Global Initiative on Innovative Labour Market Services for Youth – First Preparatory Workshop & Practitioners’ Dialogue – MENA region

University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, 14-16 October 2015

Around the world far too many young people are not in employment, education or training (NEET). Roughly one third of the world’s youth are unemployed, looking for work or they are discouraged and therefore inactive. Unemployment rates among young people are particularly high in the Middle East and North Africa.

In general, the youth is more vulnerable in economic crises and is disadvantaged on the labour market because they have less working experience and are less skilful in application processes than adults. Besides, one cause for high rates of youth unemployment is the mismatch between labour supply and labour demand. This goes along with a lack of labour market services focussed on the needs of young people.

In this context the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), has developed the new Global Initiative on Innovative Labour Market Services for Youth.

The initiative shall serve policy makers, private sector representatives and civil society to initiate an ongoing dialogue on innovative solutions to address the challenge of bringing youth into sustainable employment. It aims at promoting regional and global peer learning and knowledge-sharing in the field of youth employment.

The initiative, implemented by GIZ, is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In the MENA region, the first priority region of the initiative, activities will be realised in close cooperation with the UfM.

The first Preparatory Workshop & Practitioners’ Dialogue in the MENA region aims at bringing together key stakeholders and practitioners from the field of labour market services in the MENA region, offering a forum for knowledge sharing and discussing the way forward of the new Global Initiative.

Moreover, the workshop shall give participants the opportunity to gain insight into the topic of labour market information by partially taking part in a parallel meeting of the European Network on Regional Labour Market Monitoring (EN RLMM) and reflecting implications for the Global Initiative.

This new initiative falls under the Job Intermediation pillar of the UfM Mediterranean Initiative for Jobs – Med4Jobs. Developed by the UfM Secretariat, Med4Jobs is a cross-sector initiative driven by the need for an integrated regional initiative in the area of job creation, aiming at increasing the employability of youth and women, closing the gap between labour demand and supply, and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and private sector development.

OBJECTIVES OF THE MEETING

• Inform key stakeholders and practitioners in the field of labour market services in MENA countries about the new Global Initiative and related GIZ project activities
• Exchange information and discuss major challenges and opportunities of labour market policies and services for youth in MENA countries
• Examine possible synergies with existing initiatives in the MENA region, e.g. Med4Jobs Initiative of the Union for the Mediterranean
• Define potential cornerstones and topics for joint reflection and working areas within the new Global Initiative
• Learn about approaches to labour market monitoring in European regions and localities
• Reflect on labour market monitoring as an approach to gain labour market information and to identify suitable labour market policies and services for youth based on the information

More information

Draft agenda