Employment and Decent Work Policies for Youth in the Arab States

1
Employment and Decent Work Policies for Youth in
the Arab States

• Tariq A. Haq
• Employment Development and Strategies Specialist
• ILO Regional Office for Arab States, Beirut
• February 2007

2
Decent Work

• The creation of opportunities for women and
  men to obtain decent and productive work in
  conditions of freedom, equity, security and human
  dignity
• - ILO, Decent Work Report of the Director
  General, International Labour Conference, 87th
  Session
• Employment, Rights at Work, Social Protection,
  Social Dialogue

3
Youth-specific difficulties in transition from
education to employment

• Lack of employment experience Catch 22 problem
• Insider-outsider effects related to strict
  labour market regulations
• Wage and job reservations mismatch between
  aspirations and LM realities
• Constraints on self-employment and
  entrepreneurship development
• Lack of organization and voice

4
Regional Context

• Oil boom has lifted MENA GDP growth from 3.6 in
  the 1990s to 6 in the last 2 years
• High economic growth in oil-producing states, but
  elsewhere performance is variable
• Limited economic diversification

5
(contd.)

• Modest growth in exports Jordan, Syria, Lebanon
  averaged 2.7 from 2000 to 2004
• Challenges to foreign investment from
• Conflict and instability
• Inadequate legal and regulatory environment
• Labour force growth outpacing both (non-oil) GDP
  growth and employment opportunities
• Creeping poverty outside of countries in crisis

6
Main Features of the Arab Labour Force

• Employment predominantly in services (48.7 in
  2005) cf. industry (25)
• Public sector bias LM segmentation between
  public and private sectors (esp. in GCC
  countries)
• Highest unemployment rates in the world 12.2 in
  2006 (around 17 million unemployed)
• Ue problem compounded by high underemployment
  low-productivity, low income, precarious jobs

7
Main Features Youth Dimensions

• Young populations high youth inactivity rate
  (60) some increase in labour force
  participation of young women (1995 23 2005
  25)
• 3 million new youth entrants to the labour market
  annually - pressure to create jobs for these new
  entrants just to maintain current unemployment
  levels
• Youth unemployment rates are 3.1 times higher
  than adult unemployment rates, averaging 25.7
  in 2005 (cf. 18.1 in Sub-Saharan Africa)

8
(No Transcript)
9
Main Features Gender Youth Dimensions

• Average female unemployment rate of 19.8 was 9
  points higher than the male rate of 10.8 in
  2005
• Unemployment for young women in MENA countries
  estimated at 34.5 in 2005
• Unemployed women are mainly young new labour
  force entrants (with primary secondary
  education), and laid off workers following
  restructuring and privatization - in Jordan,
  Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt

10
Need for a Comprehensive Employment Policy

• ILO Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No.122)
  An active policy designed to promote full,
  productive and freely chosen employment
• ILC 1996, resolution declaring The objective of
  full, productive and freely chosen employment
  through higher, sustained economic growth should
  remain a major goal of economic, social and
  employment policies
• Economic growth, employment creation, quality of
  employment needs coherent economic, employment
  and labour market policies

11
founded upon Rights at Work

• Freedom from Discrimination
• Freedom from Child Labour
• Freedom from Forced Labour
• Freedom of Association

12
that provides for Social Protection

• Occupational Safety and Health
• Social Security

13
and fosters Social Dialogue

• Tripartism (Government, Workers, Employers)
• Employment and competitiveness
• Freedom of Association ILO core Conventions 87
  and 98

14
Employment Policy with a Youth Focus

• Based on a deep and reliable economic and labour
  market analysis - requires LMI
• Interventions needed on the supply and demand
  side of the labour market and their better
  matching for enhancing employability, promoting
  employment and improving social security
• Should be formulated, implemented and evaluated
  in partnerships of governments at various levels
  with the social partners and other stakeholders,
  including youth, with possible assistance from
  international organizations

15
Targeted Active Labour Market Policies for Young
People

• Well functioning employment services
• Re-skilling of work force bridging the skills
  gap to match labour supply with demand linking
  training programmes with employment
• Entrepreneurship training in basic business
  skills, especially for young women and men
• Employment subsidies for disadvantaged youth

16
International ALMP Experiences

• UK New Deal (job search assistance and
  subsidized work exp/education/SE)
• Belgium First Job Agreements (minimum YE quotas,
  subsidies)
• Poland VT (for youth without professional
  qualifications)
• Chile Chile Joven (training programmes and
  employment subsidies for private firms)

17
Experiences with ALMPs for Youth in the Arab
States

• Employment Services reforms in Bahrain, Oman,
  Algeria, Tunisia
• Youth entrepreneurship training programmes
• Jordan (INJAZ)
• Oman (SANAD)
• Syria (SHABAB)
• Public works Yemen (SFD PWP)

18
Egypts Youth Employment Programme

• Launched in July 2001 by the Cabinet of Ministers
  and coordinated by the Information and Decision
  Support Centre of the Cabinet of Ministers
• 5-year programme aimed to create 800,000 jobs
  during the first year.
• 5 components
• employment in the government sector
• employment in jobs for the collection of
  information in villages
• jobs in the private sector
• youth training
• credit for artisans workshops

19
Moving Forward ALMP Strategizing

• Regional initiatives tend to be disparate lack
  systematic policy/strategy
• Articulating and formulating ALMPs within the
  context of National Employment Strategies/Policies
  , National Development Frameworks
• Beyond the formulation stage, ALMPs need to be
  monitored and evaluated ILO tools and support
  also requires strong LMI from needs assessment
  through to evaluation

20
Additional Policy Responses to Raise the YE
Intensity of Growth

• Promoting self-employment/entrepreneurship
• Changing attitudes
• Making banking systems more friendly
• Creating an enabling legislative/regulatory
  environment
• Promotion of intra-regional mobility
• Reviewing product market regulation, which can
  constrain employment growth for young people
• Wage policy, including non-wage costs can help in
  promoting YE
• Policy integration

21
Additional Policy Responses (contd.)

• Cooperation with private employment agencies and
  training providers
• Incentives to employers (tenders annual
  recognition ceremonies)
• Improving labour market information systems
• Engaging in meaningful dialogue with the social
  partners

22
Contact

• Tariq A. Haq
• Employment Development and Strategies Specialist
• ILO Regional Office for Arab States, Beirut
• haq_at_ilo.org
• www.ilo.org
• www.ilo.org/youth
• www.ilo.org/yen