By Ahmed El Assal, Meta Bilgrav Bodenhagen and Shekhar Anand For growth to be inclusive, decent work must be equally accessible to women and men. The Youth Participation and Employment (YPE) program has been trying to meet this objective by addressing factors of inequality. Youth Participation and Employment (YPE) programme, implemented by Oxfam IBIS, in the framework of the Arab …
Boosting decent employment for Africa’s youth
by Marieke Meeske and Saskia van Veen Youth in Africa face a myriad of constraints that affect their access to and success in the labour market. The current COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionally affects young people, puts further pressure on the job market. Youth employment policies and programmes try to tackle these constraints, e.g. by providing training and skills development to youth (supply side) or development of small and …
Ten lessons in promoting inclusive entrepreneurship program
by Ahmed Elassal and Shekhar Anand Most countries in the MENA region continue to marginalize the most vulnerable adolescents and youth, particularly young women, poor, refugees or people with disabilities, impacting their ability to realize their full potential (UNICEF). Young entrepreneurs find it extremely difficult to run their micro enterprises, small businesses, and start-ups in the same manner as they were doing …
Increasing Participation & Creating Inclusive Employment Opportunities for Youth
by Ahmed Elassal and Shekhar Anand Oxfam’s Youth Participation and Employment (YPE) Program supported by the Danish Arab Partnership Program (DAPP) works with a wide range of partners in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. The program developed interesting interventions for youth employment responding to the context, needs and factors such as skill levels of entrepreneurs, educational and geographic background, extent of exposure …
Challenges to Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in the MENA Region
Social entrepreneurship (SE) has gained significant interest and recognition in the past few years. Social entrepreneurs are tackling social and environmental challenges with innovative sustainable solutions, thus combining business with social impact. Social entrepreneurship in the southern Mediterranean region has the potential to invigorate local economies as well as to promote regional stability by activating positive synergies among economic sectors and …
Lessons in innovative financing for creating employment in the Middle East and North Africa
Background Emerging market economies face a significant credit gap and access to finance is considered the biggest obstacle for enterprises. Banks have been the traditional source of funding, but the financial crisis has led banks to be even more reluctant, which is creating an active debate about the importance of broadening the range of funding options available beyond banks. Such …
Using technology to enhance youth employment in the Middle East and North Africa
Challenges in context According to an Oxfam report, half a billion people could be pushed into poverty by COVID-19. The International Labour Organisation (ILO), warned that the crisis is expected to wipe out 6.7% of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020. The situation has directly hit the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. Export, travel, transportation …
Ten lessons on entrepreneurship and job creation in the MENA region
Job creation in the MENA Region, the context and challenges The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region face unemployment as a common challenge. The youth population is growing but the jobs are not being created at the same pace. Economic growth rates have declined, leading to a lack of employment opportunities sought by a rapidly expanding labour force. Globally, the …
Working with young people for employment in West Africa
For International Youth Day Marième Soda Ndiaye from RENF and Oxfam’s Magalie Laliberté reflect on the process of supporting active citizenship and youth employment opportunities in West Africa. All over Africa, especially in West Africa, the proportion of youth in the population is increasing. In sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of the population are less than 30 years old. Mali (with an …