YEN Senegal

NYEP to be reviewed -Minister
2008-02-19 22:46:01

All aspects of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), including conversion of allowances into salaries and career progression is to be reviewed.
Nana Akomea, Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment told Parliament on Tuesday that currently, the NYEP pays allowances and not salaries because it has been designed along the National Service Scheme to offer jobs to various categories of young people.


The NYEP is a special government intervention to address youth unemployment in Ghana," he said in response to a question on when employees of the NYEP would be made contributors to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust.

The Minister also told the House that the Ministry has held several meetings culminating in a draft employment policy and draft action plan to operationalise the policy.

Nana Akomea said these in response to another question on what the National Employment and Youth Development Policy of the Ministry was. The Minister told the House that the Ministry would hold the necessary "validation consultations and conferences which would include Parliament to achieve the necessary stakeholders consensus before submission to Cabinet for further directives and decisions.

"The Ministry projects these processes of validation and Cabinet decision to be completed by July 2008, so that, the nation would have a National Employment Policy."

On the Youth Policy, he said, a draft Youth Policy was produced in 1999 and it has been subjected to stakeholders' reviews with a resultant reviewed draft policy and action plan ready in mid 2007.

"The Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment would further subject the two documents to broader stakeholder evaluation including Parliament before submission to Cabinet for final directive and decision."

He said, it was expected that these processes would be completed this year.

Parliament has, meanwhile begun the debate on the Presidents' sessional address made on the floor of the House last Thursday. 19 Feb. 08

Hey 2007/2008 YEN associates!

Check it out - http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/yen/download/cida.pdf

I wanted to give a summary on the paper I have been working on for the past few months. The paper is in its final stages of editing and should become official ILO publication within the next month or so. The idea is to use the contacts made and the ideas contained in the paper to create a regional constituency of private sector actors working on youth employment in West Africa. I've had alot of fun working on this and think that the content of it will really help to create jobs. What lies ahead will be the creation of an effective communication strategy so that the PS understands what a big impact their interventions can have.....



Private Sector Guide to Partnerships for Youth Employment in West Africa

Obtaining meaningful employment has been identified as the central aspiration of the world’s poor in breaking out of their vicious cycles of poverty. West Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world where youth represent the largest age cohort of the population and the highest number of unemployed. There is a vital need for more youth to attain the quality education, relevant competencies, and practical work experience required to facilitate their transition to the world of work. This however, can not be achieved without concerted action by all stakeholders, including the private sector.

This guide represents the first product of the Youth Employment Network for West Africa’s (YEN-WA) Private Sector Initiative (PSI), a multi-stakeholder platform for business action on youth employment in the region. Through the PSI, the YEN-WA is dedicated to promoting the involvement of business in supporting and initiating programmes for youth employment.

The guide profiles 11 cross-sectoral youth employment partnerships between business and civil society, government and multilateral institutions, whose goal is to document and share best practices and lessons learned in collaboration in this issue area. The guide also outlines the rationale for business engagement in youth employment and summarizes the main areas where business contribution can have the most impact on youth.

The Guide has been divided into 2 sections:

1) “Youth Employment and the Private Sector in West Africa”

This section goes into a thorough discussion of the underlying challenges facing business in creating and promoting youth employment before studying the 4 different areas where business can intervene in meeting these challenges, namely:

• Partnering with education establishments
• Involving companies in vocational and skills training programmes
• Supporting young entrepreneurs
• Recruiting young people

This guide also analyzes why it makes “business sense” for companies to become involved in youth employment and looks at the various types of partnerships possible in supporting youth.

The problem of youth unemployment in the West African region is a complex issue involving elements of demographics, economics, education and financing which demands action by a diversity of stakeholders working together. By understanding these issues, actors have a better chance of overcoming and finding solutions to the challenges.

2) “Initiative Profiles”

This section introduces the companies and organizations who have come together to support and promote youth employment by profiling 11 “best practice” projects. These cases serve as a basis for analysis and discussion on private sector engagement in youth employment while acting as a catalyst for similar approaches to youth employment to be developed.

The case studies were chosen in part based on country representation, with initiatives from 12 of the 15 West African countries being profiled. Additionally, as the title of this guide suggests, the study signifies partnerships between a number of different sectors (cross sectoral) and therefore cases were chosen to acknowledge the breadth of these possible partnership types. Five of the case studies come from partnerships between business and civil society; (3) between business and government (public); and (3) between business and multilateral institutions.

The case studies chosen for this guide include:

• Shell LiveWire Nigeria
• Google and Technoserve: Believe, Begin, Become
• Child Labour Alternatives through Sustainable Systems in Education (CLASSE)
• Senegal Promise Programme
• Barclay’s and Youth Business Ghana: Oguaa Business Incubator
• APEJ Internship and Apprenticeship Program
• Ghana Industrial Skills Development Centre (GISDC)
• Guinea Alumina Corporation and USADF: Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Linkages Programme
• Microsoft and UNESCO: Unlimited Potential – Community Multimedia Centres
• Cisco Systems Networking Academy
• GTZ: Employment Promotion for Marginalized Youth through Private Sector Promotion


The youth employment challenge in West Africa is characterized by population increases, education and training systems which are poorly linked to the demands of the labour market and a lack access to financing for young entrepreneurs. The challenge is compounded by an extreme deficit of employment demand in the region caused by a lack of investment and business growth. Significant improvements in the economic environment must be made before youth can attain meaningful employment.

Nevertheless, West African youth represent an enormous untapped resource in the region. This guide strives to underscore the potential contribution that not only the private sector can make to improving the employment situation for youth on the whole but also the contribution that youth can make to enabling business growth.

This brochure has been developed as sort of a sneak peak into the private sector's contribution to YE in West Africa. It is destined towards business people and identifies possible intervention areas for their support of YE: creating jobs, supporting young entrepreneurs, supporting skills and tech training and supporting education. Additionally, the guide profiles case studies to lend evidence to this business support.

You can view the brochure here: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/yen/download/yenwa-psi.pdf

Feedback is much appreciated!

Hello all,
I finally get a chance to update the blog. So as you may know we have been working here on the UNIDAO/YEN/UNOWA Best Practice Study on youth employment in West Africa. We had to obviously look at an impressive array of questions ranging from security implications, private sector involvement, economic growth/acceleration schemes, education, and much more. We faced a number of challenges, not the smallest of which, time, that put a particular pressure on out activities. Nevertheless, A first draft of the study is being presented and discussed as I am writing this, in Vienna at the UNIDO offices by a Working Group. The Special representative to the Secretary General made a quick address this morning via phone link to UNIDO stating the importance of youth employment for the stability of the region, and the engagement of UNOWA in supporting all efforts geared towards this issue. I am attaching the Note from the conference that you can refer to for additional information. The feedback from the WG will help us continue working on the mapping study in view of the "UNIDO/AU High Level Consultative Meeting on Productive Work for Youth in West Africa with emphasis on the Mano River Union (MRU) and Côte d’Ivoire in cooperation with YEN and UNOWA". That has been confirmed for February 19-20 in Accra, Ghana.
I believe that the WG will allow for an accrued collaboration with UN agencies, donors, and Governments in assisting the full implementation of the YEN sub-office and will mark the beginning of a number of activities. I will also be attaching the minutes from a meeting we has yesterday at UNIDO offices that was of great importance I believe in the log run operations of the unit, and i believe should be of interest to you because it looks upon private involvement in youth employment, and the formulation of the problem to attract interest.
I will try to keep you posted on further developments as they come and as time allows. Thanks. M.

UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT NETWORK
UNIDO/YEN Working Group Meeting
In preparation of
UNIDO/AU High Level Consultative Meeting on Productive Work for Youth
in West Africa with emphasis on the Mano River Union (MRU)
in cooperation with YEN and UNOWA
Information Note
Date and venue: 11 and 12 January 2007
UNIDO Headquarters
Vienna International Center (VIC)
C-Building
Conference Room VII
Wagramerstraße 5
1400 Vienna, Austria
Background:
This Working Group will support the preparation of the UNIDO/AU High Level Consultative Meeting on Productive Work for Youth in West Africa with emphasis on the Mano River Union (MRU). The High-level Consultative Meeting is being convened by UNIDO and the African Union in cooperation with the Secretary-General’s Youth Employment Network (YEN) and the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) and it will be held in Accra, Ghana, on 19 and 20 February 2006 (Aide-mémoire attached).
In preparation of the Working Group meeting, UNIDO, YEN and UNOWA have undertaken a mapping study on youth employment initiatives in the region in order to assist policy-makers and other key stakeholders in the youth employment arena to determine which policies and programmes have greater potential to create decent work opportunities for young women and men, to identify gaps (if any) and help in the development of further inter agency initiatives (TORs of the study attached).
Objective:
The purpose of the Working Group is to review the outcome of the study in an informal, practical results-oriented setting with fellow experts and practitioners. Refining this study will help outline project concepts that can be tested for scaling up through a multi-stakeholder approach in the Mano River Union and Côte d'Ivoire and the setting up of financing mechanisms for such projects.
2
Provisional agenda:
The provisional agenda is contained in annex I.
Background documentation:
The draft “UNIDO/YEN/UNOWA Study on Best Practices, Policy Environment, Tools and Methodologies for Youth Employment in West Africa” will be sent to participants prior to the meeting at the beginning of January 2007.
UNOWA issues paper: “Youth Unemployment and Regional Insecurity in West Africa”, 2nd edition, August 2006, Dakar, Senegal.
Available at: http://www.un.org/unowa/unowa/studies/unemployment-insecurity.pdf
International Labour Office: Guidelines for the Preparation of National Action Plans on Youth Employment.
Available soon at www.ilo.org/youth
World Bank: Global Inventory of Interventions to Support Young Workers.
Proposed composition of the Working Group:
􀂃 Mr. Mats KARLSSON, Facilitator, Vice President of the World Bank and WB Director in Ghana
􀂃 Ms. Regina MONTICONE, Secretary, Secretary-General’s Youth Employment Network
􀂃 Ms. Hopolang PHORORO, Youth Employment Specialist, ILO Regional Office for Africa
􀂃 Mr. Mohamed GASSAMA, Employment Specialist MRU, ILO
􀂃 Mr. Marc SOMMERS, Research Professor, Institute of Human Security, Tufts University
􀂃 Mr. Joe INGRAM, World Bank Consultant, Former World Bank Director (Geneva, Cameroon, Bosnia)
􀂃 Ms. Irma SPECHT, Director, Transition International
􀂃 Ms. Magatte WADE, Founder and former President of AGETIP
􀂃 Mr. Frazer MACDONALD, Policy Advisor, International Relations Division, Department for Education and Skills, UK
􀂃 Mr. Jakob STROM, Deputy Director, Department for Global Disarmament, Foreign Ministry, Sweden
􀂃 Mr. Ayoup Zaid ELRASHDI, Senior Policy Officer for Industry, African Union Commission, Department of Trade and Industry
􀂃 Mr. Zahid TORRES-RAHMAN, Programme Director, Business Action for Africa
􀂃 Ms. Alessandra CABRAS, Political Officer, Focal Point for Youth, UNOWA
􀂃 Mr. Simon TARO, Director of the ECOWAS Centre for the Development of Youth and Sports (CDJS)
􀂃 Mr. Jordan RYAN, UNDP Resident Coordinator, Liberia
􀂃 Mr. Joseph KOROMA, UNIDO Representative in Sierra Leone
􀂃 Ms. Poonam AHLUWALIA, Executive Director, Youth Employment Summit (YES) Campaign
􀂃 Ms. Maud EDGREN-SCHORI, Gender Specialist, UNDP Ivory Coast

Ghana
Irrigation is a priority, but a number of measures are being taken to boost crops.
Ghana's recent economic growth has been driven largely by the agricultural sector, the largest sector of the economy accounting for nearly half of the total GDP and about 60% of local employment. The sector grew by 7.5% in 2004 and was estimated to have expanded by 6.5% in 2005. Favourable weather has been the main factor behind the rise in agricultural output. However, higher producer prices and greater use of farm machinery and irrigation were also important.
Rising cocoa production has underpinned the growth. It rose by nearly 30% in 2004 yielding a record crop of 736,911 tonnes in the 2004/05 season. Cocoa output decreased somewhat to 583,109 tonnes in the 2004/05 crop season, which nonetheless represented a strong performance by historical standards. The strong cocoa output in both seasons owed much to improved management and to the mass spraying of cocoa farms under the government's Cocoa Pests Control Programme, which aims to control capsid pest and black pod disease. The gradual increase in the domestic producer price of cocoa, which is now nearly 70% of the world price, has also provided a major incentive to the country's smallholder cocoa farmers. However, due to declining world prices of cocoa since 2003, even maintaining guaranteed price levels would be a challenge.
Cocoa and other crops, especially oil palm, cassava, sorghum, and millet have benefited from the Presidential Special Initiatives, which aim to modernise Ghanaian agriculture though the dissemination of better farming practices, the provision of irrigation facilities, and distribution of improved varieties of seeds and fertilisers. Ghana is now self-sufficient in most of its basic food items, including maize, cassava, yam and plantain. As part of the second Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II), the government is expanding the initiatives in 2006 through measures to enhance access to credit and agricultural inputs and by increasing availability of extension services.
Nonetheless, the agricultural sector faces major structural problems. For example, it estimated that only 5% of irrigable land in Ghana is irrigated. The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ernest Debrah, concedes this anomaly but says measures are underway to irrigate most of the country's farmland. "Currently only 8,800 hectares out of a total farming land of about 120,000 sq kms is irrigated. Out of this the equipment for about 3,000 hectares needs rehabilitation which we are doing now," he told NewsAfrica. He says the government recognises irrigation as vital for successful farming, therefore it is embarking on the construction of small irrigation systems throughout the country.
The government's efforts to improve agriculture are not restricted to irrigation. The measures being taken to achieve food security include the application of science and technology and research and development (R&D). "We are collaborating with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to get us better planting materials and breeds. We are also funding the Savannah Industrial Research Institute in Tamel [in northern Ghana], which has produced three high-yield cotton seeds, two of which are undergoing field trials," Debrah discloses. Another aspect of the modernisation is to encourage farmers to abandon the traditional usage of hoes and cutlasses by introducing mechanised farming.
Another bane of Ghana's agricultural sector is post-harvest losses. Statistics show that about 40% of all agricultural output is wasted annually due to inadequate storage facilities, marketing chains and poor infrastructure. To address this, the government is constructing a fruit terminal with cold storage facilities at the port of Tema, near Accra, to deal with fruit and vegetable exports. "When completed in October 2006, Ghana will be able to export about 300,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually," the minister declared. In addition, the African Development Bank (ADB) is funding the erection of pack houses as well as the purchase of refrigerated vans to transport horticultural produce to the port. The construction of feeder roads is also another component of the government's road infrastructure programme that is currently underway all over the country.
As a result of the good performance of the agricultural sector, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has approached the government to establish a food depot in Ghana. The deal, worth at least $10m per year, involved buying Ghana food items for its emergency food supplies in the sub-region. (NewsAfrica, August)

Senegal
The president hopes REVA will stem illegal immigration.

Senegal's "Return to Agriculture" (REVA) project will not only cater to the needs of the population, especially the youth and women, it will also help to check illegal emigration to Europe, Agriculture, Rural Water and Food Security Minister, Farba Senghor has said. "Meeting the goals of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Document and the Accelerated Growth Strategy, this plan intends, among other goals, to tackle illegal emigration and rural exodus by creating conditions for voluntary return to the land," the Minister told a press conference.
He said the US$60m project would work through integrated development centres and the promotion of private initiatives in the agro-industrial sector.
The scheme, expected to cover the entire country, was initiated by President Abdoulaye Wade to stem illegal emigration by Senegalese youth to Europe.
For its pilot phase, authorities plan to set up 550 integrated development centres for agricultural cultivation, market gardening and the development of village farms.
"During the extension phase, from 2008 to 2015, the REVA will seek to meet the challenges of the agricultural sector as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Accelerated Growth Strategy," Senghor said, adding that the scheme could create some 300,000 direct and indirect jobs during the pilot phase. (PANA, Dakar, 18/7)

16 October 2006 –
The United Nations agricultural development agency has helped assemble a $47 million aid package to benefit small farmers in Senegal, who are battling erratic rainfall, eroding quality and declining prices of their main products, groundnuts and cotton.
The loan, which includes $20 million in co-financing from the World Bank – and roughly the same amount from the Senegalese government and producers organizations – will be for extending critical agricultural advisory services to all 320 rural councils in the country.
Agriculture is the livelihood for 60 per cent of Senegalese households but three-quarters of the rural people live in poverty, according to a statement from the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which is providing $6 million in a loan.
Another $300,000 from IFAD is a grant to provide services and to strengthen producer organizations, to help small farmers network around the country on local development issues to better defend small holders’ interests.
The loan will also support agricultural research and government ministries responsible for agriculture, to assist police development and coordination, IFAD said.
Since it started operations in 1978, IFAD has provided more than $133 million in loans to Senegal to support 13 projects and programmes.
IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.
Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 188 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling $6.3billion. IFAD has invested more than US$2.9 billion in these initiatives, with the rest coming in as co-financing from governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and other partners.

Youth unemployment a ‘ticking bomb’ for security in West Africa: UN study

Increasing levels of youth unemployment in impoverished West Africa, where almost three quarters of the population is under 30, poses a serious threat to the security and stability of the whole region, the United Nations Special Representative for the area warned today, highlighting the findings of a UN study looking at ways to diffuse this “ticking bomb.”Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for West Africa, said prospects for peace in the war-wracked region were limited because of the frustrations and social instability caused by so many young people not having jobs, his Office (UNOWA) said in a press release issued from Senegal.
“The future of the entire region is threatened by the growing numbers of youth who lack prospects of ever being able to work for a reasonable living. Until this situation changes, the likelihood of having genuine peace, security and development in West Africa will remain small,” Mr. Ould-Abdallah said.
The Special Representative briefed a panel in New York earlier this week on ways to improve the situation, which was described as a “ticking bomb” for West Africa. The report outlined several priorities, including the need to combat corruption, ways to involve the private sector more and how to improve schemes for apprenticeship and vocational training of young people.
“Unemployment feeds violence, and violence feeds unemployment,” Mr. Ould-Abdallah, told reporters on Thursday, again emphasizing the linkage between unemployed youths and violence, and calling on national Governments in the region to review their job-creation practices.
Recommendations from UNOWA’s “Youth Unemployment and Regional Insecurity in West Africa” study were directed at governments of the sub-region, donor countries, international organizations and the private sector. This week’s panel meeting in New York was preparation for the upcoming high-level UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) gathering that will focus on “productive employment and decent work for all.”

Source: United Nations News Service

Ok. Work wise: Started 6 weeks ago. took me a couple of weeks to get settled in, get a desk (which should change in a few days, with the completion of he YEN wing of the UNOWA offices)

The new YEN unit that is to be set up as part of the UNOWA structure here will have specific mandates:
1. Serve as a clearing house for the collection and monitoring of information, documentation and statistics regarding youth employment in the West Africa sub-region;
2. Liaise with relevant national and regional authorities in the elaboration of National Action Plans on Youth Employment;
3. Help co-ordinate youth projects and activities and generally monitor progress at a regional level;
4. Help co-ordinate resource-mobilization among development partners, aimed at addressing employment issues. Although it is based in Dakar, the YEN unit covers all ECOWAS.

The situation here is particular in the sense that the YEN will have a regional scope. The goal is to be working with the 16 ECOWAS countries to tackle the YE issues for many reasons:Youth Employment is not only an economic issue, but rather a social, security and international issue for West Africa. Unemployment feeds off and creates conflict! Unemployment leads to desperate attempts to flee one's own country in tremendously dangerous ventures to reach the coasts of Spain or Italy in search for a better life. Unemployment leads youth to loose hope and turn to "war-entrepreneurs" as an outlet.

In order to tackle these pressing issues, the YEN will have to work with all the ECOWAS states to devise a regional strategy that will limit trafficking, illegal movements while promoting integration and harmonization of best practices. For your reference, a Study has been done on Youth Unemployment and Insecurity in West Africa, which is pretty much self explainatory: The issue of YE in West Africa is primordial and touches upon nearly every aspect of everyday life out here. West Africa has known and is still amidst growing civil and armed conflicts, youth unemployment is both a cause and a consequence of this alarming situation. Because the unit is working with UNOWA, who, as related to the UN Security Council has a peace keeping mandate, the later component has to be present in all initiatives. The unit just recently completed recruiting of a YE specialist to start in about a month.

The first task will be the writing of a Best Practices and policies evaluation for YE in W.A. This week, a few decisions were made:

- Firstly, in collaboration with UNIDO/YEN, the candidate was actually selected and informed of the decision.
- The creation of a workgroup to begin work in evaluating practical activities to be undertaken by the YEN
- A timeframe for future activities - Some progress was made in terms of data collection

Cheers ever1,

I am on assignment in Dakar until march 27th 2007! I'll be working in the Youth Employment Network unit, ubicated in the United Nation Office for West Africa, representing the Canadian International Development Agency.

What is the YEN, and why does it exist? (briefly explained)

The present

More than 1 billion people today are between 15 and 25 years of age and nearly 40 per cent of the world's population is below the age of 20. Eighty-five per cent of these young people live in developing countries where many are especially vulnerable to extreme poverty.The International Labour Office estimates that around 88.2 million young women and men are unemployed throughout the world, accounting for 47 per cent of all the 185.9 million unemployed persons globally, and many more young people are working long hours for low pay, struggling to eke out a living in the informal economy.There are an estimated 59 million young people between 15 and 17 years of age who are engaged in hazardous forms of work. Young people actively seeking to participate in the world of work are two to three times more likely than older generations to find themselves unemployed.

The future

1 billion people will become of working age within the next decade. While rapid globalisation and technological change offer new opportunities for productive work and incomes for the lucky few, for many working age young people, these trends increase the vulnerability inherent in the transition from childhood to adulthood.Whait is the YEN?The YEN was created under the impetus of the Millennium Declaration, where the largest gathering of Heads of State and Government ever met at the Millennium Summit in September 2000 and resolved to " develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work."In preparation for the Millennium Summit the Secretary-General issued a report entitled "We the Peoples: the Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century." Here the Secretary-General first proposed his Youth Employment Network:Together with the heads of the World Bank and the International Labour Organization, I am convening a High-Level Policy Network on youth employment drawing on the most creative leaders in private industry, civil society and economic policy to explore imaginative approaches to this difficult challenge. I will ask this policy network to propose a set of recommendations that I can convey to world leaders within a year.