Professional Documents
Culture Documents
United Nations
A LBA N I A
UN Joint Programme on YOUTH EMPLOYMENT and MIGRATION Kshilli i Qarkut Kuks Kuks Regional Council
KUKES REGION
This document was developed with the technical assistance of the International Labour Office
The KR-TEP is prepared in the context of the Youth Employment and Migration (YEM) programme. The YEM programme is a joint effort of the Government of Albania and the United Nations aimed at enhancing the employment impact of ongoing policies and strategies. It is funded by the Government of Spain through the Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund (MDG-F)
Acknowledgements
The preparation of the 2011 Territorial Employment Pact (TEP) for Youth was led by the Regional Employment Board, a multi-stakeholder body established under the aegis of the Kukes Regional Council. The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities facilitated the dialogue among national and local partners and provided inputs into the 6-month long consultation process. Fation Dragoshi, local economic development expert, conducted the territorial audit, prepared the final text of TEP, and consolidated all the inputs in one coherent document under the technical guidance and supervision of Daniela Zampini, Chief Technical Adviser of the UN Joint Programme on Youth Employment and Migration (YEM). Special thanks go to Shefqet Bruka, Chairman of the Kukes Regional Employment Board, for coordinating the territorial audit and the sessions of the Regional Employment Board, Kastriot Sulka, Deputy Minister, and Arjeta Late, Director of Employment Policies at MoLSAEO, for supporting the promotion of TEPs as a vehicle to facilitate youth employment. Employers and workers organizations have taken responsibility for leading implementation in the most remote areas of the Kukes Region. Bukurosh Onuzi and his team have been instrumental in delivering the commitment of the several actors involved in the TEP. Many people shall be acknowledged for having contributed in various capacities to the articulation of the Kukes Regions first TEP for Youth, starting from all the active members of the Regional Employment Board. The best way to give recognition to their efforts is to successfully implement the TEP and achieve the objectives that were set out in terms of youth employment and formalization of workers and enterprises. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the incredible time and work put in by the YEM support team: Emirjon Kacaj, Teuta Zejno and Blerina Dhrami. Thanks to Adi Haluli for his careful driving in the most remote corners of the Kukes Region.
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Contents
List of Acronyms .........................................................................................................................6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................................................9 ACTION PLAN.......................................................................................................................14 Action 1: Regulatory interventions towards the formalization of employment ...........................14 Action 2: Incentives for transition to formalization of workers in the mining industry ..............17 Action 3: Employment generation and formalization through local networks of producers (apple trees) ..........................................................................................................22 Action 4: Formalization of employment through upgrading of rural enterprises (goat breeding) ..........................................................................................................................26 Action 5: Formalization of employment through upgrading of rural enterprises (beekeeping)..............................................................................................................................30 Action 6: Formalization and generation of employment through upgrading of rural enterprises (chestnuts) ...............................................................................................................34 Action 7: Formalization and generation of employment through upgrading of rural enterprises (potato growers and collectors) ........................................................................38 Action 8: Generating employment through value chain upgrading (fish) for micro enterprises .......................................................................................................................42 Action 9: Employment generation for young women in the handicrafts sector ..........................45 Action 10: Creating opportunities for (better) employment for young people in the tourism sector......................................................................................................................49 Action 11: Regulatory framework for formalizing employment through support to micro-enterprises...................................................................................................................52 Action 12: Generating ideas for sustainable enterprises..............................................................54 ANNEX 1: Summary Table.......................................................................................................56 ANNEX 2: List of Participants to the KR-TEP .........................................................................58 SIGNATORIES ........................................................................................................................60
List of Acronyms
AAA A ADAD BDS CfA A CfP CFW W CoATU DCM GoA A ILC ILO ILS LEDA A
Albanian Artisans Association Agriculture Development Association Business Development Services Call for Applications Call for Proposals Contributing Family Workers Confederation of Albanian Trade Unions Decision of the Council of Ministers Government of Albania International Labour Conference International Labour Organization International Liaison Services for Local Economic Development Agencies
IMI IOM ISI KBA A KFF KR R KRC KRTEP LC LEAA A LFS MADA A
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Illyria Minerals Industry International Organization for Migration Institute for Social Insurances Kukes Beekeepers Association Kukes Farmers Federation Kukes Region Kukes Regional Council Kukes Region Tourism and Environment Promotion Lincoln Centre Livestock Entrepreneurs Association Albania Labour Force Survey Mountain Areas Development Agency Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund
MDG-F
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumers Protection Ministry of Education and Science Ministry of Finance Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Mobile Vocational Education Centre for North-Eastern Areas
National Employment Service National Registration Centre On-the-Job-Training Occupation, Safety and Health Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development Regional Directorate of Agriculture, Food and Consumers Protection
REB REO SADC SASA A SME TEP UN UNDP UNICEF UoITUA A VAA A YEM YES YR@W W
Regional Employment Board Regional Employment Office Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Sustainable Agriculture Support for Albania Small and Medium Businesses Territorial Employment Pact United Nations United Nations Development Programme United Nations Children Fund Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania Valbona Accommodation Association Youth Employment and Migration Youth Employment Services Youths Rights at Work
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Kukes Region Territorial Employment Pact (TEP) for youth is an institutional innovation1 based on negotiated planning, where different actors at the local level assume complementary and inter-connected roles and responsibilities in view of employment objectives. The 2011 TEP involves around 40 national and local partners. The implementation of the 2011 TEP (12 actions) costs 244,180 USD2, of which 155,180 USD are provided by the ILO in the framework of the Youth Employment and Migration programme (YEM) and 89,000 USD are in-kind contributions of public institutions, enterprises, trade unions, and associations. The TEP also leverages the impact of grant schemes for around 300,000 USD provided by the Government of Albania for agriculture and rural development in the region of Kukes3. It will impact 942 individuals (with 440 new jobs created) in the Kukes Region and between 6-8,000 people at the national level (trickle-down effect induced by changes in the regulatory framework). * * * A striking feature of the Albanian youth labour market is the men/women and rural/urban divide: Young women are more exposed than their male peers to inactivity, unemployment and vulnerable employment, whereas youth living in rural areas are more likely than urban youth to be unemployed or to be working in precarious conditions, and to be poor. Although regional differences in poverty rates have narrowed in the period 2002-2008, the North-East part of the country remains the one where most of the poor are concentrated. Work in the informal economy appears to be the only opportunity to earn a living for many young people both in rural and urban areas. Thus, employment in the informal economy remains pervasive, with approximately 70 per cent of all young workers exposed to it.
1 TEPs constitute a model of territorial concertation which has been adopted in many European countries. They were introduced experimentally in 1996 and then re-proposed in a new form for the period 2000-2006. 2 The exchange rate applied throughout the document is 1 USD = 100.6 ALL. In some cases the amounts are rounded up. 3 Government of Albania for agriculture and rural development in the region of Kukes.
To date, actions to address the informal economy have focused mainly on reducing the corporate tax and social security contribution burden on enterprises, with little attention paid to the determinants of informality and to issues related to the enforcement of employment protection legislation. As a consequence, these measures yielded limited results in terms of moving workers and enterprises to the formal economy. Little attention has been paid to the costs associated with the large number of workers engaged as contributing family members, particularly in the agriculture sector. The Kukes Region (KR) faces challenges that are typical of the world of work in rural areas, such as: i) a high incidence of family and informal work; ii) women and youth disproportionally affected by vulnerabilities; iii) poor occupational health and safety and working conditions in certain industries; iv) limited infrastructure and access to public services; v) lack of training and productivity improvement opportunities. In light of these specific challenges, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MoLSAEO) has facilitated the preparation of a Territorial Employment Pact (TEP) for Youth for the Kukes Region, by supporting the leading role of the regional authorities and regional employment offices (through the Kukes Employment Board) and mobilising the support of relevant national partners. The Kukes Region TEP strengthens the local co-ordination of ongoing activities, programmes, and interventions that have a human and economic development orientation. It applies an employment lens to the ongoing initiatives in order to bring into focus (youth) employment generation and transition to formalization. The KR-TEP is a partnership of local actors based on the conciliation of interests expressed by the multiple forces of the Kukes Region (local authorities, business associations, trade unions, cultural and environmental associations, professional bodies, financial institutions, etc.). The Kukes RegionTEP is based on 4 pillars which revolve around i) transition to formalization of workers and enterprises; ii) a communication and awareness raising campaign on safe migration and employment issues; iii) livelihood and employability training tools delivered through a partnership with the Don Bosko Center and other training institutions that operate in collaboration with the Youth Employment Service (YES) Centre within the Regional Employment Office (REO); iv) work-training programmes established through the REO. The 12 actions included in this document describe in detail the first pillar of the KRTEP and highlight a series of service lines established in the Kukes Region to facilitate youth employment and the transition of workers to formalization.
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The Kukes Region TEP for Youth recognizes that formalization is a gradual process4. All actions addressing decent work deficits in the informal economy
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This is in line with the 2002 Resolution on Decent Work and the Informal Economy, adopted by the International Labour Conference (ILC).
have to take into consideration the diversity of informal work, the local reality of rural communities where employment is characterised by seasonality and is often based on family units, and the specificities of the context in which measures are implemented5. Recently launched infrastructure projects and investments in tourism and mining sector offer some employment opportunities for the local communities in the Kukes Region. The interventions proposed in the TEP 2011 are based on the assessment of the main local (rural and urban) development strategies in the Kukes Region such as, among others, the Kukes Region Tourism Strategy and Action and Kukes Region Tourism and Environment Promotion Assessment Study6. This review has highlighted three main strategic entry points: i) implementation of effective regulations that enable shift from informality to formal status, which can assist in raising productivity, increasing earnings, and extending coverage of existing rights, social protection and social dialogue (see for instance TEP Actions 1 and 2);
ii) investments in productivity improvements and diversification of agricultural activities, which have a disproportionally positive impact on the incomes of the poorest and have strong linkages with off-farm activities (such as for instance TEP Actions 4 and 5); iii) implementation of innovative measures, based on training and incentives, that help identify new sources of demand (including production for local consumption and markets for high-value products) (such as for instance TEP Actions 7 and 9). Thus, the Kukes Region TEP establishes 6 inter-connected service lines:
1. Entrepreneurship and business advisory services, with a particular focus on women 2. Training incentives/skills training grants 3. Access to credit opportunities 4. Subsidised employment 5. Organization/association building (to enhance voice and representation) 6. Regulatory environment, including rights
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This is in line with the 2008 Resolution concerning Promotion of Rural Employment for Poverty Reduction, adopted by the ILC. 6 The knowledge base for the development of the TEP has come from the work and analysis conducted under other programmes such as ART GOLD 2 Programme in Albania or Improving the Performance of Livestock Sector in Albania. Due to limited resources, there has been no opportunity to investigate other potential areas/value chains for inclusion in this TEP.
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In view of integrating European employment guidelines into Albanias active employment policies, the preparation of the Kukes Region TEP followed the steps and methodology used for other pacts for employment and development realised in several European regions in the 1990s and early 2000s7. In particular: 1. Identification of a relevant territory (Kukes Region and micro-areas within Kukes, with similar challenges and potential for development). 2. Dialogue and collaboration between the Ministry of Labour and the regional and local governments to seek the commitment of those who have the resources and responsibility for the future development of the region and its communities. 3. Completion of a participatory strategic audit of the areas (for instance through value chain and sectoral analysis) for the determination of problems, common concerns, and prospects of the different actors who are active in the field of employment in the respective area. 4. Identification of a planning group/development agency responsible for the strategy (the Kukes Regional Employment Board, supported by a team of technical specialists from the Ministry of Labour and the YEM programme). The group is also responsible for continuous monitoring and for evaluation. 5. Selection of a set of strategic interventions that are attainable within the relevant time-scale and with measurable impacts in terms of employment generation/formalization. These are formally laid down in an agreement described as a territorial employment pact. 6. Mobilisation of the appropriate capacities and organisations for delivery, according to transparency and efficiency criteria. In this context, national and local authorities, as well as other public entities, undertake those commitments toward simplification and acceleration of procedures; banks and other credit institutions, within the limits of their statutes, assume the commitment to support financial assistance; private sector, trade unions and other civil society organizations carry out their roles as stipulated in the TEP.
For a review of the initiatives and a catalogue of Territorial Employment Pacts in Europe, see for instance Territorial Pacts and Local Level Concertation in Europe. A multi-level governance perspective, prepared in August 2007 for the New Modes of Governance Project. The document contains a catalogue of hundreds of TEPs formulated in EU Member States since 1996.
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One of the comparative advantages of the TEP vis--vis formalization and generation of employment is that it promotes a close partnership between regional and local actors and the local branches of the National Employment Services (NES), which is mandated8 to provide services to all the unemployed persons who are looking for work, to workers looking to change jobs, and to employers, in order to achieve the overall objective of full and productive employment, improving quality and productivity of labour and strengthening social cohesion. While it would be unrealistic to expect that the National Employment Service be in a position to extend fullyfledged services to all the rural areas of Albania, the TEP actions, based on concertation and partnership, de-facto extend outreach and impact of NES services towards those who are unemployed or in vulnerable working conditions in the most remote areas of the country. The TEP was developed in the context of the implementation of Albanias Youth Employment National Action Plan (NAP). Adopted in 2010 by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, the Action Plan offers to policy makers over forty policy options that would allow the Government of Albania to address youth employment challenges and achieve the objectives of the existing strategies on youth development, migration, employment, and vocational training. Moreover, the Action Plan recognizes that local governments and labour market institutions need to have the capacity to design, monitor, and evaluate youth employment interventions targeted to the local circumstances. In particular, Output 1.1.5 of the Youth Employment National Action Plan envisages the promotion of social pacts on youth employment in regions with a high incidence of youth at risk of labour market exclusion. The Kukes Region Territorial Employment Pact for Youth is the first attempt to realize this local-level concertation. Driven by the Regional Employment Board, the Pact defines the roles and responsibilities of over forty actors involved in efforts to generate and formalize employment in the Region. The TEP is a replicable model. With the support of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, the Kukes Regional Authorities can already begin promoting subsequent TEPs (for 2012 and onwards), with specific actions and targets, and build relevant partnerships for implementation. Other regions and micro-regions of Albania can also engage in the necessary steps (see above) to move from a territorial audit to a Pact for employment generation. * * *
8 Article 2 and 3 of the NES Statute, Council of Ministers Decision N. 42/1998 as amended by Council of Ministers Decision 263/2000 and 17/2003.
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ACTION PLAN
Action 1: Regulatory interventions towards the formalization of employment
Relevant service line: (Regulatory environment)
Objective
To implement regulations that leverage incentives for registration of (micro) farmers as self-employed in agriculture at the national social insurance system (ISI).
Target
A 1.8 per cent reduction in the number of informal workers (self-employed) in agriculture (over 300 people in Kukes and between 6-8,000 people impacted by the measure at the national level)
Under TEP Action 1, it is recommended that the 2011 Directive include the criteria that each beneficiary of the programme shall be registered with ISI for that
fiscal year. Proof of payment of contributions (or proof of inclusion on the social assistance scheme) shall be included in the PARD verification process. The Kukes Region receives on average 300,000 USD from PARD. In 2010, the total number of beneficiaries was 504 individuals. According to survey data9, the number of self employed and contributing family workers in agriculture for the Kukes Region is 8,801 individuals, while the ISI register indicates only 3,155 people self-employed in agriculture (36%). It can reasonably be expected that the insertion of the requirement that PARD beneficiaries must be regularly registered would lead to the formalization of around 322 jobs and an increase of ISI revenues by 4,265856 ALL10 per year. PARD reports and data from ISI need to be analysed at the end of the PARD implementation (January 2012).
Responsible Partners
Ministry i of f Lab bour, Soci ial l Aff Affai irs and d Equal l Opportuni iti ies (MoLSA LSAEO EO) ) Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection (MoAFCP) Mini nist istry ry o of f Fi Fina nanc nce e (MoF oF) F) Mountain Areas Development Agency (MADA)
Sustainability/Replicability:
1. It is auspicated that the criteria will be applied by MADA and other agencies providing grants/loans for the development of agriculture and rural areas. MADA through its Mountains Towards the Markets Programme, subcomponent 1.2 Strategic investments and market entities, provides small grants (up to 2,500 USD) for farmers and farmers groups.
9 (LFS 2008) Tabulation: Economic activity code (NACE Rev1.1) professional status (self-employed and contributing family workers) by Region. 10 Kukes Regions districts are considered highland area and thus the yearly contribution for health and social insurance is 13,248 ALL.
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2. Subsequent revisions of the Directive (such as in December 2011) may be able to establish that projects awarded a grant under PARD shall foresee the registration also of the contributing family members that are indicated as participating in the implementation of the PARD-financed project. This is in line with the recommendation that special attention should be paid to the vulnerable category of contributing family workers (CFW, also known as unpaid family workers).
Risk Assumptions