North Macedonia has introduced a new model for delivering social services to those in need, through in-home care and support services.
Synopsis
Across Europe and Central Asia, the World Bank is opening doors for women to access better jobs and launch their own businesses. The World Bank’s support ranges from expanding employment pathways in low-opportunity settings to helping women develop the skills and networks needed to access better jobs. Gender-smart programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Türkiye, Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan are showing how tailored support can help women gain employment and unlock productivity.
Results Highlights
From 2017 to 2024, more than 20,000 women in Bosnia and Herzegovina entered private sector jobs through support from public and private employment services.
More than 700 women in North Macedonia —many from Roma communities or previously outside the labor force—have gained formal employment in the care economy through newly established social services for the elderly.
More than 500 women in Türkiye—including both Turkish nationals and Syrian refugees—joined women-led cooperatives in the textile, food, and cleaning services sectors.
Nearly 3,000 low-income women in the Kyrgyz Republic - primarily in rural areas - received business grants enabling them to launch income-generating activities.
Over 15,000 people in Uzbekistan (87 percent of them women) participated in entrepreneurship training, with one third of them sustaining a business one year after completing the program.
I spent 10 years looking for work. Thanks to this project, I’ve now been employed at a bank for a year. New friendships, purpose, confidence — this truly changed my life.
Aida Hodžić was jobless for a decade after her pregnancy before participating in the Provision of Private Employment Services project in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I’m incredibly grateful to the government for these opportunities. I never imagined I’d realize my dream at 50. It’s never too late to learn. If life once worked against you, try again. Come to the Monocenter and learn. I’ve made great friends here—and now they’re encouraging me to open my own workshop.
Dilnoza Mirzakhmedova from Uzbekistan decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a seamstress. With support from the Kibray District Employment Support Center, she enrolled in a free tailoring course at the Tashkent сity Monocenter. Within three months, Dilnoza completed the training and received a full-time job in a sewing workshop.
Challenge
Even though more women across Europe and Central Asia are getting educated and fewer are living in poverty, many still face big barriers when it comes to finding good jobs. This is especially true for women who are low-income, Roma, refugees, or have been unemployed for a long time. They often take on most of the unpaid care work at home, are less likely to work in formal jobs, and often don’t have access to employment services. Many also lack foundational skills—such as financial literacy, digital fluency, or the ability to read. These challenges are especially acute in rural and underserved areas, where access to training and job support is limited.
Approach
To help women enter and thrive in the workforce—no matter their starting point—the World Bank adopts a comprehensive strategy tailored to different levels of job readiness. The approach integrates financing, policy reform, technical assistance, and capacity building to create more inclusive labor markets across Europe and Central Asia. This strategy works on multiple levels:
Expanding access to jobs in underserved areas by investing in childcare and elderly care services and community-based programs that offer entry points into formal work.
Building foundational skills and job readiness—including digital fluency, financial literacy, and entrepreneurial skills—to prepare women for today’s changing job market.
Strengthening employment services through partnerships with public and private providers to offer better job matching, counseling, and career support.
Supporting women-led businesses by connecting them to professional networks, finance, and mentoring.
Underpinning these efforts is an emphasis on layered support—combining hard skills with psychosocial services, mentoring, and trust-building—particularly for women who face systemic exclusion. Projects are grounded in gender-disaggregated data, behavioral insights, and strong local engagement to ensure they meet real needs and deliver lasting results.
Results
World Bank-supported programs across Europe and Central Asia have delivered measurable gains in women’s economic participation - particularly among groups historically left behind. Between 2017 and 2025, nearly 40,000 women in five countries entered formal private sector jobs or launched their own businesses with the help of targeted training, employment services, and tailored support.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, efforts to modernize employment services have opened new pathways into work for thousands of women. Through two projects—the Employment Support Project (2017-2022) and Provision of Private Employment Services (2021-2023)—over 20,000 women secured private sector jobs. A private employment agency delivered personalized support to more than 5,000 women, while 45 public counselors were trained to apply gender-sensitive practices.
In North Macedonia, since 2021, more than 700 women—many from Roma communities—have secured formal jobs in the care economy through the Social Services Improvement Project, which established privately provided municipal-level services for in-home care and early childhood education. These services not only created employment opportunities, but also supported over 1,600 elderly people to live more independently, and opened 2,200 new kindergarten spaces, benefiting more than 30,000 children and easing the care burden traditionally borne by women.
In Türkiye, between 2019 and 2023, the Strengthening Economic Opportunities for Syrians under Temporary Protection and Turkish Citizens project enabled over 500 women to find dignified employment through the creation of women-led cooperatives in textiles, food, and cleaning services. The project also launched the Social Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, a collaborative platform for knowledge sharing now linking 350 organizations and 900 individual members who are engaged in improving refugee livelihoods and women’s economic empowerment.
In Kyrgyz Republic, nearly 3,000 women received grants and established micro projects in 2024 under the Social Assistance and Labor Market Programs Project through the Social Contract Program. Nearly 4,000 low-income beneficiaries also received training in business planning and financial literacy. The program placed strong emphasis on outreach to rural and hard-to-reach communities, and integrated follow-up mentoring to support women in sustaining income-generating activities.
In Uzbekistan, the Strengthening the Social Protection System Project (2019-2024) helped improve job matching, vocational training, and entrepreneurship support. More than 15,000 people – 87 percent of them women - received entrepreneurship training, and one-third maintained a business one year later. The number of trainees at vocational skills centers rose from 61,143 in 2022 (49,154 women) to 71,372 in 2024 (58,684 women). Employment outcomes also improved: 82 percent of graduates in 2024 were employed or self-employed six months after completing their training, up from 67.8 percent in 2022. Employment Support Centers improved job placement rates from 40 percent to nearly 58 percent, with women's placement rates increasing from 25 percent to 53 percent.
These programs are not only transforming lives—they are also strengthening institutions. With better use of gender-disaggregated data, profiling tools, and stronger public-private coordination, the WBG is helping these countries lay the foundations for more inclusive, resilient, and opportunity-rich economies for women across the region.
Rasha is getting prepared with her son to go to work at the HALKA social cooperative. Photo: HALKA Cooperative
World Bank Group Contribution
The World Bank has supported gender-smart employment and inclusion efforts across Europe and Central Asia through a blend of IDA, IBRD, and Trust Fund financing, complemented by technical assistance and analytical work:
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, support has been anchored by two major IBRD-financed operations: the Employment Support Project ($55.5 million IBRD loan and $41.4 million in counterpart financing), and its successor, the Second Employment Support Project ($43.2 million IBRD loan and $18.3 million in counterpart financing). These initiatives were complemented by the Provision of Private Employment Services project, backed by a Swedish-financed Trust Fund totaling $3.1 million.
In North Macedonia, the Social Services Improvement Project was financed through a $33.4 million IBRD loan.
In Türkiye, the Strengthening Economic Opportunities for Syrians under Temporary Protection and Turkish Citizens Project was financed through a Bank-Executed Trust Fund in the amount of $5.9 million under the Europe 2020 Programmatic Single-Donor Trust Fund.
In Uzbekistan, the Strengthening the Social Protection System Project received a $50 million IDA contribution.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, the Social Assistance and Labor Market Programs Project was supported by a $30 million IDA credit.
Beyond financing, technical assistance and advisory services played a central role in shaping gender-responsive labor market reforms across the region, including the Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) Improving Women’s Agency & Access to Economic Opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Partnerships
Strategic partnerships have been central to the success of gender-smart employment efforts across Europe and Central Asia, helping to tailor solutions to local needs, strengthen delivery, and build lasting ownership.
For example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the World Bank partnered with the Austrian Employment Services to develop and pilot gender-sensitive counseling approaches in public employment services, drawing on Austria’s best practices on training job counselors and local insights from UN Women-supported consultations as well as a pilot financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
In Uzbekistan, the World Bank collaborated with the International Labour Organization land UNICEF to assess the national social protection system using the Core Diagnostic Instrument. This joint diagnostic shaped Uzbekistan’s 2022-2030 National Social Protection Strategy and laid the groundwork for more gender-responsive labor market reforms.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, the World Bank cooperated with the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration, the UN World Food Program, and other organizations to ensure that the design of the Social Contract Program addressed the realities of rural women’s livelihoods. These partnerships contributed to more tailored grant mechanisms, follow-up mentoring, and outreach to underserved communities.
Looking Ahead
The World Bank’s engagement across Europe and Central Asia is closely aligned with the 2024–2030 WBG Gender Strategy, which positions gender equality as essential to poverty reduction and inclusive growth. As the region moves forward, the focus will be on scaling both targeted and system-wide approaches that remove structural barriers and expand women’s access to jobs, services, and entrepreneurship.
Upcoming efforts include strengthening services for survivors of gender-based violence and employment support for vulnerable groups in Uzbekistan, expanding care sector jobs in North Macedonia, and boosting women’s access to finance in Türkiye. Across all countries, support will be tailored to address gender-specific challenges, such as women’s skills gaps and re-entry barriers. Through these initiatives, the World Bank is combining targeted local interventions with broader policy and institutional reforms to drive lasting impact.
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