Switzerland joined the Regional Challenge Fund with CHF 9.7 million to finance cooperative training projects in the Western Balkans: in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
The volume of the Fund of 39 million euros, obtained with the financial contribution of the Government of Germany, will increase to about 49 million euros thanks to the contribution of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
As noted by the Embassy of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Regional Challenge Fund (RCF) is a financial instrument designed to increase the employability of secondary vocational school students by re-introducing the approach of cooperative training in the economies of the Western Balkans.
RCF promotes the competitiveness of enterprises by financing investments in equipment and infrastructure for selected cooperative training projects implemented through partnerships between vocational training institutions and enterprises.
Switzerland supports partner countries in vocational education and the integration of young people into the labor market, and the RCF will complement and improve the results of Swiss bilateral programs in the region, while the experience and networks of Swiss programs in the region will be available to this fund.
Grants are awarded through a regional competition.
