Samoa National Action Plan on Youth Employment (SNAPonYE)

Samoa is a small island nation located in the South West Pacific. In 2014, it was reclassified from a least developed country (LDC) which status it had held since 1971, to that of a lower-middle-income economy.

The Samoan Government has mainstreamed employment creation in its Strategy for Development (2012-16) and it has prioritized youth employment in the National Youth Policy (2011-15). The new DWCP (2013-16) identifies as one of three priorities that: “Young women and men have greater access to information and employment services to support their transitions from school to work”.
While Samoan people and their economy are significantly affected by the effects of youth employment, the country is yet to establish a national employment policy or a national action plan to address the challenge.

This project builds on the existing ILO support to Samoa. It will follow the strategy of its Area of Critical Importance (ACI2 – Jobs and skills for youth) so that following 14 months of implementation, Samoa will be able to count on:

1. A National Action Plan on Youth employment which highlights priority measures based on the identification of human and financial resources requirements, endorsed by the Government for its implementation.
2. A strengthened institutional framework to coordinate, monitor and report on the delivery of a National Action Plan on Youth Employment.

Furthermore, recognizing the net lack of jobs, and as highlighted in the recent UN SIDS Conference, the continued momentum and growing funding and investment in climate change in resilient, adaptation and mitigation efforts through increased climate financing, there is a need to (a) create sustainable jobs and (b) initiate a national dialogue on integration of job creation and enterprise development in climate change.