Sarajevo – Employment and Social Affairs Platform 2 (ESAP 2) project of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in partnership with the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented the Report The Impact of The COVID-19 Pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina to its partners from ministries/agencies in charge of labour issues, Public Employment Services (PES) and others at an onsite event held in Sarajevo on 3 March 2022.

“We are pleased to share this Report that analyses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and also provides recommendations on addressing some of the structural challenges present in the labour market”, said Amira Ramhorst, Team Leader of the RCC’s ESAP 2 project at the event.  

“This and similar reports are produced as a part of ESAP 2 Technical Assistance (TA) mechanism aimed at addressing the needs expressed by our partners from the Western Balkans (WB). We thank the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina that reached out to us with this request, partnered with us and contributed in developing this Report with its expertise. This Report was based on data collected from the labour market research in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020, implemented by the Federal Employment Institute, Public Institution Employment Service of the Republic of Srpska, and the Employment Institute of Brcko District in BiH, with technical assistance of the EU-funded project “Improvement of labor market research".

The negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic “called for” a thorough analysis of the state of play in the labour markets in the region, which was recognized by partners from WB economies. Over the past year, our WB partners asked for our assistance in a range of topics  from assessing the impact of COVID-19 on labour markets to assessing the effectiveness of active labour market policies and measures. The RCC ESAP 2 project is pleased to assist our WB partners to come up with best possible policy and operational solutions to support recovery of labour markets from the COVID-19 crisis, but also more broadly support policies and practices that address structural challenges to increase employment opportunities for citizens in the Western Balkans. The RCC ESAP 2 team is glad that we have the opportunity to collaborate with our WB partners and that we have the TA mechanism to address their needs.”

Here is the video story from the event

The presentation, that was jointly organized with the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the RCC ESAP 2 project, gathered close to 30 representatives from partner organisations and projects, and delegation of the European Union (EU) in Bosnia and Herzegovina