ABUJA (ILO News) – On 8 November 2018, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD), in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), organized a multi-stakeholder meeting in Abuja to consult on the revision of the Action Plan and present the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth in Nigeria. 

In his opening address, Mr. Adesola Olusade, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, emphasized the global dimension of the youth employment challenge and observed that stakeholders realized the need for innovative interventions that supported an effective and meaningful transition to adulthood and harnessed the potential for socio-economic development.  

Mr. Dennis Zulu, Director of the ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, highlighted the crucial importance of youth employment and acknowledged efforts to address it including the recently adopted National Employment Policy and the revision of the NIYEAP.  

Complementing existing policies and frameworks on youth and employment, the revised NIYEAP aims to enhance employment prospects of young people in Nigeria and deliver a comprehensive approach to youth employment interventions through multi-sectoral collaboration.  

According to Ms. Sukti Dasgupta, Chief of the ILO Employment and Labour Market Policies Branch of the ILO, action plans, such as the NIYEAP, can contribute to the implementation of related policies, which was of critical importance.   

The meeting provided an opportunity to bring numerous stakeholders including Government, private sector, workers’ and employers’ organizations and young people together to elaborate on key youth employment priorities and devise steps for joint and coordinated implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the revised NIYEAP.    

The meeting also served as a platform to present Decent Jobs for Youth, the global initiative to scale up action and impact on youth employment in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Guided by 15 key principles, the Initiative brings together the expertise and resources of multiple partners to promote evidence-based strategies and interventions, highlight progress, share knowledge, and enable multi-stakeholder collaboration.  

The revised NIYEAP will serve as the commitment of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to Decent Jobs for Youth. Both the NIYEAP and the Global Initiative aim to advance labour market outcomes in critical areas such as digital skills for youth, quality apprenticeships, the transition to the formal economy, youth in the rural economy and youth entrepreneurship and self-employment.   

The ILO is currently supporting the FMYSD in the revision of the NIYEAP and the multi-stakeholder meeting provided valuable insights and feedback from key stakeholders on how to ensure a joint-up approach in the identification, implementation and monitoring of priority actions that will enable young people to have greater access to decent jobs. The revised NIYEAP is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2018.  

Remarks delivered on behalf of Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, referred to the National Employment Policy adopted in 2017. “The reviewed policy is a veritable instrument in addressing increasing disparity between economic growth and low capacity within the economy and to create decent and sustainable employment”.
 

Throughout the consultations, participants reiterated the importance of close coordination among different stakeholders to leverage synergies and ensure joined-up action in improving labour market outcomes for young people in Nigeria.