ICQN /TVSD Seminar on the socio-economic integration of young people in Africa

As part of the establishment of the Working Group on socio-economic integration, a seminar was held on 3 and 4 December 2012 in Abidjan to provide answers to the following questions:

  1. What recurring difficulties are being encountered with the socio-economic integration of young people in Africa?
  2. Based on the analyses conducted in the various countries, what portion of these difficulties is due to:

a)A lack of information about available jobs?
b) Absent or poor vocational guidance?
c) disconnect between the skills acquired in training and the skills required by the labour market?
d)The lack of job creation policies?
e)A lack of investment in job-creating economic sectors?

3- What players and organizations are involved in the programmes established?

4- What methods are used to promote integration?

5- What are the main factors that determine the effectiveness of the programmes?

6- What are the weak points and strong points of the programmes and initiatives set up?

7- In what ways could the programmes and initiatives be improved, including their results?

Based on these questions, each country was asked to produce a summary report of their own experiences, with the document to also include the following:

- The most relevant data about youth employment in the country

- The economic sectors that are creating and / or losing jobs

- The sectors that lack skilled young people

During the work, ten countries made ​​presentations, including Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Mali, Niger, Mauritius, Ghana, Chad, and Burkina Faso. The ADEA, the GIZ, the APESS and Coders4Africa also presented valuable experience.