Life skills and employability for Youth

CAIRO, 2 June 2022 – Today, representatives from the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), the Office for International Cooperation of the Embassy of Switzerland in Egypt (SDC), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) attended the first Steering Committee meeting for the ‘Youth for Future’ programme. The Steering Committee was chaired by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and aimed to enhance cooperation between the joint UN programme’s team and various partners.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Youth, supported by the Office for International Cooperation of the Embassy of Switzerland in Egypt, this joint ILO and UNICEF programme aims at improving livelihood opportunities and strengthening the socio-economic resilience of young migrants, refugees, and Egyptians through improved policy frameworks, employability skills, career guidance and inclusive youth centers.

‘Youth for Future’ programme will implement the Job Search Clubs and ‘Meshwary’ programmes in support to skilling young people including migrants and refugees for their socio-economic empowerment. The programme’s overall target is to reach more than 30,000 people, of which 26,650 are youth and adolescents, almost 250 from Ministry staff and 3,700 from other stakeholders.

The Steering Committee meeting was attended by General Ismail El-Far, Executive Director of the MoYS, Mrs. Valerie Liechti, Head of International Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland in Egypt, Mr. Eric Oechlsin, Director ILO Cairo Country Office for Egypt & Eritrea and Decent Work Team for North Africa and Mr. Fazlul Haque, UNICEF Deputy representative in Egypt.

‘Youth for Future’ programme combines skills development and career guidance services at the individual level, with capacity development of key stakeholders at the institutional level and policy engagement as well as awareness raising on the national level.