Egypt ICT Trust Fund (ICT-TF), affiliated to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), has held the closing ceremony of the “Decent Work for Youth Using ICT” Project in Qalyubia Governorate, launched in partnership with the Participatory Development Program in Urban Areas, affiliated to the German Cooperation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), under the theme “Building and Employing”.
The ceremony entailed a presentation of the results and achievements of the project, which lasted for 17 months, funded by the European Union and the German government in three centers in Qalyubia; namely, Shubra El-Kheima, Khosoos and Qalyoub. It aimed to enhance the professional capabilities of young people with medium education, in ICT related jobs to help them build a distinctive career path and provide them with more job opportunities.
The event was attended by a number of government representatives, participants from civil society organizations and recruitment companies, and some of the project's beneficiaries from young men and women, together with the project’s partners. The event aimed to exchange experiences and expertise to explore best practices in the field of employing young people with medium education in marginalized and remote areas and use their capacities through ICTs.
The event included two sessions during which participants discussed programs and initiatives related to training young people with medium education for obtaining decent work opportunities; the most important obstacles facing many of them when entering the labor market; and the key policies adopted by state institutions, civil society and the private sector to facilitate employing young people and eliminate unemployment. This in addition to reviewing the experiences of a number of successful models for young people.
During her speech, the Regional Director of Egypt ICT Trust Fund and Head of the Central Department for Community Development at MCIT Hoda Dahroug ascertained that this project comes within the framework of MCIT role to contribute to achieving comprehensive sustainable development and to prepare a generation of innovating young people, enabled technically and technologically, through providing training and promoting the creation of appropriate jobs for all young people without distinction to overcome the phenomenon of youth unemployment, being one of the major challenges to social and economic development.
In addition, Dahroug highlighted the increasing role of community participation, starting with community awareness, in which opinion, thought and religious leaders, parliamentarians, priests and imams participated. Their participation contributed significantly to changing the cultural and intellectual style of these regions’ young people, while encouraging them to invest and develop their abilities using ICT for obtaining decent work opportunities. She also hailed the role of the private sector, which contributed to studying the needs of the youth of the target regions and adapting them to the needs of the labor market, which results in creating several job opportunities. She also hailed the role of civil society at all phases of the project, including raising awareness, selecting beneficiaries, providing training, participating in employing young people, where they became a new, successful and executable model. At the conclusion of the ceremony, success partners, including civil society institutions and trainers, were honored.
A job fair was held within the final events of the project in Qalyubia governorate to promote direct communication between the companies that provide employment services and job seekers of young people. Available employment opportunities were offered to them according to their qualifications and the training courses they completed to select the right ones for the available opportunities.
