CREDI was commissioned by Caritas Switzerland in the employment opportunity assessment of disadvantaged groups in the Upper-Drina-Region (UDR), as for their SELLS project. Assessment will be conducted in seven regional municipalities: Čajniče, Foča (RS), Foča (FBiH), Novo Goražde, Pale (FBiH), Rudo and Višegrad. The main aim of the assessment is to identify economic sectors with the largest potential for employment of disadvantaged groups, as well to identify the main physical and social barriers for employment of these groups. Disadvantaged groups included in this project are youth (under 30 years old), women, national and ethnical minorities, population from rural and isolated parts of the municipalities, older population (over 50 years old) and people that are in the state of poverty or at risk of poverty.
In the first phase of the assessment, the secondary and administrative data will be analysed for the purpose of creating economic profile of the municipalities involved in the project. The second phase is the fieldwork, which will include interviews and focus groups with local employers, government representatives and NGO representatives. Based on this analysis, the set of recommendations will be designed for Caritas Switzerland and involved partnering municipalities for the intervention in the specific value chains that poses the greatest employment potential for the targeted disadvantaged groups.