On 20-24 April 2015 the city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia hosted a meeting of the Youth Employment Network members within the framework of the project “Partnerships for Youth Employment Project in the CIS” implemented by the ILO Moscow Office in partnership with Russian oil company LUKOIL.

High level experts from the Ministries of Labour, representatives of social partners from seven countries of the CIS (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) and three Russian regions (Republic of Kalmykia, Perm Territory and Khanty-Mansy Autonomous Region) as well as international experts took part in the Conference. The CIS countries are facing similar youth employment challenges as a result of continuing economic hardships. ILO’s Youth Employment Project aims to support the Governments and social partners in the CIS in their search for good practices and models promoting job creation and youth employment. As part of the project, the ILO Moscow Office is conducting Peer Reviews on youth employment in nine countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where participating countries review and assess each other’s youth employment policies, thereby promoting cross-country cooperation and sharing good practices.

The event was opened by Mr Sergey Selyunin, Deputy Head of the Committee for Labour and Employment of the Krasnoyarsk Region, who presented the social – economic situation of the region, second largest region in the Russian Federation.

The participants discussed the second peer review exercise when experience of Tajikistan in the field of youth employment was analyzed in depth by their peers from Azerbaijan. Mutual learning session on macroeconomic policies promoting youth employment was delivered by Ms Valli Corbanese, international expert from Italy. 
 
The participants could also benefit from the Austrian experience in implementing active labour market programmes (ALMPs) and providing incentives to those who employ youth (presented by Ms Helene Sengstbratl, Regional Director Burgenland in the Austrian Public Employment Service); anti-crisis measures currently implemented by the Russian Federation (presented by Mr Mikhail Kirsanov, Director of the Employment Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation); as well as experience of three regions of the Russian Federation on piloting youth targeted ALMPs.

The programme included a visit to the Krasnoyarsk center for Career Guidance that provides full chain of transition from school to work through the career guidance mechanism in coordination with leading industry enterprises in the region. The participants could witness why the Krasnoyarsk Region is one of the leading Russian regions in the field of career guidance.

The main findings of this Conference will feed into the next round of Peer Review planned for July 2015 and encourage the countries of the sub-region to introduce innovative policy approaches
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