Yesterday afternoon, at the headquarters of the Mission Locale in Nice, its president Dominique Estrosi-Sassone presented the community association’s wishes for the year 2013. It was an opportunity for her to review the year 2012 and to present forthcoming projects for the year 2013.
They talk about more than 7000 unemployed young people. How does this number make you feel?
Dominique Estrosi-Sassone: It is a situation that certainly alerts me. Most of them are young people without diplomas, hindered by difficult circumstances, housing, health, and mobility issues. More than ever, we need the local mission.
The goal is to find them a stable and lasting job. But not only that, we also find them training, apprenticeship contracts. In 2012, the Mission Locale received 9,292 young people in difficulty, and 2,600 of them now have jobs. It is a positive result, but still insufficient.
What are the projects for the year 2013?
DE-S: We have planned several innovative actions. It is necessary to allow young people to overcome the steps that hinder them in their job search.
For example, to tackle this mobility problem, we have implemented a citizen driving license system. The principle is simple, young people receive a grant to obtain their license, and in return, they perform social work that can lead to a contract! Everyone wins, and the young people are grateful to us. This is one project among others, along with this, we continue to increase our contacts with businesses, hotels, and restaurants. The aim is to spot as many contacts as possible to benefit from a wide range of job offers.
We are also improving our information campaign.
What do you think of the year 2012 review?
DE-S: It is positive! Out of the 9,292 young job seekers, we offered nearly 59,200 contacts, which averages 6.4 contacts per young person.
We also recorded an increase of more than 8% of young people financially assisted compared to 2011. In total, 2,589 young people accessed employment (Editor’s note: +4% than in 2011) and 2,230 entered training programs.
Finally, we received 532 new job offers. But the year 2013 looks challenging, we will have an increasing number of young people to welcome. Already in 2012, almost 10% more young people than the previous year approached the local mission. And we have only 50 staff members and limited financial means.
Fortunately, they provide extraordinary work. They are passionate, and many don’t count their hours!
