Diversity makes the difference

Employability refers to a person's capability of gaining initial employment, maintaining employment, and obtaining new employment if required, in a certain socioeconomic environment. Employability depends on the inter-relationship between the personal circumstances of an individual (knowledge and skills, personal attitudes and attributes) and the demands of the labour market, which influences the person’s ability to gain or maintain employment in reasonable time intervals.

Since 1980, KMOP has been implementing vocational training and advisory projects aiming at improving the employability skills of individuals who are find themselves outside the labour market, or face such a possibility in the near future. Through various types of interventions, KMOP aims at creating those skills and requirements which could enable the individual to participate in efficient training projects, providing experience that later on facilitates integration in the labour market.

The participation in social and occupational rehabilitation programs can significantly benefit an individual as outlined above:

• Reinforcement of an individual’s self- reliance on his/ her own competences, in relation to the desired life changes. This goal presupposes the reinforcement of a series of attributes (self- esteem, self- confidence, soul- searching and self- assessment), which may contribute to the development of a positive attitude towards difficulties and everyday obstacles, and to the enhancement of one’s adaptiveness, communication skills , and general ability to seize initiatives and work in cooperative fashion .

The terms reinforcement and encouragement are considered to be the key elements of the above procedure, as reinforcement refers to the process through which the individual achieves the desirable level of self- contingence, and encouragement refers to the development of creativity (self- expression and skills) through relationships that are based on cooperation, initiative and mutual trust.

• Support from the broader social environment or at least elimination of inhibitions deriving from prejudices.

• Re- training in fields, which not only correspond to the actual competences and desires of the individual, but also meet the demands of the labour market.

The last two decades, KMOP has implemented a significant number of vocational training and advisory projects for the improvement of employability conditions of disadvantaged population groups.

In cooperation with various vocational training centers, KMOP carried out a large number of advisory activities in the context of the “Integrated interventions for Disadvantaged groups” program, funded from the 2nd and 3rd Community Support Framework (CSF) for Greece. KMOP was responsible for the consultation services, supporting the training carried out by the Vocational Training Centres. Due to the aforementioned advisory services, the beneficiaries were able to complete the programs with success and gain useful experience for their social and occupational advancement.

During the period 2003- 04 KMOP implemented “Programmes for the Provision of Community- based support services” in five Greek regions, from which 852 persons benefited. In 2006- 07, while having a leading role among a variety of social partners, KMOP implemented “Programmes for the Provision of Community- based support services” in eight Greek regions, from which 5,000 individuals benefited. For the period 2004- 2007 KMOP was leading a large consortium during the implementation of the project “Equal capabilities- equal opportunities” in the context of the “Integrated interventions for Women” framework, according to the D.G “Occupation and Vocational Training”. The beneficiaries of the project were 2,309 unemployed women from the region of Attiki.  The majority of beneficiaries who participated in the aforementioned projects were able to re- enter and remain on the job market later on.

Finally, during the period 2005- 2008, under the framework of regional programs such as integrated local initiatives and urban development, KMOP implemented advisory activities in the Koridallos area of Attiki region (“Consultation for the urban development of Shisto area”), in Crete (“Integrated Intervention project Nemesis”), in Lesvos island (“Local Initiatives for the employment of Youth in Lesvos”), in East Macedonia- Thrace (“Municipality of Iasmos and Municipality of Xanthi”), in Lefkada island (“Consultation actions in the context of the ‘Local Initiatives for the Employment’ program”), in North Aegean region (“Provision of advisory services for the promotion of employment for unemployed people in the North Aegean region”), in Neda area of Messinisia (“Provision of advisory services for the promotion of employment in mountainous and  deprived areas of Messinia”), and in Rhodes island (“Network of Integrated Co-operations of Dodekanisa for the promotion of employment in Alternative types of Tourism”).