National minorities in the labour market

Over the last months, the Department of National Minorities has been implementing the project titled “Confirming the representatives of national minorities in the labour market”. The project is of a monitoring and training nature.

“Research on the integration of national minorities has been carried out a long time ago. However, on their basis we can only observe some general trends in the regions. On the basis of the research on the labour market we want to find out how it really works,” said Vaiva Vėželytė-Pokladova, head of the Analysis and Information Department of National Minorities Policy in the Department of National Minorities. Vėželytė emphasised that the department was not only taking action when needed: ‘There are simply certain things that need to be improved in order for it to work even better’.

“The project has started in February. It is being implemented together with our partners as it assumed the participation of non-governmental organizations – the House of National Communities and the Institute of Social Integration,” said a representative of the department.

As a part of the project, we will create a method of monitoring the empowerment of representatives of national minorities in the labour market. “The methodology will identify indicators that we can use later to assess the labour market situation,” said Vėželytė.

At the same time, training will also be provided. “The training will be conducted in several directions. The first is media monitoring and training for the representatives of the media. If there is a negative message in the media about national minorities, we will take an immediate action. There will also be training for representatives of national minorities on how to establish themselves in the labour market. For example, we will teach them where they can find some help or how they can improve their vocational skills,” explained Vėželytė.

The project will be implemented over three years.