Youth European Society held a youth exchange as part of Mission: Youth Employment project, co-financed by the European Commission Erasmus + Program. The exchange took place in Bansko between November 10 and November 18, 2019 and was attended by 40 young people from 7 European countries – Bulgaria, Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Czech Republic, Albania and Kosovo. During the youth exchange, young people raised awareness of youth unemployment in the countries participating in the project and also learned methods and tools for finding solutions to this problem. Through simulation games, videos and discussions, young people gained experience and confidence in how they should behave during a job interview and how to deal with the challenges before starting their first job. During the training, the representatives of all participating organizations shared their views and good practices during the open discussions. The young people had the opportunity to present to the rest of their country’s culture, traditional food, drink, dance and folklore. Each of the participants in the training received a YouthPass certificate. Ideas for future cooperation in joint projects were also discussed.

The project “Mission: Youth employment” aims to help young people and particularly those of them who are at risk of being excluded from the labor market and those facing barriers at starting first job, finding new one, to get information and acquire knowledge, skills and competences through the methods of non-formal education, needed for smooth and successful transition to the labor market.

Main objectives of the project are:

• To raise awareness among young people for the problems of youth unemployment, the methods, the tools and the institutions to dial with it.
• To encourage young people to be more confident and self-esteem while they are looking for new or first job;
• To motivate young people to disseminate the learning outcomes in order to cover a wider range of young people who are at risk of exclusion from the labor market;
• To promote the methods of non-formal education among young people as tool to tackle with various problem related to youth.
• To develop long-term partnership between the project’s partners as a method to work together for future issues related with youth.
• Тo explore employability of young people, inclusion, soft skills, young people with fewer opportunities and how it is searched in various sectors of life. These skills and competencies will be beneficial for participants for future initiatives, also helping participants become more aware of self-employment as a career option.