WHY
Worldwide, more young people than ever are participating in education. But despite these gains, youth unemployment remains at historically high levels. Additionally, businesses all over the world report serious problems in matching available talent with unfilled jobs. In 2016, some 40 per cent of employers surveyed in 43 countries and territories reported skills shortages. Quality apprenticeships offer a solution that benefits everyone: creating a reliable path to stable employment and higher income for young people while meeting the needs of enterprises. While the benefits of formal apprenticeship systems are not in dispute, the real challenge lies in implementing and scaling them up, particularly in developing countries.
HOW
Decent Jobs for Youth facilitates unique collaborations between enterprises and vocational education and training institutions, with the goal of combining classroom learning with practical workplace training. At country and regional level, we support the review of frameworks and policies on apprenticeships and the development of innovative strategies that incorporate entrepreneurial and digital skills into school curricula. This approach is reinforced by advocacy and knowledge sharing, allowing us to mobilize resources and share lessons learned on a global scale. By implementing pilot apprenticeship programmes in selected sectors, we support the development of demand-driven training models, designed to equip young people with market-relevant skills.
WHO
The ILO and UNESCO are committed to leading on this thematic priority. Decent Jobs for Youth brings together a growing number of partners who are committed to scaling up quality apprenticeship programmes that are mutually beneficial for young people and enterprises.
Advanced IT training and employment in Africa
AmaliTech gGmbH offers employment pathways in the ICT sector to young graduates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Individuals have the opportunity to participate in a free, three to six months training programme, covering both hard and soft skills required to be successful in the ICT sector. After successful completion, trainees are offered jobs in one of AmaliTech’s service centres, where we connect them to European clients to provide high-quality digital services in software engineering, data science and other specializations. The programme aims to offer training to over 3,000 individuals and create at least 1,000 jobs in Ghana and Rwanda by 2025.
Youth Participation&Employment in the MENA region
Launched in 2017, the Youth Participation and Employment (YPE) programme is a five-year initiative, implemented by Oxfam IBIS (Denmark), and funded by the Danish Arab Partnership program. YPE aims to improve economic opportunities for young women and men in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. By building diverse and effective partnerships, it seeks to achieve three outcomes: (i) strengthened technical and life skills that enable young people to actively engage in society; (ii) increased organisational capacity of institutions, the private sector, entrepreneurs and communities to support young people; (iii) enhanced advocacy and dialogue between youth, public and private institutions, and business.