The MoreThanAJob project consults stakeholders of the Social and Solidarity Economy sector

Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Italy, Dec 2019-Feb 2020

A stakeholder’s design meeting was held in Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Italy, Dec 2019-Feb 2020, on the occasion of the “MoreThanAJob” press conferences in different Partners countries. A large number of different organizations from the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) sector in each Partner’s countries attended, discussed and added their recommendations especially on the aims of the “MoreThanAJob” project. Success stories were presented, and the needs and biggest challenges from the point of view of SSE organizations were defined. These inputs will be evaluated and categorized, in order to be used also in the adaptation of the best practices.

Encouraging the development of cooperation mechanisms between the Social and Solidarity Economy and the public administration to improve social services dedicated to vulnerable subjects to increase their opportunities for social and work inclusion: this is our main goal in MoreThanAJob! A 3-year project in which Social and Solidarity Economy actors and representatives of the public administration will be involved in the training courses and will be invited to work together for the co-design, development and provision of services to promote social inclusion and employment of vulnerable subjects.

To achieve the desired results during this process, we believe it is essential to involve these actors from its inception, creating moments of encounter and comparison in order to share their experiences of cooperation and needs in order to improve support mechanisms.

At the local level, one of these first moments was the meeting organized on December 19, 2019 in Nablus, on January 6, 2020 in Amman, then on February 4, 2020 in Beirut, and the last was on February 20 in Palermo. During these Press Conferences and Stackholders meetings where representatives of the Social and Solidarity Economy active in the partners regions met to share good cooperation practices with the public administration for the provision services aimed at promoting the social and work inclusion of vulnerable groups.

The term Social and Solidarity Economy is increasingly used to indicate a wide spectrum of organizations that distinguish themselves from the actors of the conventional economy for two fundamental characteristics. They have explicit economic and social objectives and include different forms of cooperative, associative and solidarity relationships.

Next steps

As agreed during the project launch meeting held in Amman-Jordan on 26 and 27 November 2019, the Strengths and Weaknesses in the cooperation experiences collected during the meeting will contribute to the development of the MoreThanAJob framework and social schemes based on a cooperation between Social and Solidarity Economy actors and public administrations. The developed model will be the basis of the training Content for Social and Solidarity Economy actors and public administration representatives. Furthermore, the MoreThanAJob portal is being developed, an interactive online space to encourage communication between the actors involved in this process.

It is worth mentioning that MoreThanAJob  (Reinforcing  social and  solidarity  economy for  the unemployed, uneducated and refugees) is a project funded by the European Union, under the ENI CBC MED programme. The programme is managed by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Italy) and aims to promote cross-border cooperation in the Mediterranean region.

This 2 million euros project is expected to contribute the promotion of social inclusion by providing the following: At least 3 train-the-trainer workshops for public administration officers, 100 participants will be trained from SSE actors, 90 public officers trained in employment and education schemes for refugees, €200,000 in sub-grants to support innovative SSE initiatives, 10 agreements between public administrations and relevant stakeholders for coordinated planning and implementation of social services. Finally, the publication of 6 reports containing new/improved policy recommendations.

For more information please contact:

Project official webpage: MoreThanAJob

Social Media accounts

Focal Point                           Title                                 Email

Dr. Imad Ibrik                       Project coordinator       iibrik@najah.edu

Disclaimer: This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union under the ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin programme. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of AN-Najah National University (ANNU) and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union of the programme management structures.