Transcript Slide 1

Employment Generation in Fragile Setting:
Challenges and Opportunities
Prepared for IGNITE! SPARK annual conference on Youth Entrepreneurship Development in Conflict
Affected Environments, 20.11.2013 Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Policy issues + Experience based on our technical cooperation
DONATO KINIGER-PASSIGLI, Fragile States and Disaster Response Group
Global (un)employment:
Trends and perspectives
Global youth employment crisis is worsening
• Global youth unemployment is estimated to be 73.4 million in
2013
• Projections for 2014 show a further increase to 12.7 %
Young people continue to suffer disproportionately from decent
work deficits
• Young working poor equals to 3 times global unemployment
Skills mismatch hampers the matching of jobseekers and job
openings
• There is a mismatch between the skills young people possess and
the skills that demanded by employers
Employment as a pathway towards stability,
development and peace…
The importance of (youth) employment programmes in fragile
settings is gaining increased international awareness.
Unemployment = violence?
(Youth) unemployment is a key stress factors that drivers people
to participate in conflict and violence.
Motivations young people
cited for joining militias:
• to escape
unemployment 39,5%
• ideological reasons 13%
World Bank 2011
Employment = peace?
Key assumptions…
 Lack of income + loss of livelihoods = conflict
 Employment generation = peace + stability
… but be aware of simplistic solutions:
 In fragile settings it is often the experience of employment, rather than
unemployment, that is a main driver of conflict and violence
 Need for early employment generation with a systematic approach
towards sustained development and resilience
Generating Employment
in conflict-affected and fragile settings
Community level reintegration
Inclusive approaches based
on equity and security
Coexisting programmes and
policies
Comprehensive
labour market assessment,
value chain analysis & training
for the ‘right trade’
Generating Employment
in conflict-affected and fragile settings
Community level reintegration
 Rebuilding communities
 Investments for local recovery and
reconstruction
 Development of local capacities
 Creative solutions from local and
global knowledge
Generating Employment
in conflict-affected and fragile settings
Inclusive approaches based
on equity and security
 All programmes must be inclusive
during stablisation/transition
 Target communities of reinsertion,
not ex-combatants only
 Create immediate job opportunities,
sustainable livelihoods and
institutional capacity simultaneously
Generating Employment
in conflict-affected and fragile settings
 Programmes geared to needs of youth
emerging from conflict
 Attention to the supply side of labour
but also to stimulus on demand
 Private-public partnerships to engage
youth/enhance entrepreneurship
 Active role of social partners in
conflict resolution
Comprehensive
labour market assessment,
value chain analysis & training
for the ‘right trade’
Generating Employment
in conflict-affected and fragile settings
 Both, upstream and policy work and
downstream stabilisation
programmes are essential
 Livelihood recovery in the shortest
possible time should coexist with
employment-oriented strategies and
local economic recovery
Coexisting programmes and
policies
Generating Employment
in conflict-affected and fragile settings
One Programme on Three Concurrent Tracks
Target groups
Reintegration
Transition
Hosting, Local Communities
Nation Wide
Community level reintegration
Inclusive approaches based
on equity and security
Pre-Peace Accord
Planning
Income Security
Basic Social Needs
Peace Agreement
Pre-assessments
Stabilization
Comprehensive
labour market assessment,
Coexisting programmes and
value chain analysis & training
policies
Peacebuilding Process
STABILIZING INCOME GENERATION & for the ‘right trade’
Track A
EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT
Track B
LOCAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY FOR
EMPLOYMENT AND REINTEGRATION
Track C
SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT CREATION
AND DECENT WORK
Sustainable Employment
Creation and Decent Work
Peace
Negotiations
Case studies:
Over the past 15 years the ILO technically coordinated
development projects in over 30 conflict-prone countries
18/07/2015
Recuperación Económica Local
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Before implementing programmes…
Think YOUTH!
OUNG
Promoting youth employment is a
challenging endeavour
• Building the future of societies
• Facilitating peace and stability
PEN
NDERSTANDING
RUSTWORTHY
UMBLE
Key question for success:
‘How do young people
experience and
perceive employment
opportunities?’
Case Study: Liberia 2009
Target groups
• Direct beneficiaries: ex-combatants
• Indirect beneficiars: youth
Challenges
• 14 years of war hindered basic
education
• Children/youth were the bulk of
(forcefully) recruited fighters
• A ‘lost generation’ that never
experienced peace in their
lifetime
Opportunities
• Institutional support of
Government and civil society
• Skills training and employment
• Empowerment through social
cohesion
• Decent work promotion for youth
(informal economy/agriculture,
waste management, construction)
Case Studies: Sierra Leone and Burundi 2011
Target groups
• Direct beneficiaries: ex-combatants
• Indirect beneficiars: youth
Challenges
• Transition countries, fragile post-conflict
recovery, crisis of traditional societies
Low life expectancy
(average age 17)
• Massive number of unemployed youth
(60%)
• Youth vulnerable to recruitment for
criminal activities/spoilers
• Poor infrastructures, no institutional
capacity
• Plethora of uncoordinated employment
programmes
Opportunities
• Integrated approach to job creation
based on short term and long-term
employment and reintegration
programme.
• Maximise employment impact of
existing programmes and investments.
• 3 tracks/strategies:
1) Livelihood stabilization
2) Local economic recovery
3) Long-term employment and
inclusive economic growth
The Seven E’s
for Operating in Fragile Settings
EDUCATION
ENGAGEMENT
EMPOWERMENT
EQUITY
EXPECTATIONS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
EXPERIENCE
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