanded upon and accelerated with additional foreign aid.
In acknowledgment of the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Ethiopia, the Department of State has allocated $235.42 million in planned funding for the 2018 fiscal year. This assistance will be consistent with the government of Ethiopia’s five-year Growth and Transformation Plan. The good news, for Ethiopians and American investors alike, is that while Sheba Valley continues to flourish, the U.S. is renewing its commitment to Ethiopia’s economic growth.
– Whiting Tennis
Photo: Flickr
UNICEF Works to Reduce the Child Mortality Rate in Somalia
One out of seven Somali children dies before they turn five, measuring at a rate of 137 deaths per 1,000 live births with a staggering number in the south and central areas of Somalia. Pneumonia, diarrhea, diseases, polio, measles and neonatal disorders are among the leading causes contributing to the high infant and child mortality rate in Somalia.
The lack of government security and widespread internal conflict over the past several decades in Somalia has made it difficult for progression to occur and has left the country in extreme poverty. UNICEF has taken it into its own hands and has implemented interventions that have helped those at risk and created some highly recognizable accomplishments. Humanitarian interventions backed by UNICEF in South Central Somalia and some areas in Puntland and Somaliland protect about 2.5 million individuals.
UNICEF has given humanitarian assistance to those in need by providing health services and supplies for the polio and measles vaccination campaign plan and primary health service delivery at Mother and Child Health clinics, which have benefited roughly 201,550 people at risk. Through the Mother and Child Health clinics and Health Post, UNICEF supports about 70 percent of primary health services in Somalia by equipping the nation with medicine, equipment, vaccines and management supplies.
With the polio outbreak that began in May of 2013, the support offered by UNICEF has allowed for a little over 35 additional immunization campaigns to be implemented for children under five. Several of these campaigns have also targeted children under 10 years old and adults. In October 2015, the polio outbreak was declared over thanks to the support provided by UNICEF.
UNICEF has also established a community-based strategy through an Integrated Community Case Management (ICCM) in order to reduce common childhood illnesses that contribute to the child mortality rate in Somalia. The ICCM is designed to use skilled and supervised health professionals in regions that lack access to medical sites in order to deliver health assistance to children. The program is also building up a team of health officials, service administrators and community-based leaders to manage any health risk or crisis that threatens the area. The strategy has benefited roughly 21,000 households thus far.
Somalia has also been scaling up its Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS). These packages, backed by UNICEF, have been adopted as the primary health programme by Somali Health Authorities. EPHS is the main outlet used to strengthen child healthcare and safe motherhood programs, which include child immunizations, maternal, reproductive and neonatal health and treatment of common diseases and HIV. The program has already begun in 39 locales in seven areas throughout Somalia and is continuing to grow. A potential 4.2 million people will benefit from the EPHS services.
UNICEF’s continuous collaboration with partners in working to reinforce the volume of Somali health officials that respond to the health concerns of the population will not only strengthen the governance and leadership of local health authorities but will also improve access to quality healthcare in order to ensure children survive past their fifth birthday.
– Zainab Adebayo
Photo: Flickr
Increasing Employment Opportunities in Serbia
New Jobs Opening in Serbia
In March 2017, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic attended the signing of an agreement with the U.S. company NCR that plans to create 1,500 new jobs in Serbia. NCR will have more than 3,600 permanent employees in Serbia once the new jobs are created. This will be a significant increase from the 300 employees that NCR hired when the company arrived in Serbia in 2011.
In September 2017, Turkish investors expressed interest in opening 3,500 jobs in southern Serbia within the next three years. Zoran Djordjevic, Serbia’s labor minister, says talks will be held with the investors to explore all potential opportunities for cooperation. Djordjevic also presented the investors with Serbia’s new laws that will have an impact on their business activities.
Investing in Serbia’s Youth
The Center for Advanced Economic Studies presented a study entitled “Mapping Barriers to Youth Entrepreneurship in Serbia” to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC) at a panel discussion on April 25, 2017. Marko Čadež, the SCC president, mentioned that entrepreneurship is a key solution for increasing employment opportunities in Serbia. Čadež added that the SCC is continuously working to encourage and support business start-ups.
Axel Dittmann, Serbia’s German ambassador, noted that youth unemployment is an important segment to be addressed. Dittmann also said that Serbia’s youth have the greatest potential to boost the country’s economic growth. Snežana Klašnja, Serbia’s assistant minister of youth, says that while only 817 young Serbians have been employed through her ministry’s initiatives, there is still much work to be done.
Serbia’s Increasing Employment Rate
In October 2017, there were 622,000 unemployed people in Serbia, a slight decrease from the 55,000 additional Serbians unemployed in 2016. “We expect for the annual unemployment rate to further drop,” says Zoran Martinovic, the director of the National Employment Office. Martinovic also revealed that 206,000 Serbians found employment in the first nine months of 2017.
Martinovic added that IT professionals, engineers and financial experts are most in demand for Serbia. A few unemployed Serbians expressed interest to participate in retraining programs as well. Serbia’s government is implementing a retraining program for 900 IT professionals who are preparing for more complex IT jobs.
ICT Hub’s Success in Serbia
Decreasing job opportunities have also caused many Serbians to leave their country. However, a program known as ICT Hub is working to increase employment opportunities in Serbia. Launched as part of a partnership with USAID in 2014, ICT Hub mentors Serbia’s entrepreneurs, helping them avoid the risks and costs of pursuing innovative ideas.
“Many of my friends left Serbia, but I believe one can succeed here just as anywhere else,” says Uroš Mijalković, a Serbian entrepreneur who managed to create a mobile gaming application with ICT Hub’s help. Mijalković’s gaming application Karate DO is now played by 12,000 people in 162 countries. “So far, 25 businesses with market potential have gotten off the ground at the ITC Hub,” says Kosta Andri, the ICT Hub’s director.
While these efforts are helping Serbian citizens find more job opportunities, there is still much work to be done. The growing rate of Serbians leaving their country can still decrease based on the help of Serbia’s government, ITC Hub and other entities. For now, the main goal of these projects and efforts is to increase employment opportunities in Serbia.
– Rhondjé Singh Tanwar
Photo: Flickr