The 6th Employment Congress, organized by the Basque Government’s Department of Employment and Labor in collaboration with Lanbide, the Basque Employment Service, was held at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao on November 9 and 10. This year, 2023, the event was themed “Public policies and responses to priority employment challenges in the Basque Country.” The event was opened by Juan Mari Aburto, Mayor of Bilbao; Teresa Laespada, Regional Deputy for Employment, Social Cohesion and Equality; and Idoia Mendia, Second Vice-President and Regional Minister of Labor and Employment of the Basque Government.
One of the conference’s topics was innovative strategies for care, support, professional development, and access to employment for people in need of priority care: those facing exclusion or at risk of exclusion, those with disabilities, young people, those over 50, those with low qualifications, women, and those experiencing long-term unemployment.
Sendotu Aldiberean participated in the roundtable discussion on innovative programs and evidence of success aimed at priority care recipients. The program, which we have been developing since 2015 within the framework of the Basque Country Operational Program, is co-financed by the European Social Fund, Lanbide, the three Basque provincial councils, the city councils of Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz, and the Vital, la Caixa, and BBK foundations. The program achieved integration results of 26% at the time the project was completed, increasing to 33% after six months. Just as significant as the quantitative results are the impacts identified by the participants in terms of improved vital and social aspects and access to public services (healthcare, education, employment, housing, and social protection).
Some key features of the “SendotuAldiberean model” are mutual learning among the seven entities that comprise it, coordination with the public administration and other social stakeholders, collaboration and synergies with the business community, and the opportunity for experimentation and the development of medium- and long-term itineraries offered by this European funding framework, which we hope to be able to replicate with the new project we are currently developing with a time horizon of 2030.
Conference link:: https://www.euskadi.eus/congresoempleo/
