Context
In 2012, Egypt’s unemployment rate reached its highest level for ten years. Young people between the ages of 15 and 30 are particularly affected, making up around 90% of the country’s unemployed. At the same time, a growing number of job vacancies cannot be adequately filled. Across all sectors, companies are complaining about the low level of young job-seekers’ qualifications. There is a lack of institutionalised cooperation between policy-makers and economic actors on the issue of promoting youth employment.
Objective
In a partnership between the public and private sectors, policy-makers and economic actors are implementing reforms for the promotion of youth employment.
Approach
The programme supports the Egyptian Government in developing new, proactive employment policy measures. The main focus is on close cooperation between private-sector associations and public institutions. The programme is co-financed by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and by RWE DEA.
Main areas of support:
Policy advice and strategic planning of vocational education. The programme supports the Ministry of Education in contributing actively to the national dialogue on employment and developing monitoring and evaluation competencies that will allow it to take a more evidence-based approach to developing reforms and programmes.
Greater involvement of the private sector. The programme advises private sector associations on the development of demand-driven labour market services in the fields of further education and training.
Provision of labour market information. The programme is working with the private sector associations to establish regional labour market monitoring structures. This will improve the information base for policy-makers, as well as the advisory and placement services available to job seekers.
Introduction of new career guidance services. The programme supports private and public actors in implementing target group-specific models of careers guidance. These help to ensure the better placement of young people in jobs or training courses that meet the existing demand.
Development of demand-based training measures. The programme supports the Ministry of Education and selected private institutions in aligning their training measures with the employment potential of the Egyptian labour market, and expanding the scope of these measures. The DACUM method (Develop A CurriculUM) is used to develop new vocational pathways.
Results
With the support of the programme, the Ministry of Education has set up a unit tasked with guiding the policies and programmes of other state-owned institutions and international donors, while making its own reforms more evidence-based. Two further units have also been set up. The first is responsible for carrying out research and development in the field of vocational education, and the second focuses on vocational and careers advice within the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Education has benefited from advice and support for the further development and implementation of a new vocational education strategy.
Working together with decision-makers from the spheres of politics, business and civil society, the programme has initiated a national employment dialogue which will facilitate the development and coordination of policy recommendations for the Egyptian labour market.
As part of the programme, an approach has been developed for the monitoring and analysis of regional labour markets. So far, regional labour market observatories have been established in two regions under the leadership of the private sector, laying solid foundations for regional employment policies. At the request of the Ministry of Education, the approach is currently being rolled out in four other regions, and training is being given to develop local expertise in the field of labour market monitoring.
With support from the programme, secondary schools have set up vocational and careers advisory structures. Through these, students of vocational schools in selected regions have, for the first time, gained access to counselling services that prepare them for the labour market. Initial results were so positive that the approach has since been replicated by youth centres and non-governmental organisations. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the programme is developing a strategy for the broader dissemination of this approach.
Further interventions are being supported as part of the combined financing arrangement with RWE DEA. The aim is to increase the employability and earning potential of young people in one of RWE DEA’s natural gas extraction areas in the Egyptian Nile Delta. The interventions primarily involve providing training courses and careers advice, finding work for job-seekers in the neighbouring industrial areas and assisting young people in setting up their own businesses.
Working with GIZ’s Private Sector Development Programme, the Employment Promotion Programme has launched the joint initiative ‘icecairo’, a centre of innovation that provides creative solutions to social and ecological challenges. ICE stands for ‘innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship’.