Experts in mentoring from Wallonia, Brussels, and Flanders have formed a new coalition called ‘Mentoring Belgium,’ with a view to expanding mentoring programmes and assisting with employment opportunities.
Mentoring is characterised as a support process based on mutual learning, connecting job seekers with volunteers who share their knowledge and experiences to help them to search for jobs.
The coalition highlights that mentoring is an effective, human-centred solution with a proven positive impact, and calls for it to become a core element of employment policies. Specifically, it is urging the creation of legislative and financial frameworks to ensure programme quality and alignment with European standards.
In Brussels, 6,500 people have already benefited from mentoring, with a success rate of 77%, including among those furthest from employment. This is in line with data released by Actiris in April, showing that 65% of job seekers who participated in mentoring in 2022 found work afterwards.
The federal government’s agreement includes a measure to limit unemployment benefits over time. Organisations caution that this could affect 100,000 people by 2026, potentially worsening the precarious situation of the unemployed.
“In the context of deep reforms, we urge authorities to make mentoring a strategic tool for social and professional inclusion,” a Mentoring Belgium spokesperson said. “We are placing ourselves at the disposal of administrations and policymakers, so as to have mentoring established as a genuine public policy instrument.”
The coalition is made up of seven organisations: Apides, CIMB Wapi, DUO for a JOB, FMDO, MentorYou, Randstad RiseSmart, and Team4Job.
