New partnership aiming to reduce exclusion
December 1 st 2020 - 17:03
The Arctic Race of Norway and NAV cooperate in order to increase the opportunities to get a job in Norway.
What is NAV
NAV, or the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, administers a third of the national budget through schemes such as unemployment benefit, work assessment allowance, sickness benefit, pensions, child benefit and cash-for-care benefit. NAV was established on 1 July 2006. The local authorities and central government cooperate to find good solutions for users through 456 NAV offices in municipalities and city boroughs. NAV's main goals are:
- More people active and in work, fewer people on benefits
- A well-functioning job market
- To provide the right services and benefits at the right time
- To provide good services tailored to the users' needs and circumstances
- Comprehensive and efficient labour and welfare administration
Contribute to the inclusion efforts
1/4 of people of working age in Northern Norway are unemployed. Many are unemployed for only a short period of time, but for others the exclusion is more lasting. The government has initiated an inclusion and integration program to ensure that people are not excluded from work life and that more people are included. The job of including more people into work requires both innovation and a willingness to open up to other's experiences. “The Arctic Race of Norway has an ambition to be much more than just a cycling race. If we can contribute to more people having the opportunity to take part in work life, we will of course stand up for it. This is important for the individual, but it is also important for our society. We must use all the resources in the region to achieve this goal” says Knut-Eirik Dybdal, CEO of the Arctic Race of Norway.
Bufetat as a model
The directors of NAV Nordland and NAV Troms and Finnmark, Cathrine Stavnes and Grete Kristoffersen, hope that the partnership with the Arctic Race of Norway can help more employers realize what they can do together with NAV to get more people into work. The two NAV leaders have been looking at how Bufetat multiplies the inquiries about becoming a foster home for children and young people by actively using the cycling race. Now they want to use this model to recruit employers to reduce exclusion. “We know that many employers want to contribute but are unsure of how. NAV in Northern Norway will therefore use the Arctic Race of Norway as a platform to reach out to the business community with all the good schemes we have to strengthen inclusion and get more people into work”, Stavnes and Kristoffersen say.
Foto: @NAV - Cathrine Stavnes, director of NAV Nordland, and Knut-Eirik Dybdal, general manager of the Arctic Race of Norway.