Worker and Regional Economy Adjustment
Project – (PARTNER)
04/2000 – 09/2003
OBECTIVES
The objective of Worldwide Strategies’ Integrated Community
Adjustment Program, funded by the US Department of Labor, is
to build local capacity for addressing communities’ economic
development needs, while fostering partnership among local
government and civil society organizations. In Ukraine, the
Adjustment Program has been tailored to enable the Ministry
of Labor and Social Policy (MOLSP), and the National Employment
Service (NES), to establish the policies and design the services
that will facilitate successful community economic adjustment.
The Adjustment Program also provides new strategies through
which Ukrainian communities can build their decision making,
organizational and managerial capacities.
The Adjustment Program seeks to help Ukraine:
· Stimulate job creation
· Mitigate the negative social and economic impact of enterprise
restructuring
· Facilitate democratization through citizen participation in
economic decision making.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Integrated Community Adjustment
Program is designed to address the inter-connected needs of
Ukraine's government agencies, enterprise managers and workers.
Through the Adjustment Program, Worldwide Strategies has implemented
technical assistance for Ukraine's National Employment Service,
its local labor offices, and their community partners. This
program's objectives include
· Improving the MOLSP's institutional
capacity to develop and implement market-oriented services
for workers, employers
and communities affected by mass layoffs. These services include
pre-layoff assistance for workers facing mass layoffs, on-site
vocational training tailored to employers' skill needs, and
facilitation of community strategic planning for economic development.
· Introducing new approaches to labor market development, such
as worker retraining and transition, that have proven successful
in other transition economies
· Creating public-private partnerships to meet local workforce
and economic transition challenges
· Helping local labor offices to provide citizens, municipal
officials, non-governmental organizations and the private sector
with the tools and approaches they can use for economic development
and/or worker transition
· Helping local labor offices increase access to citizens by
partnering with them in local and regional adjustment processes.
WSI assisted two demonstration cities - Slavutych (pop. 25k)
and Gorlivka (pop. 305k) - in adjusting to economic restructuring
by helping local government design and implement economic development
plans tailored to local needs, realities, and resources. These
communities implemented income capture, business support, workforce
development and demand-based skills training projects resulting
in three new business starts and 76 new jobs. Over 900 workers
were retained in existing firms through active labor measures.
WSI taught practical economic development strategies as well
as the tools used to implement them. Our approach emphasized
meaningful participation, broad stakeholder input and civic
responsibility enabling effective economic renewal. WSI also
fostered partnerships among local government officials, businesses,
trade unions, traditionally marginalized groups such as women,
and civil society organizations. WSI created a cross-sector
network of trained local experts able to mobilize local resources
and build community trust in local government through partnership
development and advocacy for local government transparency
and accountability.
