The northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna has pledged nearly €2 million to help unaccompanied foreign minors obtain the necessary education and skills to find employment, doubling regional resources dedicated to tailor-made orientation programs, Italian-language courses and professional training workshops, regional councillors said on Tuesday (May 9).

During its last meeting, the regional government approved a first instalment of €988,000 to fund programs that will allow 197 unaccompanied foreign minors to take advantage of personalized courses.

The projects will be run by local education and professional training agencies which meet the requirements of a competition set up by regional authorities.

In order to finance new courses to be presented by October (the deadline of the tender notice), the regional government has voted to allocate additional resources of €1 million.

Program meant to help teens find work before they loose their status

"With these resources the region continues to create opportunities in Emilia-Romagna to promote social integration also through employment, enabling the integration of young migrants within the community", said Vincenzo Colla and Igor Taruffi. They are Emilia-Romagna's councillor of labour and professional training, and the region's councillor on welfare and youth policies, respectively.

"Job placement is the final step of programs through which we try to provide good conditions of assistance and integration opportunities for unaccompanied minors", explained Colla and Taruffi.

Regional authorities said the programs available will allow unaccompanied foreign minors who have already turned 17 -- or who will soon be 17 -- to be identified by the municipal governments that are responsible for them. The goal is reportedly to enroll them in the third year of a high school and to set them up with personalized projects specifically designed to help them find employment after graduation.