New Programme in Kosovo to Create More Inclusive Employment Opportunities for Youth

We are excited to be partnering with Save the Children Kosovo/a to bring our Access to Decent Work for Youth programme to Kosovo for the first time. It is also a new direction for the programme, with a particular focus on helping companies create safer, more accessible and inclusive employment opportunities for young people with disabilities.

We have already begun working with three companies, LC Waikiki, Rugove Cooperation and Elnor, to review their current employment practices and identify changes that could support more inclusive recruitment and workplaces.

Together with Save the Children Kosovo/a, our work with HR and management teams covered recruitment, onboarding, workplace accessibility, safety, transport, supervision, mentoring and reasonable adjustments. Workplace visits also helped us understand the types of roles available across retail, production, packaging, logistics and support functions.

We also met with Resource Centres, Disabled Persons’ Organisations and employment-support organisations to better understand the support available to young people with disabilities and how companies can work with these organisations on recruitment, job coaching, training and ongoing workplace support.

The first phase concluded with a joint workshop for participating companies, covering child rights and responsible business, disability inclusion, inclusive recruitment, workplace adjustments, accessible onboarding and preparing managers to support young workers with disabilities.

We are very pleased to have kicked off this work in Kosovo and look forward to continuing our collaboration with Save the Children Kosova/o as the programme develops. We look forward to sharing more about its progress, learning and impact in the coming months.

The programme is being implemented under the project Enhancing Well-being of Children and Youth with Disabilities Through Improved Social Inclusion in Kosovo, funded by Sida through the Embassy of Sweden in Kosovo.