Outreach Project for the NEETs (15-29) in Cyprus

Since January 2024, the Department of Labour of Cyprus, is implementing, an Outreach Project which entails comprehensive interventions tailored to the challenges faced by NEET youth in Cyprus. The Contracting Authority for the Project is the Department of Labour, and the Contracting Body for the Implementation is the consortium of Insights Market Research (IMR) Ltd and Interhorizon A Ltd. The project operates via national funds and also has the contribution of EU Cohesion Policy Funds 

Community engagement 

This project is an initiative serving both the Department of Labour’s social outreach pillar and broader societal needs. In addition, it includes provision of services for an Operational Unit of Employment Counselors with the aim to:  

• detect NEET youth aged 15-29, (not registered in the Public Services for Unemployed Registry) in the community 
• provide specialised and personalised employment services to them 

The Operational Unit of Employment Counsellors operates in all districts of Cyprus, conducting activities to approach, attract, guide and support NEET youth. The activities expand from city centres to more secluded areas of the districts. They include the counsellors touring in villages and city centres, in places where NEET youth is likely to be located in each district, approaching them and promoting the project’s services. Moreover, the Counsellors utilise structured alliances with stakeholders in communities, like municipal authorities, NGO’s, and counselling centres in order to form collaboration that will allow NEET youth to be informed and engaged to the project’s services.  

 Personalised services 

The comprehensive personalised service process for NEET youth, includes conducting a personalised interview, recording the profile of the unemployed, providing professional counseling and guidance to improve their employability through referrals to appropriate training programs, searching for and finding suitable work. One of the tools used by the professionals of the project is the ARISTON psychometric test, which is used to support tasks related to the analysis of personality, occupational and career counselling as well as personal development.