On Sept. 28 and 29, 160 young people will receive certificates for successfully completing summer internships with companies in south Serbia and the Sandzak region through a program supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID supports the unique internship activity through its Preparedness, Planning and Economic Security Program (PPES) in cooperation with the Sandzak Economic Development Agency (SEDA) and the Presevo and Bujanovac Development Agency (PBDA). Michael Pillsbury, PPES’ Program Director and representatives of the two agencies will present the certificates at two separate ceremonies in Novi Pazar and Bujanovac.

Representatives of participating companies, the National Employment Bureau as well as city and municipal officials also will attend.

This Program’s activity, implemented last year for the first time in the regions, gives students practical, hands-on work experience to help them become more competitive in the job market.

A total of 60 SMEs in Sandzak and 30 South Serbian’s apparel, construction, food processing, banking, health care, media and civil society hosted the interns. Companies in this year’s internship activity were obligated to pay the interns’ stipends. Even with the additional cost, the number of participating companies more than doubled from 2009.

More than 400 young people applied for the internship opportunity. All applicants participated in, resume writing, interviewing and job search skills training; 100 students from Novi Pazar, 30 from Bujanovac and 30 from Presevo were selected to apprentice in the companies. Participants and companies both were highly satisfied with the experience.

“In only a short amount of time we managed to learn many things,” said Amra Čuljević who interned at Zet Innovation Jeans in Novi Pazar. “We witnessed the entire production process for making jeans.”

Students in Serbia lack access to practical educational opportunities. USAID’s Economic Security team addresses this by equipping Serbian youth with the skills most in demand by employers through support for the summer internship program, Junior Achievement and entrepreneurship training.

All activities complement the objectives of the National Youth Strategy to create employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for Serbian youth.