(на английском языке)

Запорожье, 16 февраля 2017 г.

Dear Mr Governor, Ladies and Gentlemen!

It is a great honour and joy for me to open this forum together with you, Mr Governor. The forum deals with a very topical problem which is of very high importance for Ukraine in many ways: the integration of IDP into the local labour market.

Many individuals need success in this task: identification with your work is an important feature for people and the fastest way to hit the ground after your displacement.

It is therefore also important for the regions so that IDP feel soon at home here.

Against this background, last year the Federal Government has taken a new initiative and started the program “Initiatives for the Infrastructure Program of Ukraine” (IIPU). It is a continuation of our humanitarian assistance.

It goes without saying that we will also continue this assistance especially in the buffer zone; but here in Zaporizhzhya it is important to create viable perspectives for the IDP. That is why one of the main components of this program is to support host communities and municipalities by caring for IDP and by matching their skills with local needs in the labour market.

The program is implemented by GIZ. By now the following measures have already been realized or are in the process of realization:

- Study tour “Labour Market Policies and Employment Support for Social Integration”. 20 participants from state and non-state organisations could familiarize themselves with the German system of employment support. The trip also had the very important effect of allowing the participants to network among themselves.

- In Zaporizhzhya library a so-called “co-working” area has been created as a test: “Spilno-Hub”. Supported by GIZ a space has been created for IDP to meet and exchange their experience on job opportunities and social initiatives.

- Employees of Job Centres have been trained make them more sensitive to problems of IDP.

- GIZ plans to support local activities in the rural areas towards support of employment.

But it is not only GIZ that is active in your Oblast. The Consulate General will support an initiative which set a goal of helping young female offenders to re-integrate into society after release from prison. As most of them originate from Donetsk or Lugansk area, they cannot return. The initiative hopes to enable the young women to create small businesses in the agricultural field.

The most important actors when it comes to employ IDP are, of course, the businesses. I am grateful to the Chamber of Commerce of Zaporizhzhya as the lobby group for businesses that the Chamber intends to enhance awareness among its members and the wider public about the potentials in the IDP, their work abilities. These people have opted to stay faithful to Ukraine in a very difficult crises situation. They deserve our support.

We Germans can relate to our own experience in this matter, even if this experience dates back a couple of decades. After WWII Germany had to host about 12 Mio people who fled the eastern region.

These people suffered also prejudices at the time. In Germany, the easiest way to integration was through a job and the identification with the new home and an enhanced self-esteem. Certainly, a booming economy was very helpful at the time to manage integration quickly and smoothly.

If there is a recipe for success of our small and medium-sized companies than it is our system of Vocational Education, the Dual system. Government and business community work hand in hand: the state provides the schools, the business community through the chambers of commerce decide the curriculum by fixing the requirements for the diploma.

It is with this dual responsibility, that we can react flexibly to changing conditions of the market and changing needs of skills and knowledge.

Our goal is to avoid unemployment in the first place, especially for young people. But even this system came under strain by the big number of refugees. But I think with our very dense network of job centres we have the opportunity to bring a big number of people into work or to train them so that they have a chance to find work. As these are also the challenges for Ukraine, I would like to briefly present our system:

There are around 600 agency’s outlets all over Germany. Job seekers can inform themselves independently in a self-service centre about vacancies which have been reported by companies on a voluntary basis. These platforms can also be consulted online. The agencies offer individual counselling, if necessary, and guide towards appropriate educational programs or further education schemes.

Employers can also enquire at the agency whether there are appropriate job seekers on the books. The Agency is also the certified organisation to pay out unemployment benefits. To receive this benefit, you have to have worked at least 12 out of the last 24 months. This benefit is an entitlement as you have been paying into the compulsory unemployment benefit scheme through a part of your income.

It is one of the uncontroversial elements of the reform, called Hartz IV in 2005 that benefits are paid by those who also have the duty to help you get new employment. The agency stays like that in constant contact with job seekers.

We all know that it is impossible to transfer a system from one country to another. But some elements of our experience may be useful for Ukraine. That is why we invited colleagues from job centres to the study trip to Germany.

This is a practical example of our support in putting into use the potential which IDP from Donbass brought with them and which could and should be used to underpin economic recovery of the whole country.

Please, rest assured that we will be on the side of Ukraine in this question as in all others.

I wish you all a successful forum. Thank you for your attention.