Even though youth unemployment figures in the EU are improving in a context of economic recovery, outreach is still a challenge in many Member States. More efforts are needed to engage with those farthest away from the labour market.

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Young people can only benefit from the Youth Guarantee if they get in touch with relevant providers. Currently less than 40% of young people not in Employment, Education or Training (NEETs) are registered with the scheme overall in the EU. Various outreach activities form thus an important part of the Youth Guarantee to bring those who do not take the initiative to register by themselves.

On 14 March the European Commission invited Youth Guarantee coordinators as well as coordinators of outreach projects financed through the EU Programme of Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) to discuss how outreach is working on the ground.

On the basis of stakeholders' experience, outreach needs to be framed in a systematic approach, starting from better data to understand the target group as well as gathering main stakeholders. In some countries, a specific outreach strategy is being developed. In 2017, Portugal launched a national outreach strategy which it developed with the support of the ILO, in the context of a European Commission/ILO joint action on youth employment.

Outreach solutions can best be built on local partnerships which include also

• social partners
• Public Employment Services
• employers
• and youth organisations

with clearly defined responsibilities. Sharing of data between different services is key but strict data protection rules can be a challenge in this regard.

Please see this guide for more information.