Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship Project Supporting the Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship in Niger
Niger is a semi-desert landlocked country. According to the results of the last general census (2012), its population was just over 17 million. Considering the population growth rate of3.3%, the population is expected to double every 22 years. This population is relatively young with 67% under 25 years old. This numerical importance is on the one hand an asset because the youth of a country is the most dynamic subject, but certainly themost strategic for its future and, on the other hand, a weight, because its supervision and education require a significant investment in all areas.
InNiger, this youth is attracting attention primarily because of its importance in a country that has one of the highest rates of natural increase in the world, but also because of the precarious situation in which it is living. vegetated and characterized by the exclusion of economic and social life, but also political and civic, in a society marked by strong intergenerational hierarchies. Often in a loss of social, identity and cultural references, young people suffer from a devaluation that limits their propensity to become involved in their own lives and in the community.
It shows a low participationof young people in the economic development of thecountry. The youth unemployment rate is relatively low 5.1% in 2012 (source: INS) and 5% in 2013 (source: WORLD BANK) in this part of Sub-Saharan Africa which remains the most affected region of the world,60% of unemployed among youth according to the WORLD BANK conducted in 2015.
This is a blow to the national economy and causes social imbalances, sources of conflict.
As a result, about 40 per cent of young people joining rebel and / or terrorist movements are motivated by a lack of jobs, according to the same survey conducted by the WORLD BANK.
It is to meet these challenges that the Government of Niger and its development partners have put in placeand developed several initiatives and strategies for young people. Like the National Youth Policy and the Strategic Framework for the Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship.
Thus, in order to contribute to strengthening the institutional and legal framework for youth entrepreneurship in Niger, Oxfam as anorganization whose rights-based approach decides to accompany the state in update of the document Strategic Framework for the Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship dating from 2008 and therefore no longer adapting to the current context.
It is within thisframework that this project, entitled Support Project for the Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship in Niger, is being set up, the general objective of which is to contribute to strengthening the institutional and legal framework for entrepreneurship. young people in Niger.
This project is inclusive in that it will take into account the concerns of young people from all walks of life (rural, urban) and all social conditions.
It will involve, among others, the Government, UN agencies, international organizations, youth organizations, private institutions, CSOs working in the field of youth promotion and entrepreneurship strengthening. young people, state institutions and youth institutions.