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FINAL REPORT Network of Career Advisory Centres in the Republic of Moldova Project

27 February 2017

Reporting Period September, 2015 – December, 2016

Donor Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Country Republic of Moldova

Project Title Network of Career Advisory Centres in the Republic of Moldova

Project ID (Atlas Award ID) Outputs Atlas Project ID and description

00088061 00094883 SYSLAB II Project

Implementing Partner(s) Ministry of Economy, National Employment Agency, Local academia, private sector, other.

Project Start Date 01.09.2015

Project End Date 31.07.2018 (early termination upon Donor request on 31.12.2016)

Total project budget for August 2015 – July 2018

1,572,371USD

August 2015 – December 2016 Total Budget

643,114.59.00 USD of which: - 603,114.59 USD reflecting NMFA contribution as per the negotiations following the early termination of the cost-share agreement (including the unspent balance from previous project – SYSLAB I) - 40,000 USD reflecting UNDP regular resources

Break down of the resources projected as per Project Document:

2015-2018 Total budget: 1,572,371USD

Total resources required 1,572,371USD

Regular 40,000USD

Other: NMFA 1,532,371USD In-kind Contributions 493,100.00 USD

Revenue received in 2015 -2016: NMFA actual contribution received: 593,496.41 USD

NMFA actual contribution (transferred balance of SYSLAB Int. from the previous project SYSLAB I): 9,618.18 USD

UNDP resources, reflected in the system as NMFA contribution, to cover the cost-share deficit for 2016: 4,373.44 USD

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UNDP regular resources: 39,994.26 USD

Unfunded budget 924,882.97 USD

UNDP Contact Person Stefan Liller Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Moldova Email: stefan.liller@undp.org Tel.: 0373-22-269-108

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Table of Contents

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... 1

II. BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................... 2

III. REVIEW OF PROGRESS AND RESULTS ACHIEVED .......................................................................... 3

IV. PROJECT RISKS AND ISSUES .......................................................................................................... 16

A. UPDATED PROJECT RISKS AND ACTIONS ......................................................................................................... 16 B. UPDATED PROJECT ISSUES AND ACTIONS ....................................................................................................... 17

V. LESSONS LEARNED ............................................................................................................................. 17

VI. CONCLUSIONS AND WAY FORWARD ............................................................................................ 19

VII. FINANCIAL STATUS ......................................................................................................................... 20

“After the SYSLAB experience, I became more confident in my potential, discovered capacities that I

didn’t know I had and gained more courage overall.” (Livia Lupascu, beneficiary of SYSLAB Balti)

“The trainings, situational simulations provided by SYSLAB played an important role in job search.

Now I know that unemployment is not a permanent condition, but just a short period in life” (Radu

Fursenco, beneficiary of Chisinau SYSLAB Center)

“Due to SYSLAB, many of us managed to find a job, others learn how to apply for grants or launch

their businesses. I am a clear example of that, I have launched a business - a dance studio and now

we have more than 100 clients and plan to expand.” (Carolina Pancenco, SYSLAB Rezina)

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I. Executive summary

The SYSLAB II project was launched in September 2015, with the aim to consolidate the results of the

previous phase (the SYSLAB I project, 2013-2015), related to the operation and development of the

existing network of 5 career advisory centers and the establishment of a complementary self-

employment entrepreneurship component. Originally, it was planned for implementation until July

2018, but, upon the notification on behalf of the donor, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

about its decision on the early termination of the project, for reasons not related to project

implementation/performance, the agreed date for the project end was set for 31 December 2016.

The present report, therefore, relates to the period of September 2015-December 2016. In the

respective period, the project team managed to successfully achieve and over deliver on all project

key targets as set out in the Results and Resources Framework.

The Network of 5 Career Advisory Centres,

in Chisinau, Balti, Cahul, Comrat and

Rezina, was successfully strengthened,

with job-seeking assistance provided by an

experienced and knowledgeable team of

professionals and the assistance on

entrepreneurship development built in.

For the job-seeking component, the

Network assisted 383 unemployed women

and men during the reporting period, a

148% over-delivery compared to the

target of 200 for the entire period of the

project. The employability success rate for the beneficiaries of the Centres in 2015-2016 is 80%,

exceeding the targeted rate of at least 60%. Similarly, the results on the self-employment component

was of 37%, exceeding the initially targets of at least 10%. The target of ensuring at least 50% of

female direct beneficiaries was also overpassed, with 73% female participation in job seeking groups

and 52% female participation in entrepreneurship groups in 2016. All in all, since 2013, more than 950

beneficiaries benefited from the career advisory services for employment promotion.

The project team implemented a successful experimental UNDP scholarship for graduates at the

Cahul University. It also received the Ministry of Education’s approval to pilot job-seeking modules in

the Cahul University curricula during the 2nd semester of the 2016-2017 academic year.

In the second quarter of 2016, the team successfully kicked off the entrepreneurship program,

developed by a team of experts, including one mentor from the Board of mentors of the parallel LED

project and the recruited entrepreneurship staff started its implementation in August 2016, with a

total of 49 beneficiaries in all 5 Centres. Overall, a total of 60 people benefited from the

entrepreneurship program during 2015-2016. A Seed-Money Fund competition was organized in

October 2016, with 24 applications received and 19 competitively accepted for financing.

The coordination among Centres was ensured, including through an established Task Force, staff

retreats organized twice per year, weekly joint skype meetings, on-line joint folder where all best

practices are shared, and a strong commitment from the Project Management team.

Teambuilding activities in the SYSLAB Rezina Centre

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Additional funds have been mobilized from the European Union to fully cover the running costs of the

Comrat Career Centre for the period of 2016-2018 (~150,000 EUR). Also, UNDP core funds (~90,000

USD) have been mobilized to run a Randomized Controlled Trial to evaluate the impact of the soft

skills training methodology (based on the SYSLAB methodology) transferred to territorial structures

of the National Employment Agency and thus influence policy decisions on the matter. Moreover,

regional UNDP catalytic funds (~80,000 USD) have been secured to develop and run a youth-oriented

skills observatory and experimentation, given that youth is among the most vulnerable groups on the

labor market. Seed money (>10,000 EUR) was also mobilized from the private sector, to provide

grants to the beneficiaries of the entrepreneurship component. Such initiatives were planned to run

in parallel with the Career Centres. The early termination of the project has put forward additional

challenges in terms of ensuring the sustainability of the network and their successful transfer under

the auspices of the Moldovan Government but the project team and the national counterparts took

active measures to overcome the respective difficulties.

Thus, during the Project board meeting held on 31 January 2017, the National Implementing Partner

of the Project – the Ministry of Economy, informed about its readiness to support the running of the

Career Centres in 3 locations of Moldova during 2017, on a 50/50% cost-sharing basis. It will ensure

the further implementation of the job-seeking and entrepreneurship support components, albeit with

reduced teams in the centers, provide coaching support to the new entrepreneurs-beneficiaries of the

Project Seed-Fund, as well as the running of the Randomized Controlled Trial to evaluate the impact

of the improved National Employment Agency curriculum on the speed and quality of employment.

The minutes of the board meeting is attached hereto as Annex 2.

II. Background

The Network of Career Advisory Centers in the Republic of Moldova Project aimed at promoting

employment and self-employment in Moldova through the development of soft skills among job-

seekers, of their executive substantive individual job search and employment plans, as well as of

entrepreneurial skills. In doing so, the Project implemented two distinct but inter-linked components,

i.e. employability promotion and entrepreneurship.

Within the employment component, the project relied on the SYSLAB methodology. It included

trainings, simulations, individual coaching and other tools to develop the soft skills of job seekers who

already had hard skills, to search and get relevant employment. They were empowered to put to best

use their skills, knowledge, academic background, previous work experiences, competencies and

interests. It includes a specific training module on generic business planning (BPS), that is stimulating

creative thinking towards potential self-employment pathways.

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Within the entrepreneurship component,

the Project implemented a tailored

methodology that included trainings and

coaching. The approach was open towards

potential beneficiaries with or without

specific business ideas, with different levels

of understanding of entrepreneurship, with

different skills and academic background.

It aimed to provide a company-style

enabling environment for individual and

group work that started with theoretical

trainings, combined with practical

business and financial planning exercises,

and coaching. It further offered access, on a competitive basis, to a seed-fund for matching support

towards the initiation of new start-ups.

Both components were implemented by a network of 5 Career Advisory centers located in Chisinau,

Rezina, Balti, Comrat and Cahul, each having a dedicated team. The Career Centres have been

established under the Innovative Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Employment Project during June

2013- April 2015 with support from SYSLAB International AS and British Embassy in Moldova.

Starting with January, 2016, Comrat Centre is financially supported from EU funds, for a period

of 3 years, as part of a wider technical assistance project of the European Union. Thus, Comrat

Centre will continue to work with jobseekers and young entrepreneurs during the mentioned period.

III. Review of Progress and Results Achieved

The Centres continued to provide support to people looking for employment or self-employment in

their home-country, through trainings and coaching on job-seeking and entrepreneurship, provided

by employment and entrepreneurship experts. Job-seeking support was provided based on the

SYSLAB methodology, developed by SYSLAB International, to skilled unemployed, in full-time

groups, for a period of up to 4 months for each beneficiary. SYSLAB International provided continuous

guidance during its implementation and reporting on the status of direct beneficiaries in Centres. The

entrepreneurship support was provided based on a dedicated entrepreneurship program developed

by the Project in 2016 (see the description in Annex 1).

During 2015-2016, the Project achieved the following key results, by key components:

A) Running of SYSLAB Centres

Learning to plan one’s own business. SYSLAB Rezina

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The physical spaces of the network of

5 career advisory centers were used

to accommodate full-time groups of

beneficiaries both for job-seeking

groups, as well as for

entrepreneurship groups. One

Career Centre has at least one open-

space computer room, one

conference room, and the office of

the advisors. Separate spaces to

allow for individual counselling

activities are also part of some

Centres. Given that groups on each

component were organized based on

separate training/coaching Agendas, the physical space was separated to accommodate the needs of

beneficiaries. In Chisinau, for instance, a separate computer/training room is allocated to work with

groups on entrepreneurship.

All career advisory centers in the network are hosted by local counterparts.

The capacity of the centers to train direct beneficiaries, calculated in equipped working spaces, is

shown below. The offices of Chisinau and Cahul Centres were extended in 2016 with 21 additional

working places for beneficiaries.

B) Recruitment and employment of beneficiaries

During the reporting period, a total of

443 people benefited from the support

in full-time groups at Career

Development Centres, out of which 383

beneficiaries in job-seeking and 60 in

entrepreneurship groups. By 31

December, 2016, 80% of beneficiaries in

job-seeking groups got employed

(average results per Centres). This

indicator exceeds the indicator of min.

Centre Staff Employment Entrepreneurship Total nr. Beneficiaries in

Centre

Chisinau 6 30 12 42

Balti 4 20 7 27

Rezina 3 5 5 10

Cahul 4 20 9 29

Comrat 4 12 8 20

TOTAL 21 87 41 128

Life in the working, open space class. SYSLAB Chisinau

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60% employment rate indicated in the Project Document.

During September 2015 – August 2016, a

total of 383 unemployed women and

men were supported by all the 5 Career Centres (81 in Comrat), and 956 people were supported during

2013-2016, under phase I and phase II of the Project. The average employment rate for the entire

project period is 85% and 3% - beneficiaries who planned and/or launched their businesses (self-

employment).

In 2016, the Project piloted an experiment in the Cahul SYSLAB Centre within the job-seeking

component. The experiment targeted the new graduates of the local state University, who were

invited to apply for an employment scholarship consisting of a symbolic amount of money equivalent

to the university scholarship, offered by the Project to those selected as full-time beneficiaries. The

competition was announced before the graduation, as a result of which a group of 12 beneficiaries

was created and received job-seeking training and coaching in full time groups. Even if the

participants did not have employment experience, the employability results were encouraging: 83%

of all participants got a job within 2 months of assistance from the SYSLAB centre. It is worth

mentioning that the majority of the participants got employment suitable with their graduation

degree.

To evaluate the utility of the 12 training modules, the Project developed and distributed a

questionnaire. It was sent to all the beneficiaries, through e-mail, with the findings presented below,

for 2 selected questions:

1) Which 3 modules were most useful for your employment?

Selected module Nr votes

Successful CV 152

Successful Interview 123

Job announcements / Application letters / Motivation letters 73

Presentation techniques 59

Communication skills 53

Competence mapping 51

Telephone techniques 36

Personal branding 32

Networking 25

Teambuilding 24

Company visits 22

Business Planning Seminar (BPS) 21

Time management 18

Developing a successful CV and tips for a successful Interview were considered the most helpful

training modules in ensuring employment. Cover/motivation letter, presentation techniques and

competence mapping were also considered important by the beneficiaries

2) If you got employed with support from SYSLAB, are you still working at the same job?

Teambuilding activities in the SYSLAB Chisinau Centre

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To note is though that a significant percentage indicated that they changed their place of work

because they have been awarded a promotion within the same company where he/she got employed

with SYSLAB support.

C) Self-Employment /entrepreneurship development

The full-fledged entrepreneurship program was developed during the second quarter of 2016 by a

team of national and international consultants hired by the Project. In parallel, a team of

entrepreneurship experts was hired during this period (one dedicated person in each Career Centre),

with the entrepreneurship program transferred to the Centres in July 2016. The implementation of

the entrepreneurship program in all 5 Centres started in August 2016, with 60 people in full-time

groups (the Comrat Centre had 2 groups, 11 people each, the second started in late autumn), based

on a training agenda implemented during August-December, 2016.

The entrepreneurship program was structured in 3 phases:

1) Pre-training, where a wide audience can participate and consists of short trainings for idea

identification and capturing;

2) Training & coaching delivered by

entrepreneurship mentors, in full-

time groups, to individuals selected

on competitive basis and based on

the guidelines defined in the

entrepreneurship program manual.

The main selection criteria applied to

applicants were: motivation to start-

up a business, availability to

participate in full-time training and

coaching activities, financial

capacity – availability of matching

resources to start-up a business.

This period was the most

condensed and intensive, and organized in Career Centres during a period of up to 4 months.

The training modules covered: a) Entrepreneurial and innovation topics: idea generation,

competitors, customers, resources and activities, business model, sales and marketing, price

64%

36%

Total per Centers network

Yes

No

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Chisinau Balti Cahul Comrat Rezina

Yes No

Company visit for entrepreneurship program beneficiaries

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definition and costs, presentation -pitching; and b) Management and doing business topics: legal

forms and establishment, accounting and finances, taxes and other obligations.

3) Business incubation and scaling followed the training and coaching phase as participants started

and developed their business, continuing to receive coaching support from the entrepreneurship

specialists. This period was organized during a 4 to 6-months period, outside of the Centre’s premises.

A number of entrepreneurs could also use the facilities of the Centres for start-up related activities,

upon availability. In Balti, for instance, 1 working space was allocated to an entrepreneur developing

a business in furniture industry.

Seed-Money Fund

A dedicated fund to support start-up development was created and made available, based on a

competitive process, to entrepreneurship group beneficiaries. Its main goal was to support aspiring

entrepreneurs to start-up their own micro-enterprise, also promoting implementation of innovations

into business. The amount for one beneficiary was up to 3,000 USD, as a 50% contribution, with the

rest needing to be supplied by the beneficiary. In 2016, the Seed-Money Fund competition took place

in October 2016, for the full-time groups that started in August 2016. From a total of 49 beneficiaries

in the entrepreneurship groups (from which 11 in the Comrat Centre), 24 applied for funding and 19

were accepted for financing, in the following business domains: IT (1 business), energy efficiency (2

businesses), catering (1), metallurgy (2), beekeeping (3), textile (1), foreign language training services

(2), design and decorations (4), greenhouse (1), other (2).

The geographical distribution of the supported businesses was as follows: 3-Rezina, 3-Comrat, 7-Balti,

6-Chisinau. No applications were received from the Cahul Centre. The beneficiaries from the Comrat

Centre were financed from EU funds.

The seed-fund for the promotion of start-ups was also implemented in 2015, with 5 business ideas

funded by the project, 3 out of 5 businesses extending their activity in 2016 (Centre for early child

development, dance studio and production of apparel).

The beneficiaries of Seed-Fund 2015, as well as entrepreneurship groups participants from 2016, also

benefitted from business development trainings, delivered by international consultants/practitioners

within the LED Project, implemented by UNDP with funding from the Norwegian Government. The

trainings covered topics such as the ABC on innovation, innovative funding for SME, Business model

generation, innovative marketing.

During 2017, UNDP will continue to monitor the implementation of businesses of the 19 Seed-Fund

finalists from 2016.

Social Entrepreneurship

Under the entrepreneurship component, the call for ideas to support business ideas for self-

employment and social impact was launched in the second part of 2016. The competition was

organized in 2 phases: application with a concept note, and in the second – the full application. Out of

10 interested applicants, 6 submitted a full application and 3 were selected for financing, as follows:

SRL Constilcard – textile production in rural areas, with the employment of vulnerable

women.

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AO Business Support Center for inclusion of blind persons in social and economic life – food

products made by small, individual producers, including those with disabilities in rural areas

AO SOS AUTISM – kindergarten for kids with autism.

The Ministry of Economy strongly supports the development of social entrepreneurship, drafting a

Law on social entrepreneurship, which is now in Parliament for approval.

PROGRESS TOWARDS PROJECT OUTPUTS

OUTPUT 1: Develop the network of existing career advisory centres (5 centres) with employability

and entrepreneurship components

Output Indicators Baseline Target Current status

Indicator A: 5 functional career

advisory centres

5 Career

Advisory Centres

created in

Chisinau, Balti,

Rezina, Cahul

and Comrat

under Innovative

Entrepreneurship

for Sustainable

Employment

Project

Network of 5

career advisory

centres is fully

functional and

coordinating the

implementation

of activities

through Task

Force

mechanism

Employability and

entrepreneurship

components of the 5

Centres are fully

operational. 1st Task

Force membership was

successfully piloted and

delivering positive

results.

Indicator B: At least 200 direct

beneficiaries trained within existing

network

Indicator C: At least 60%

employability rate on average per

year

Indicator D: At least 10% success

rate within entrepreneurship

component on average per year

The unemployed

in full-time

groups at

Centres continue

participation in

Phase 2 of the

Project

At least 200

direct

beneficiaries

successfully pass

the tailored

trainings and

coaching and

success rate for

employability of

60% and

entrepreneurship

of at least 10% is

achieved.

383 beneficiaries were

assisted in 2015 and

2016 in full-time groups

on job-seeking, out of

which

80% got employed;

60 beneficiaries were

assisted in full-time

groups on

entrepreneurship in

2016, out of which at

least 37% launched

their business and 18%

continue training

Indicator E: At least 50% women

participation in training activities on

average per year

At least 50% of

the direct

beneficiaries are

women.

73% female

participation in job-

seeking groups and

52% female

participation in

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entrepreneurship

groups in 2016

Below are the quantitative results on both Project components.

A) JOB-SEEKING COMPONENT, including cumulative results for phases I and II of the Project:

Total

2013 2014 2015 2016 2013-2016

SYSLAB Center

31-Dec 31-Dec 31-Dec 31-Dec 31-Dec

People % Ppl % Ppl % Ppl %

Total Ppl

%

Chisinau Start date: Jul 1, 2013

Total Beneficiaries *19 people from 2013 continued in 2014 * 6 people from 2014 continued in 2015 * 5 people from 2015 continued in 2016 104 100% 131 100% 137 100% 107 100% 479 100%

2 Total positive results 68 65% 121 92% 129 94% 104 97% 422 88%

2.1 Employed 68 65% 121 92% 126 92% 103 96% 418 87%

2.2 Individual Business Plans 0 0% 0 0% 3 2% 1 1% 4 1%

Rezina Start date: Apr 15, 2014

Total Beneficiaries *12 people from 2014 continued in 2015 * 3 people from 2015 continued in 2016 29 100% 62 100% 12 100% 103 100%

1 Continue training 12 41% 13 21% 0 0% - -

2 Total positive results 11 38% 57 92% 10 83% 78 76%

2.1 Employed 11 38% 43 69% 9 75% 63 61%

2.2 Individual Business Plans 0 0% 14 23% 1 8% 15 15%

Cahul Start date: Sep 29, 2014

Total Beneficiaries *6 people from 2014 continued in 2015 * 8 people from 2015 continued in 2016 13 100% 64 100% 47 100% 124 100%

2 Total positive results 7 54% 44 69% 40 85% 91 73%

2.1 Employed 7 54% 42 66% 38 81% 87 70%

2.2 Individual Business Plans 0 0% 2 3% 0 0% 2 2%

Balti Start date: March 2, 2015

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Total Beneficiaries *18 people from 2015 continued in 2016 70 100% 67 100% 137 100%

2 Total positive results 47 67% 57 85% 104 76%

2.1 Employed 47 67% 53 79% 100 73%

2.2 Individual Business Plans 0 0% 4 6% 4 3%

Comrat Start date: Apr 22, 2015

Total Beneficiaries *3 people from 2015 continued in 2016 49 100% 64 100% 113 100%

1 Continue training 12 63% 1 63% - 63%

2 Total positive results 42 86% 59 92% 101 89%

2.1 Employed 34 69% 59 92% 93 82%

2.2 Individual Business Plans 8 16% 0 0% 8 7%

Total Beneficiaries

Total Beneficiaries 104 100% 173 100% 382 100% 297 100% 956 100%

2 Total positive results 68 65% 139 80% 319 84% 270 89% 796 83%

2.1 Employed 68 65% 139 80% 292 76% 262 85% 761 80%

2.2 Individual Business Plans 0 0% 0 0% 27 7% 6 3% 33 3%

As it can be seen from the indicators above, the Chisinau Centre continued with the highest

performance. The achieved rates of success are above the targets defined in the Project Document

(60%). Employability rates in regional centers are lower and reflecting the comparatively lower

employment opportunities outside Chisinau.

Below is the distribution of beneficiaries by target groups, gender and age. Figures cover the 2016 period and do not include the 87 beneficiaries who finalized training in 2015 and the 37 beneficiaries who continued training from 2015.

No. Participants classification

Balti Rezina Cahul Comrat Chisinau TOTAL %

Recruited SYSLAB full time group participants

49 9 38 61 102 259 100%

1 Target groups

1.1 Unemployed 31 6 9 36 88 170 66%

1.2 New graduates 13 1 26 17 9 66 25%

1.3 Returning migrants 5 2 3 8 5 23 9%

2 Gender classification of participants:

2.1 Female 36 8 31 40 74 189 73%

2.2 Male 13 1 7 21 28 70 27%

3 Youth (< 30 years) 24 3 28 31 35 121 47%

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A calculation of the average time spent by 1 beneficiary in a SYSLAB Centre was done by the project, based on the data collected from the Centres during 2013-2016, which show the following:

• A) Employed beneficiaries: 38,5 working days (<2 months)

• B) Business planning and/or self-employment : 71 working days (>3 months)

• C) Quit: 59 working days (~3 months)

B) ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPONENT

Below is the distribution of beneficiaries by target groups, gender and age. Figures refer to the

entrepreneurship beneficiaries in Q3-Q4 of 2016.

No. Participants classification

Balti Rezina Cahul Comrat Chisinau TOTAL %

1 SYSLAB full time group participants

16 7 4 22 11 60 100%

1.1 Continue participation 0 0 0 11 0 11 18%

1.2 Finished the program, did not start business

5 1 2 7 3 18 30%

1.3 Finished the program, started business

8 3 0 3 8 22 37%

1.4 - Awarded under Seed-Money Fund

7 3 0 3 6 19 32%

Quit 3 3 2 1 0 9 15%

2 Target groups:

2.1 Unemployed 7 3 2 14 6 32 53%

2.2 Employed 2 3 1 8 3 17 28%

2.3 Recent graduates 6 0 0 0 1 7 12%

2.4 Returning migrants 1 1 1 0 1 4 7%

3 Gender classification of participants:

3.1 Female 8 6 2 10 5 31 52%

3.2 Male 8 1 2 12 6 29 48%

3.3 Youth (< 30 years) 11 3 1 8 5 28 47%

19 beneficiaries received Seed-Fund support, based on competitive process, to start and run their

business. Out of 19 finalists, 9 are businesses led by women (47%).

Description of the other key results for the reporting period

Methodological coordination was undertaken through several means: A) establishment and

implementation of Task Force mechanism, B) organization of regular SYSLAB staff retreats (agendas,

presentations, follow-up reports can be provided upon request), C) weekly skype call meetings, D)

regular update and use of the shared folder on Google drive (the structure can be provided upon

request).

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A) Task Force: The first Task Force team

was appointed and coordinated the

various aspects related to the work of the

Network of Centres during March -

August 2016 (6-month rotation period),

based on the mechanism set up by the

Project. The Task Force team members

appointed represented various Centres

and various position levels, e.g.

coordination position, employment,

entrepreneurship and admin/logistic

positions.

The main activities coordinated by the Task Force were:

1) Identifying the training needs at the level of the Network of Centres and submitting consolidated

training requests to Project Management. Taking active part in planning and organizing of at least 1

SYSLAB Staff Retreat.

2) Serving as an informational resource for the implementation of visibility and recruitment efforts

at the level of the Network of Centres and mapping the areas that need improvement.

3) Supporting the Centres in consolidation and validation of reports and files. Ensure observance of

the quality of reporting in each Centre.

4) Ensuring the SYSLAB training materials are adapted and delivered against a specific set of quality

indicators.

Several important findings and recommendations on behalf of the Task Force for improving the

work in the Centres were:

Individual approach, continuous monitoring of the process of identifying desirable workplace

leads to better results;

A greater responsibility for the development and implementation of individual employment plan

should be with beneficiaries.

Meetings between the former and present beneficiaries bring employment-related motivation

to present beneficiaries;

Providing regular feedback to the Employment Agency with regard to progress on registered

beneficiaries help on the consolidation of work relationships between SYSLAB Centres and

Employment Agencies.

B) SYSLAB Retreats have been organized twice per year, where the employment and

entrepreneurship specialists from all Centres met for 2-3 days to discuss common issues and identify

solutions, share best practices and also receive trainings on various topics, such as gender sensitive

communication, social entrepreneurship, using social media tools for visibility improvement, etc.

C) Weekly meetings were organized via skype, where progress on the Centre’s activities were shared

and main coordination issues discussed. The meetings were convened by the project management

and connected either coordinators, career advisors or entrepreneurship advisors.

Alumni meeting at the Chisinau SYSLAB Centre

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D) Use of shared folder (Google Drive) improved communication at the level of the Network of

Centres and facilitated access to Centres’ information for project management team. The dedicated

shared space was updated periodically, with a clear and easy to navigate structure, as follows: 1)

training and coaching; 2) learning and knowledge; 3) recruitment, visibility and partnerships; 4)

reporting; 6) templates and programmatic documents.

Local networking and partnerships - in the 2nd phase of the Project, all 5 SYSLAB Centres continued

to explore the partnerships established in the Ist phase, and developed new partnerships with

institutions from various sectors: private, public, associative, academia.

The established partnerships

have served 3 purposes: 1) to

facilitate visibility and

recruitment of beneficiaries in

the Centres, both for job-seeking

and for entrepreneurship

support; 2) to maintain the

motivation of beneficiaries

during the training/coaching

period, where potential

employers deliver presentations

in Centres about the employment

opportunities, provide interview

simulations, and facilitated

company visits for the

beneficiaries both from job-seeking, as well as from entrepreneurship groups; 3) to facilitate

employment of beneficiaries, the Centres regularly sending out joint CVs and the employers

informing the Centres about the job openings.

The partnership with the National Employment Agency was advanced through amending the existing

Memorandum of Understanding to include the uptake of selected best practices from the Career

Centres in working with unemployed, with further adjustment of NEA curricula nationally.

The partnership with Cahul State University was strengthened through the inclusion of SYSLAB

methodology to be piloted in the University curricula level starting with January 2017 (2nd semester of

the 2016-2017 academic year). The leadership of the University is interested in keeping and extending

the employment support at the level of the University and make the assistance available not only for

graduates, but also for the entry level students. Unfortunately, given the cut of funding, respective

piloting may be jeopardized if resources to cover piloting costs will not be identified/mobilized.

Analysis of the subjective perception of unemployment – the Project, under a joint UNDP and

Cognitive Edge (UK) initiative, is collecting micro-narratives from unemployed women and men

throughout the country to better understand and make sense of the positive and negative

experiences of people in dealing with unemployment and generating additional ideas on how the

Project can improve/diversify the support to skilled unemployed. About 200 micro-narratives were

collected during a Job Fair organized during September 19-20. The project will continue the data

Development of presentation skills, SYSLAB Balti Centre

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collection and analysis of the micronarratives under the umbrella of the future Youth-centered skills

observatory and experimentation lab.

Development of the Smart Employment Planner – the Project started to co-develop a

computer/mobile application for skilled unemployed unable, for reasons of disability or similar, to

take part in SYSLAB trainings in the full-time groups. During 2016, technical specifications were

developed and procurement announcement launched, but which did not yield desirable results. The

competition was not extended given the uncertainty regarding further funding of the Project.

Visibility – the visibility of Project’s undertakings was ensured through various targeted interventions,

including presentations to direct and indirect beneficiaries at the premises of NEA and other public

and private institutions; participation to Job Fairs and public events organized by local authorities,

academia and private sector; distribution of announcements on relevant national and local web sites,

as well as social media web sites (including SYSLAB website (www.syslab.md Facebook page of each

Centre, other social media pages); production and dissemination of tailored video spots (new video

success stories are currently being developed for each Centre). Project related events and video

visibility products have been distributed through UN and UNDP web platforms (corporate web site,

UNDP and UN Facebook page, twitter, youtube, blogs, etc). In the reporting period, the dedicated

Web page for SYSLAB continued to be developed, serving as a tool for the unemployed to apply on-

line for the available support at the Centres; a platform to share success stories; and used by the

project management as tool to organize various surveys among unemployed (for instance, the Project

implemented an on-line registration form for the visitors of NEA youth employment fair organized in

May 2016, which provided live data about the visitors of the fair and their interest).

Visibility was also ensured through the participation of Centre specialists to TV or radio shows. Below

are several external links which showcase the participation, but more are available if requested:

SYSLAB Balti Centre at TV emission “Balti Hour” (“Ora Baltiului”) from March, 2016,

discussion about SYSLAB achievement during the first year of activity and the support

available for unemployed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1USKXGAWCek (starting

with min 1:10);

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SYSLAB Chisinau Centre at TV emission “European Vector” from October, 2015, reflecting

about the experience of the beneficiaries at the Centre and describing the assistance available

for skilled unemployed: http://vectoreuropean.md/vector-european-emisiune-din-5-10-

2015/ (starting with min 13:55).

Participation to job fairs and other

events as visibility tool - Staff in Career

Centers continued to actively participate

to all major job fairs organized by NEA,

TDC and other partners; delivered

presentations for the groups of

unemployed at NEA and in major

academic institutions with which MoUs

were signed at the Project level. In 2016,

SYSLAB Centres hosted UN debates,

this increasing the visibility of the

Centres.

Participation to UN Diversity Internship Program: In 2016, UN launched the 1st UN Diversity

Internship Program to promote diversity, equality and inclusion inside the UN system, offering

women and men from under-represented groups an opportunity to acquire the experience of work

with UN. The Network of Centres actively participated to this initiative, hosting 2 out of 9 interns,

both with Chisinau SYSLAB Centre. One person was with hearing impairments and another one was

blind. Both of them contributed to the implementation of the activities at SYSLAB Centre. The terms

of reference for their work can be accessed here: http://www.un.md/jobdetails/1242/ .

The creation of a SYSLAB Alumni community took place in 2016, with the 1st Alumni meetings

organized in each of the 5 SYSLAB Centres and gathering about 200 beneficiaries. Beside the

socializing part, which was important for the participants, one of the main purposes of the meeting

was to discuss possible ways of facilitating youth employment.

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SYSLAB Chisinau Alumni meeting, 21 December, 2016

Recommendations proposed by the participants, based on their experience in a SYSLAB Centre and

working experience after graduating:

Employers to adopt a higher transparency regarding job openings: medialization on social media;

focus the announcements rather on competences required for the position than on the years of

experience and educational level thus promoting youth employment;

Employers to organize open doors events, including for graduates;

Organize thematic job market events (fairs) for students, focused on the area of interests of the

employers: ex. textiles, IT, etc.;

Organize motivational flash-mobs to promote active youth employment (both for youth looking

for employment, as well as for the potential employers), thus preventing brain drain;

Universities to compile and share, with potential employers, the joint CV of students;

Develop youth capacities to adapt and adjust to the current labor market needs (this would be

through various SYSLAB modules implemented at the University level).

IV. Project Risks and Issues

Below is an update on the key risks associated with the implementation of the Project, as well as a list

with key issues that the project addressed during Project implementation period, with description of

actions taken in both cases.

a. Updated project risks and actions

Project Risk 1: Economic slowdown, diminishing number of available jobs on local market, particularly

in rural areas

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Actions taken: The Project developed a fully-fledged entrepreneurship program and recruiting a

dedicated staff in each Centre to implement Entrepreneurship Component. Existent partnerships with

private sector are being consolidated and explored as case studies by young entrepreneurs, new

partnerships are still to be identified and developed. The new companies created with the support from

SYSLAB Centres are a potential source of job offers for the job-seeking beneficiaries in Centres.

Project Risk 2: Limited access to finance for potential entrepreneurs willing to start-up a new business

Actions taken: Seed-money fund was established and successfully piloted in 2015 (second part of the

year), and fully implemented in 2016, through which 19 new entrepreneurs were supported in 2016 (and

5 entrepreneurs supported in 2015).

Project Risk 3: Financial sustainability of the Project/ ad-hoc discontinuation of financing

Actions taken: the risk for ad-hoc discontinuation of financing by the Donor was not anticipated and

UNDP is currently looking for resources to continue provision of support to direct beneficiaries in job-

seeking and entrepreneurship groups. UNDP has allocated resources for maintaining the reduced

network of Centres (Cahul was closed) and with a limited number of staff on board, during the 1st 3

months in 2017. The State University in Cahul is ready to uptake the Career Centre in Cahul and continue

the implementation of job-seeking activities at the level of the University. Thus, during the last board

meeting (31.01.2017), the members approved the transfer of assets and methodology to Cahul University,

against their written commitment to run the Center on its own for at least several additional years.

The methodology on job-seeking support is to be transferred by SYSLAB International, the owner, to the

Ministry of Economy, as per the contract and termination notification submitted by UNDP to SYSLAB

International in December 2016.

The minutes of the board meeting is attached (Annex 2) for reference to more decisions related to the

transfer of assets vesting with SYSLAB Centres and job-seeking methodology.

b. Updated project issues and actions

Project Issue 1: Implementation of SYSLAB methodology – exchange of best practices

Actions taken: The Project team organizes weekly skype meetings with the Coordinators of Centres,

including thematic meetings, to facilitate knowledge sharing. In 2016, thematic meeting started to be

organized with entrepreneurship advisors. The Task Force was piloted with success.

Project Issue 2: Recruitment of direct beneficiaries in the regions remains problematic

Actions taken: Management of the project is strengthening the relationships with the National

Employment Agency (NEA) to increase recruitment through NEA. Centres organized informal meetings

(SYSLAB Cafes) with the key partners to intensify visibility and recruitment efforts. Yearly SYSLAB

Alumni meetings were planned and the 1st meeting was successfully organized in 2016.

V. Lessons Learned

The key lessons learned are summarized as follows:

A) Ensuring synergies among UNDP Projects, and also among UN Agencies, create benefits for people. For instance: - SYSLAB Project Management contributed with inputs coming from

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the field experience towards the drafting of the future Moldova National Employment Strategy (MiDL Project) - beneficiaries in SYSLAB Centres benefited from business trainings delivered under LED Project; - LED board of business mentors contributed with knowledge and expertise to the development of SYSLAB Entrepreneurship Program; - SYSLAB support was presented to IOM returning students; - women migrants beneficiaries in SYSLAB Centres participated in trainings and workshops organized by UN Women; - SYSLAB Comrat Centre is exploring the partnerships under the Support to Agriculture and Rural Development Project.

B) Implementation of various experiments create ground for scalability. At least 3 experiments were tested and are scalable: 1) transfer of best practices of working with unemployed to NEA, the latest being interested to scale up the working practices at the national level. Thus, a transfer of applicable best practices is done, based on which NEA will revise its curricula of working with unemployed and will implement a Randomized Controlled Trial on measuring the impact of such curricula on selected up to 10, out of 35, regional employment offices. 2) implementation of scholarship for young graduates proved successful and which can be scaled up at the level of all Universities. 3) On-line and real-time registration of visitors to the public Job Fair, tested during NEA youth Job Fair in May 2016, gave a view on the profile and the interest of the visitors and which is to be used for improving the organization and offer during next Job Fairs to be organized by public services. The report on this experiment and other mentioned above will be submitted upon request.

C) Development and exploration of partnerships is important and has 3-sided benefits: recruitment, motivation during training period, and employment. The partnerships at local level, especially with academia, private sector and employment agencies, substantially increase employability chances for the direct beneficiaries and is crucial for successful implementation of SYSLAB activities. Improvements in the collaboration with local unemployment agencies are needed by further linking work plans of the centres and respective units of NEA.

D) Increased access to SYSLAB assistance to marginalized groups of people: the project covered local transportation costs for a person with disabilities to attend the trainings at Balti Centre. Further actions are needed to ensure access of participants from villages (for instance, in Balti and Comrat Centres about 70% of beneficiaries travel to the Centre from nearby villages).

E) Recruitment of Centre’ beneficiaries – rigorous selection of beneficiaries is key to successful program completion and requires time and good planning. Usually recruitment questionnaire is not enough to understand the motivation of aspiring beneficiaries. The best way is to discuss face-to-face with candidates about interests and motivation, period of unemployment and availability of time to participate in full-time group. In many cases, especially in the regions, unemployed are more motivated to keeping their currents status and receive unemployment allowances. For the entrepreneurship groups recruitments, rigorous selection criteria have been set, and a pre-recruitment training is implemented to help the candidates understand and boost their entrepreneurial motivation.

F) Motivation of Centres’ beneficiaries is important to achieve faster and better employability as well as start-up results. Motivation of beneficiaries as ensured along the network of Centres through various instruments, including: presentations to beneficiaries from employers; sharing success stories from past beneficiaries; closer monitoring of the implementation of individual employment plan; follow-up on the employment results in the post-training phase.

G) Visibility of Project’s undertaking and employability results – the most effective and efficient channel for dissemination of the results and increasing the attractiveness and access to SYSLAB Centres is through ensuring peer-to-peer communication, whereby current and past beneficiaries spread the word on the advantages of undertaking SYSLAB courses to get

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relevant employment. Development and communication of success stories has increased the visibility results and trust in the offered support, but more active communication of success stories is encouraged. Participation to the Job Fairs has proved very efficient, especially for Chisinau Centre. Broadcasting of video and audio spots is also resultative.

H) Communication – recruitment and other announcements shall be tailored depending on the needs of the specific groups of beneficiaries; communication and interaction with key partners can also be improved by piloting joint initiatives with mutual benefits. Presentation of Centres’ assistance shall be innovative and exclude theoretical information about Centres’ creation and operation.

The key challenges from the implementation of the Project are:

1. Deteriorating conditions on the local labor market and low wages in some sectors; in the recent years the number of jobs available for skilled unemployed remained stable low; only about 25-26% of all vacancies are available for unemployed with higher education, all the rest being technical jobs that do not require university degree.

2. Motivation of unemployed in rural areas to get a job or start-up a business is volatile; unemployed from rural areas and from municipalities other than the capital city of Chisinau are generally less motivated to get a job or start-up a new business. In the latter case, poor infrastructure, expensive loans, corruption and other factors have an important role to play.

3. Migration of skilled workforce abroad is one of the exit strategies for skilled unemployed who cannot find a relevant and decently remunerated job at home; this is particularly true in the case of rural inhabitants.

VI. Conclusions and Way Forward

Overall, in the reporting period, the network of the existing SYSLAB centers delivered very good results. Cumulatively, for the 2016 period, the employability rate exceeded the initially planned target for Phase 2 of the project. All Centres had the task to maximize utilization of available resources through increasing the number of people beneficiaries from the support available at the Centres.

The Project was able to adapt to the changing conditions on the labor market by introducing a new self-employment component and ensuring better access of beneficiaries to finance through the innovative seed-fund. Moreover, the analyzed unemployment-related stories/micronarratives from unemployed revealed than an improvement or diversification of the spectrum of trainings and coaching activities to be provided to end-users is needed, along with diversification of the local partnerships, and piloting of the new initiatives. In 2016-2017 academic year, the Project received approval from the Ministry of Education to pilot selective SYSLAB modules on the university curriculum at the State University in Cahul. As financing for the Project was cut, the University is looking into possibilities to implement such courses and even extend the spectrum of the services.

Based on the results and experience yielded from the implementation of the Network of Career Advisory Centres in Moldova Project, as well as insights from the collected micronarratives from unemployed, UNDP managed to raise funds to implement an experimental skills observatory in 2017, as well as to run a Randomized Controlled Trial with the National Employment Agency on piloting an improved curriculum of working with registered unemployed. The implementation of respective initiatives would be easier with the contribution of the Network of Career Centres.

The next steps on continuation of activity at the Centres, approved by the board on 31.01.2017, are:

- Financing: UNDP provided 3 months funding for 3 out of 5 centers in 2017 (Chisinau, Balti and Rezina) and the Ministry of Economy committed to co-finance operations till the end of 2017 to ensure sustainability and opportunities to mobilize other donors.

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- Assets transfer: the SYSLAB IPSAS assets (with value per item above 1,500USD) to be temporarily transferred from SYSLAB to LED Project, with resource allocation. All assets from the Cahul Centre are to be transferred to Cahul University against their written commitment to run the Center on its own for at least several additional years; all assets from Comrat Centre to be transferred to SARD (EU funded) Project balance as the Centre is being supported from the respective Project till the end of 2018.

- Methodology transfer: The Ministry of Economy to accept the rights over the SYSLAB methodology from the owner- SYSLAB International and further grant the rights of usage to B.P. Hasdeu Cahul University for the piloting of selective SYSLAB courses onto the public curriculum; grant rights to UNDP for further implementation of the methodology in the existing Career Development Centres, including to SARD project for its implementation at Comrat Centre; and to the National Employment Agency in view of the modernization of the public employment promotion services.

VII. Financial Status

Financial Report for 2015 and Financial Report for 2016 are attached to this Narrative Report as Annex III (2015) and Annex IV (2016).

All reports are an extract of UNDP financial records.