‘SMELT’ Project

Improving the position of vulnerable groups and providing the skills necessary to join the labour market

The Center for Democracy Foundation has begun the implementation of the new two-year Erazumus+project SMELT - Skilled Marginalised People to Enter the Labour Market.

The project is being implemented in collaboration with 8 partners - Samarcanda società cooperativa sociale Onlus, Italy, Mosha Pijade Vocational Secondary School, Tetovo, Northern Macedonia, Synthesis Center for Research and Education Ltd, Cyprus, Asociación Mar Violeta, Spain, Sdruzhenie Yuni Partners, Bulgaria, European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), France, Ecor International S.p.A., Italy and the Center for Democracy Foundation, Serbia.

The project aim is to improve the position of vulnerable groups, the homeless and migrants, in particular, and provide the skills they need to join the labour market. Project implementation will take place over several phases - after mapping and candidate selection, a total of 240 participants (30 per partner) will go through various soft skills training, improving communication skills, digital literacy and CV preparation. Once all participants have gone through training, 80 candidates (10 per partner) will attend a welding course. Trainers and educators in both phases will remain involved during the entire process and will actively monitor each candidate’s progress. The expectation is that after training, each candidate will become fully integrated into society.

The project is financed by the European Union through Erazmus+ program.