The African Development Bank Targets Solutions to Youth Unemployment in
Cooperation with the Social Fund for Development at High-Level Dialogue in
Cairo
The African Development Bank (AfDB), will host a high-level policy dialogue
chaired by Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, under the theme of “Youth
Employment: Building the Future."
CAIRO, Egypt, December 4, 2012/ - On Wednesday, December 5, 2012, the
African Development Bank (AfDB), (http://www.afdb.org) one of the region's
top financial institutions, will host a high-level policy dialogue chaired
by Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, under the theme of "Youth Employment:
Building the Future." The Bank is partnering with the Egyptian Social Fund
for Development (SFD) to find ways of promoting youth employment across the
country and North African nations.
The event will bring together key Bank executives with a variety of
important decision-makers from the Egyptian government, research
organizations and youth employment experts, which include: Dr. Mthuli Ncube,
AfDB Vice-President and Chief Economist; Dr. Sakala Zondo, AfDB
Vice-President, Country, Programs and Policy; Dr. John Page, a Senior Fellow
at the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development Program; Dr.
Heba Handoussa, Managing Director of the Egyptian Network for Integrated
Development; Dr. Omneia Helmy, Director of the Egyptian Center for Economic
Studies; and Dr. Farouk Al-Okdah, Governor, Central Bank of Egypt.
AfDB will also use the occasion to launch the Bank's 2012 flagship report:
The African Economic Outlook. Focusing on youth employment, the report
outlines the numerous positive long-term effects the employment of young
people has upon economic growth.
"We want to discuss the policies, programs and initiatives that Egypt could
implement in order to help facilitate greater opportunities for youth, which
makes up the foundation for economic growth in the future," said Dr. Sibry
Tapsoba, AfDB's Resident Representative for Egypt. "We know that Egyptian
youth are struggling to match their skills with fulfilling careers, which is
why we are making this issue a strategic priority for the Bank."
Following the opening session by Dr. Hisham Kandil, an analysis of policies
and programs designed to improve conditions for young people seeking work
and a discussion on the private sector's role in job creation will take
place. The day will end with the presentation of the 2012 African Economic
Outlook report.
"This conference is an important opportunity to shed light on one of the
SFD's main priorities. We provide financing for projects and initiatives as
well as devote resources to tackling issues such as employment, job-creation
and poverty alleviation,"said Ms. Ghada Waly, the SFD's Managing Director.
"We want to go beyond this and directly target youth by capitalizing on the
experience of other countries and experts in this field. I must stress that
it is imperative to sustain South-South cooperation between Southern nations
as well."
In organizing this event, AfDB and SFD hope to outline a number of priority
initiatives that can be implemented in the short term. Tapsoba added that
AfDB has a wealth of experience in this field developed via peer-to-peer
learning, sharing of best practices and similar AfDB policy dialogues. AfDB
plans to build on its youth employment strategies that involve supporting
investment in higher education, science, technical and vocational training;
as well as acting as a mediator to facilitate public-private sector
partnerships in this area.
It is worth mentioning that youth unemployment is a global problem that is
particularly acute in the Middle East and North Africa. According to the
United Nation's International Labour Organization, more than 25 per cent of
all youth in this region are unemployed. This number is slated to rise in
the near future if conditions do not change. There are no concrete
statistics on youth unemployment in Egypt; however, experts believe the rate
follows regional trends. Unemployment was one of the key issues driving the
Arab Spring and will continue to be a central theme as these nations move
forward.
Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African
Development Bank.