UfM HOMERe project: Closing the gap between education and business to foster youth employability
Villa Méditerranée (Marseille), 2 March 2016. The 15 partners forming the HOMERe Consortium gathered today in Marseille to take stock of the first achievements of the project, discuss the level of structuring of HOMERe national governance in each participating country and agree on an action plan for 2016-2017. A cooperation charter was signed by all the consortium members committing themselves to upscale HOMERe with the objective of improving the employability prospects of talented postgraduates through internship mobility experiences in transnational companies in the Mediterranean.
Deep socio-economic inequalities and high unemployment are considered major risk factors for disillusionment and instability in the region. The average unemployment rate of people under 25 in the region ranks among the highest in the world (European Union 21%; Middle East 28%; North Africa 30%).
Through its labelled project HOMERe – High Opportunity for Mediterranean Executive Recruitment, the UfM promotes a positive and action-oriented regional agenda on youth employability with a special focus on young graduates, thus unleashing the region’s human and economic potential.
Fostering youth employment in the region is a top priority of the UfM as an instrument for human development and stability in the region. HOMERe promotes international professional training placements in companies as a way to reduce the transition from university to the labour market and facilitate access to employment for high-potential graduates.
The UfM is promoting 15 projects directly addressing the challenges of youth employability and inclusive growth. Framed by the political mandate (in particular the Ministerial conferences on industrial cooperation and the digital economy) and informed by the priorities expressed in the regional dialogues, these projects target approximately 200,000 beneficiaries, mostly young people, and involve more than 1,000 small and medium private enterprises.
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Video: Youth Employability and Inclusive Growth, a UfM priority
