Work and Mediation district service points - Maastricht, the Netherlands
A relatively large number of people in the Objective 2 areas in Maastricht are unemployed, have a low level of social involvement and are situated aconsiderable distance from the labour market. The project ‘Work and Mediation district service points’ is tackling these problems head-on. At the service points, local people who are looking for work are helped to find vacancies, to prepare themselves for participation in the employment process and to submit applications for suitable functions.
Description
Five district service points are being set up and staffed so that people looking for work and local employers will be able to find each other more easily. The service point is fulfilling a central role for the various mediating organisations and the unemployed.
Approach
During the first phase of the project, the service points and a communication structure were set up and staff was hired. After the appointment and training of staff, a broad network of contacts in the district was set up. Job-seekers are helped to find a suitable function from the existing vacancies.
Results
About 1100 job-seekers will be helped over a period of two years. They themselves have to approach the centre, become part of the district system and call in regularly at the service point. Local people are being encouraged to become involved in charities and other social organisations to bridge the gap to paid work.
Resources
European subsidy: € 272.320
Total cost: € 1.172.320
EU involvement
This project has been partially funded with Objective 2 funds. Since 2000 nine cities have been eligible for the Objective 2 Urban Areas in the Netherlands programme, which forms part of the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD) of the European Union. EFRD is one of the four Structural Funds of the European Commission. The programme helps cities to carry out projects that benefit disadvantaged areas.
In the Netherlands, total European Objective 2 subsidies concern 192 million euros. 4.25% of the Dutch population lives in the selected areas.
The European Commission prescribes that for every euro from the EFRD, a minimum of one euro must be contributed from the government. The cities must therefore add their own public or private funding to the European subsidy. The European programme is linked to the urban plans agreed within the context of the urban policy of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. For this, the cities can make use of funds that have been allocated to them in the context of the national urban policy.
Project start date
Document type
practice