Promoting training and employment for young people in Tunisia

Programme description

Title: Open Regional Fund for promoting training and employment for young people in Tunisia II (Maghreb)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Countries: Tunisia
Overall term: 2013 to 2018

Context

A lack of employment prospects for a country’s inhabitants is recognised as a major cause of social tension and political unrest. In Tunisia, the unemployment rate totalled 15.3 per cent at the beginning of 2017, with nearly a quarter of all women and a third of all high-school graduates unable to find work. In some of the country’s particularly disadvantaged regions, unemployment among young people is as high as 50 per cent. 

Objective

The number of self-employed and employed individuals in Tunisia has increased in the sectors and regions supported by the project.

Approach

GIZ is working with an Open Regional Fund to finance, promote and implement numerous cooperation strategies designed to increase employment. The Fund’s activities are guided by a steering committee comprised of representatives from the private sector, civil society and the government. The committee has used a transparent selection process to choose projects that aim to create employment prospects for young Tunisians. These projects are being implemented in close collaboration with the private sector and civil society.

As well as creating job opportunities for young Tunisians, all of the selected projects also seek to develop ideas for facilitating structural improvements in Tunisia’s labour market. Additionally, an advisory committee has been set up to ensure that the project is upscaled, both vertically and horizontally. The pilot projects are being multiplied whenever possible so that more young people can benefit from the Fund's approach. In the medium term, the goal is for this development to continue without the need for support from Germany. The project is also making efforts to apply lessons learned and the best practices identified through the projects to positively shape the legal framework in Tunisia. The long-term aim is to improve the employment conditions and to allow even more young people to benefit from the job opportunities created.

The pilot projects being supported by the project all contribute to the Fund's four overall objectives:

1. Professionalising job market services oriented to  labour market supply and demand
2. Improving in-company vocational training and development as well as the qualifications held by job-seekers
3. Supporting start-up companies and enhancing entrepreneurship
4. Improving working conditions and raising the attractiveness of occupations which offer high potential for employment in Tunisia 

Results

The projects that have received support so far are already proving to be successful. Nearly 3,000 people have found work – 2,800 as employees, along with 200 young entrepreneurs who have founded their own businesses. In addition, 4,750 young people have participated in vocational training development programmes.

Thanks to cooperation with the private sector, more and more companies are actively providing vocational training and development opportunities to young Tunisians. One example is Knauf, a company that cooperated with GIZ on a pilot project to provide 700 young people with occupational training. Nearly half of these trainees succeeded in finding a job after completing the programme. The best practices developed through these needs-based vocational training programmes are being adopted by the Tunisian gypsum industry and the responsible government offices.

Additional project examples and information can be found in the Factsheet linked below.