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ESF

Of the four Structural Funds, the European Social Fund (ESF) supports Human Resource Development. ESF contributes towards the revenue costs of vocational training projects for both the employed and the unemployed as detailed in the United Kingdom National Employment Action Plan.

A chapter on Employment was included for the first time in the Treaty of Amsterdam making employment a common concern for all Member States within the European Union. The resulting European Employment Strategy requires each Member State to put together an annual National Employment Action plan with key objectives against which performance is monitored. The European Social Fund is key to supporting the European Employment Strategy and the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme is linked closely to the UK National Employment Action Plan.

In addition, the Special Transitional Programme has been promoting five particular `horizontal themes` namely mainstreaming equal opportunities, sustainable development, lifelong learning, support for local initiatives and the information society.

Funding worth approximately £43 million has been available to support ESF activities over the Programme lifetime. In addition, under Priority 4 Sub-Priority B Measure 4 (CED), funding is available to local partnerships for the creation of new structures for co-operation between training providers, local agencies and the local labour market.

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