The Executive Power, in agreement with the Congress of Mayors, will present to Parliament a bill to extend the Job Opportunities program in 2023 and 2024. The wages will be extended for 8 months and will reach some 9,000 people.
“It is news that many people were waiting for because they had been demanding it,” said the Secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado.
The Secretary of the Presidency explained that this new phase of the Jornales Solidarios program will run between May 2023 and January 2024. Then, it will continue in 2024, from May to December, and will imply a total investment of 14 million dollars. The support will last 8 months, will be divided into two stages and will provide a salary of 13,000 pesos to the participants. “More people are going to have access opportunities,” he considered.
He added that the interested parties will be defined by lottery in each instance. In addition, he clarified that the distribution of the quotas will be established by the congress and that the departmental governments that express the need to expand the quotas may do so with the corresponding exemptions from contributions.
Delgado reported that, at the end of the first stage of this year in the first four months, the remnants of those municipalities that have not covered the necessary quotas may be redistributed to the departments with the highest level of unemployment.
With the support of the State Health Services Administration (ASSE), the beneficiaries of the program will be able to obtain the health card to facilitate their reintegration into the labor market, after completing the term of this transitory program. In this sense, training instances are also planned by the National Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (Inefop).
He also explained that the national government will finance 70% of the program and the municipalities the remaining percentage.
Echeverría, meanwhile, considered that this agreement is an important fact for all municipalities and that the Sectoral Commission for Decentralization of Congress will regulate the details of the distribution of seats, based on what was done in previous years. “This is a plan with special characteristics, which has had the consensus and approval of the entire political system,” he emphasized. He also said that the tasks of the beneficiaries will be broad and will arise according to their profiles and local needs.
Lima, for its part, highlighted the consensus with the Executive and the special consideration of the North coastal region at the time of the distribution of wages due to the difficulties caused by the exchange difference with the Argentine Republic.
For Sander, meanwhile, the initiative will allow the municipalities better resources and tools to generate opportunities for the population with difficulties in accessing a job.
The authorities clarified that there will be no age or training requirements and that people who already participated in the program will be able to enroll in these new instances.
