The Analysis of social enterprises as employment opportunity for Roma women – a new approach towards resolving social issues reveals the findings from the analysis of 7 social enterprises (SE) which operate on the territory of the city of Skopje and the services which they offer through engaging persons from marginalised communities, with the emphasis placed on Roma women. It gives insight into the connection between social enterprises and employment of Roma women and in general people from vulnerable groups and communities as a possible measure for their integration in the society by involving them on the labour market. The analysis has provided findings about activities initiated by SEs for increasing employability of vulnerable or hardly employable citizens and their work integration. The analysis has focused on the process of involvement of Roma women from Skopje on the labour market and boosting their employability. The analysis further identifies findings regarding the challenges faced by social enterprises and hardly employable groups of citizens, with particular emphasis on women form the Roma population. Research also reveals how many of the surveyed social enterprises have used employment measures from the annual program of the ESA and MoLSP and provides input regarding the experience from the measures used.
The research does not encompass all NGOs, small, medium and social enterprises within the Skopje city limits nor does it involve all long-term unemployed Roma women from Skopje. Instead, it focuses on those social businesses which are recognised in the community and are managed by various legal entities, registered under different legal forms, providing services which engage as workers people who are long-term unemployed. Involving other legal forms in this research would probably lead the results being underestimated. This research is an attempt to present social entrepreneurship as a model for social inclusion of long-term unemployed Roma women and their involvement in the labour market. The purpose is to research the market for the existing social enterprises which employ persons from marginalised communities. The research shall help us identify challenges which SEs confront but also the obstacles faced by Roma women from Skopje during the process of labour integration.
