The Single Programming Document for Objective 3, for the period 2004-2006, which will be co-financed by the European Social Fund, aims at the development and more efficient utilization of human capital in conditions of social cohesion and equal opportunities, through the promotion of employment and the qualitative upgrading of human capital.
The strategic objective and the targets of this Programme are in compliance with specific strategic objectives and general targets described in the Strategic Development Plan of the Republic of Cyprus, 2004-2006. The Programme is also fully in line with the objectives and guidelines of the European Employment Strategy as well as with the policy fields supported by the ESF.
The Strategic Objective of SPD is the full utilization of human capital in conditions of social cohesion. The interventions for the achievement of the main strategic objective of the SPD and the general targets that have been set, are placed under the three priority pillars (i) development and promotion of active labour market policies, (ii) promotion and improvement of education and training systems and life-long learning and (iii) technical assistance.
The first priority pillar includes training measures for the promotion of employment and vocational education and training. More specifically, the Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus will promote and implement appropriate actions to improve the employability of new entrants into the labour market who are secondary school graduates, the unemployed, Inactive Females as well as to support the operations and efficiency of Microenterprises employing 1-4 persons.
Actions for the Promotion of Training and Employability of the Unemployed, New Secondary School Graduates and Inactive Female Labour Force
One of the actions addresses the training and development needs of specific groups of unemployed people, with emphasis on women and the young unemployed with no qualifications. Specific actions are also envisaged to address the needs of new secondary school graduates with priority given to the general direction of secondary education, who have not completed their 25th year of age and who have not gained work experience of more than 9 months after their graduation. Finally, a third type of action concerns the improvement of the employability of women who remain economically inactive through actions of training and work experience.
All the above actions include activities such as: (i) Organisationof vocational training programmes which will be implemented via theoretical and practical training in a training institution as well as training and practical experiences in an enterprise, and (ii) programmes for the acquisition of work experience with the adaptation of knowledge and skills of the target groups to the needs of the labour market through the attainment of work experience.
Action for the Provision of Consultancy Services, Guidance and Training to the Personnel of the Microenterprises with 1-4 persons
This action aims at marked improvements in the operation and efficiency of the Microenterprises that employ 1-4 persons and the enhancement of their competitiveness. This will be achieved through the systematic identification of the weaknesses/problems that the enterprise is facing which will consequently lead to appropriate training/development activities for the owner/manager and the personnel of the enterprise.
This action includes (i) general and specific information and publicity activities, (ii) personalized guidance and professional training on and outside the job by consultants/ trainers and (iii) special training of consultants for Microenterprises.
Upon implementation of the above actions it is expected that the achievement of the objective of providing high quality guidance/counseling, training and working experiences to the job seekers and inactive people as well as the employers, will effectively contribute to the prevention and reduction of unemployment, to an increase in employment and to a better utilization of the labour force.
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