Southeast Europe

Skills Development for Employability and Citizenship

The transition from a centrally planned to a market economy is a major challenge for many countries in Southeast Europe (SEE), especially for those in a post-conflict situation. It is essential that education for the world of work and skills development for employability and citizenship are addressed to meet this challenge. With this in mind, UNESCO-UNEVOC, the Education Sector in UNESCO Headquarters and the Austrian National Commission for UNESCO jointly organized a meeting on Skills Development for Employability and Citizenship.

The meeting was held in the United Nations Centre in Vienna, Austria, from 21-24 November 2004. It focussed on identifying best ways to meet the needs of South East European countries in the context of the EFA objectives and UNESCO’s strategic approach on strengthening co-operation in these countries. The meeting confirmed that sustainable peace and development in the region cannot be based on political settlements and economic considerations alone. The empowerment of citizens to become active and participating members of their societies is a prerequisite for the peaceful development of the region.

For this reason, the meeting examined the notion of skills development not only for employability but also for citizenship. While the focus was on SEE, other countries with transition economies also participated, for example Latvia, Poland and the Czech Republic. In order to add the global context, there were presentations on skills development in the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific and the European Union. Each of these examined the notion of promoting a “dialogue between different cultures” with regard to skills development for employability and citizenship. UNESCO-UNEVOC discussed plans for the future development of the UNEVOC Network in transition countries with representatives of UNEVOC Centres and Candidate UNEVOC Centres, particularly from SEE.

Documents

Report (PDF, 200 KB)