NGOs on the go: #YouthEmpowered program expanding

10 NGOs have won the support from Coca‑Cola HBC Hungary.

Over 400 young people, most of them from rural areas, can acquire basic social and entrepreneurial skills through training sessions provided by NGOs who won Coca-Cola HBC Hungary’s tender. All of them will receive free training boosting their chances on the labour market in the framework of the #YouthEmpowered education program.

By the end of last year, thirty-two non-governmental organizations submitted their applications to Coca‑Cola HBC Hungary, 10 of which won the company's support for one-day trainings designed specifically to help jobseekers.  From March, the winners will train a total of 400 young people, free of charge, in groups of 15, helping them to find employment through the transfer of basic social and entrepreneurial skills. Among the NGOs, we can find the Fehér Bor Foundation and the Fehér Bot Sports Association, which deal specifically with young people with visual impairment. The program helps them tremendously in preparing for job interviews, as well as the offered network and mentoring program, as they are at a disadvantage on the job market.

Most of the trainings take place in the countryside: Vas and Zala counties, Miskolc, Nyíregyháza, Debrecen, Hajdúdorog, Hosszúpályi, Gödöllő, Eger and its surroundings and Ópályi. In addition, there will be training courses in Budapest and other Pest county locations.

“We wanted to reach out to as many young people as possible with the #YouthEmpowered program, preferably in rural settlements where the inactivity in these age groups is higher than average.” – said Valentin Tóth, Director of Corporate Relations and Communications at Coca‑Cola HBC Hungary. That's why they announced a tender for NGOs that can address job seekers, due to their local knowledge, and the company prepares winners for teaching curriculum for free. The NIOK Foundation provided professional assistance in the evaluation of the received applications.

The #YouthEmpowered program was launched by Coca‑Cola HBC Hungary last year among 18-30-year olds who are not involved in public education or adult education and are inactive (NEET – Not in Education, Employment or Training). In the first round, organizations with decades of experience in adult education have delivered the curriculum of the program to over 500 participants so far. The plan is to have up to 8,000 participants in the job-seeking trainings by 2020. These include teaching young people about self-knowledge, the handling of job interview situations and handling feedback, often involving colleagues from Coca‑Cola HBC Hungary as mentors.