Supporting a National Action Plan for Youth Employment
Youth present an enormous opportunity and potential for the world's present
and future development. In Egypt, youth constitute the majority of the population,
and are often the most vulnerable and powerless. It is estimated that almost 90%
of the jobless are youth; therefore, tackling youth unemployment is a priority
work area for the ILO Subregional Office for North Africa, Cairo.
In 2003, Egypt became a Lead Country of the UN Secretary-General's Youth Employment Network *(YEN). As such, it committed publicly to develop a National Action Plan on Youth Employment
(NAP). The ILO is working to support the development and implementation of this Plan. This
includes ensuring that youth are an integral part in the NAP, as opposed to passive
beneficiaries for whom employment is created.
Among its first steps, the SRO Cairo, in partnership with the YEN and the German Government
Agency (GTZ), and under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower and Migration (MOMM),
organized a "Capacity Building Workshop on Youth Employment" (February 2006). The aim was
twofold: to engage Egyptian youth in dialogue with government officials, employers' and
workers' organizations as well as multi-lateral institutions and the donor community, on how
to address the challenges and aspirations of young Egyptians about youth employment, and to
build up their capacity to take part in decision making.
Discussions in the workshop were based, among others, on two surveys prepared by the SRO
Cairo in 2005: 'Transition from school to work' and 'The impact of vocational training on
graduates'. The results of both surveys exhibited significant challenges in terms of a
widespread mismatch between the types of graduates exiting the education/training system,
on the one hand, and the needs of the labour market, on the other.
The workshop provided practical advice, tools and advocacy support to help Egyptian youth
groups to scale up their activities on youth employment. It also urged them to mobilize
effectively to support and take part in the finalization and implementation of the NAP.
Finally, it rose awareness among stakeholders about the importance of youth employment, the
need to finalize the NAP and implement it swiftly, and to create an Egyptian Youth
Consultative Group (EYCG) to the NAP.
In the coming months, the ILO will lend its support to reactivate the NAP Steering Committee.
This Steering Committee should work under the leadership of the MOMM, but with the broader
and direct implication of all national stakeholders, including youth.
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* The YEN is an inter-agency partnership composed of three entities: the International Labour Organization, the United Nations and the World Bank.
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