FOL Hapur with the candidates for the mayor of the municipality of South Mitrovica

Mitrovica, 18 October 2017 – Lëvizja FOL today has hels FOL Hapur with the candidates for the mayor for the municipality of South Mitrovica, where the analysis “Municipalities and their role in employment” was published.

Jeton Zulfaj from FOL emphasized that there is an approach and perception that the role of municipalities is poor in economic development and employment. This approach and this perception can be best seen at this time of elections where no one wants to ask the candidates if they have any plans on how to boost economic development and create jobs, “said Zulfaj. According to him, Municipalities can and should work on economic development plans and strategies, because they are responsible for licensing business activities, applying taxes and payments, providing infrastructure and basic education, and adopting regulations that affect economic development and job creation.

Qazim Shala, NISMA candidate for Kosovo, said capacity building and economic development should go hand in hand. “We have German associations training the cadres, but we do not know that these cadres are being trained to work in Kosovo or Germany,” said Shala. In the absence of this information we do not know the effect of the implemented policies.

Valdete Idrizi, candidate from Partia Demokratike e Kosovës, stated that young people should be stimulated as much as possible in order to be more active. “To promote vocational schools and to break the negative perceptions of these schools,” she said. The promotion of vocational schools would help in the development of young people and would thus create great opportunities for their employment. According to her, volunteering and practical work can be done in cooperation with the municipality where the municipality would pay for 1 year the practical work of the youth.

Fehmi Ferati candidate from Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE, said the city lacks a market where products can be sold. While there are no opportunities to practice, youth remains inexperienced, and thus makes it more difficult to get involved in the labor market. “Young people should be prepared for the labor market by practicing at least six months, as is the case in America,” Ferati said. Creating merit-based systems and policies would increase confidence in institutions and, consequently, youth employment. “Young people have mostly harmed politics, especially when there is a lack of meritocracy as a criterion for employment.

Nystret Preteni, the candidate of the FJALA Party, said that Mitrovica’s youth should be prepared for the domestic market rather than for the international market. “We will create access to employment, and education so our young people will not deviate” – said Preteni.

This activity was supported by Enhancing Youth Employment – EYE Project – project of the Swiss Cooperation Office and implemented by Helvetas Swiss Cooperation and MDA.