Opinions & Interviews

Promising areas of Belarus’ cooperation with EU outlined

MINSK, 8 August (BelTA) – Belarusian Labor and Social Protection Minister Irina Kostevich has met with Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Andrea Wiktorin on the occasion of the end of her diplomatic mission. Proposals on continuing cooperation with the European Union and taking it to the next level were mentioned during the meeting, representatives of the Labor and Social Protection Ministry told BelTA.

According to Irina Kostevich, the ministry’ cooperation with the European Union as part of international technical aid projects has been fruitful. The head of the European Union delegation to Belarus has played a major role in it.

Among examples of such cooperation Irina Kostevich mentioned the participation of the Labor and Social Protection Ministry in the Employment, Professional Training, and Education project, which is meant to broaden employment prospects for young Belarusians and adults by improving the connection between available education opportunities and needs of the modern labor market. Irina Kostevich thanked Andrea Wiktorin for the opportunity made available as part of the project to study European experience and positive practices of improvement of national qualification systems, the development of professional qualification frameworks and professional standards. “The acquired knowledge and experience have been used to improve the national system of qualifications,” the minister said.

EU4Youth: Fostering Potential for Employment was another important project in the area of employment that the Labor and Social Protection Ministry coordinates. The project is designed to enhance education opportunities and the potential of young people in Belarus, Armenia, and Georgia. “This project represents a good contribution since its implementation will help achieve a current task: increasing the number of citizens, who have skills needed to get decent jobs and secure effective self-employment,” Irina Kostevich stressed.

In accordance the agreement on the European Union’s financing a technical cooperation tool the ministry has worked with the OSCE in matters of gender problems, in particular, assistance with female leadership and the participation of women in political and public life. The 2nd international forum of women leaders was successfully arranged in October 2018. Another forum of the kind will take place this year.

Irina Kostevich also mentioned cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Initiative, which tenth anniversary is marked this year. “We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in events of the European Training Foundation’s project designed to balance supply and demand for professional skills in Eastern Partnership Initiative countries. We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in topical seminars, which study the experience of European Union and Eastern Partnership Initiative countries in forecasting the demand for workforce and balancing supply and demand on the labor market,” Irina Kostevich explained.

The minister said she hopes constructive cooperation between the European Union and the Republic of Belarus will continue, including cooperation on matters of current interest in the social and labor sphere.

During the meeting the Belarusian side put forward a number of proposals on further cooperation. Predicting needs of the labor market and the development of the national system of qualifications, support for efforts of the government and civil society institutions to realize the potential and satisfy needs of elderly citizens were mentioned. The Labor and Social Protection Ministry is also interested in European support in introducing social services, which help reintegrate people with disabilities into the society, and in setting up homes where they can live without assistance.

In turn, Andrea Wiktorin thanked the Labor and Social Protection Ministry for fruitful cooperation. She backed the outlined areas of cooperation and expressed hope for continued cooperation between the ministry and the European Union mission to Belarus.

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