Training provides practical experience: In order to provide beneficiaries with some experience, providers are required to identify internships with local employers. Flexibility: Offer different schedule alternatives, e.g. classes held at nights/weekends to ensure that also youth who have to work/care for children during the day can participate. Monitoring and Evaluation: It is crucial to monitor the impact of the training program. Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programs: Many young women could be encouraged to work by having access to affordable care for their children. Egyptian Kindergarten programs covers only a fraction of the eligible population and poor children display very low enrollment rates. ECD programs targeting 0-3 year olds (through e.g. mother at-home training) remains next to non-existent. Subsidizing childcare and preschool has several externalities that positively affect the welfare of future generations: International evidence (MIT 2006) suggests that high-quality early childhood education and care helps prepare young children to succeed in school and eventually in life (MIT 2006). A developed child care education industry could be economically important because it creates jobs and allows young mothers to be economically active. Investing in ECD and Early Childhood Education (ECE) benefits the overall economic competitiveness and creates job opportunities. Improving the Efficiency of Public Employment Services: Public Employment Services (PES): Labor offices in Egypt could such provide employment services such as labor intermediation and employment counseling in order to reduce waiting times for job seekers. This could be achieved by: Improving intermediation services by helping the labor offices register as many vacancies as possible Supporting early identification of skills needs, job search assistance, guidance and training Improving institutional capacity. Staff competency as well as the number of staff relative to the number of registered unemployed are important factors contributing to the success of PES. Private sector involvement: Successful PES are characterized by the involvement of the private sector in service provision. ICTs is essential in strengthening the provision of self-service facilities for job seekers, such as on-line job-banks. Monitoring and Evaluation: PES should be scaled-up/reform based on what works. Modernization/reform TVET Systems: There are basic ingredients to increase the viability and effectiveness of training programs, provision of comprehensive/integrated package of services: Coordination among stakeholders: Clear mechanisms and institutional settings to coordinate between the public and private sector and between training providers and beneficiaries.
lack of access to financial capital or business networks; (v) Social constraints on the supply side, such as social norms that limit skills development or labor market entry. Table 1: Menu of Possible Youth Interventions Depending on Constraint Type Constraints Possible Intervention Evidence-based interventions Mixed Evidence, theoretically sound Job-relevant skills constraints Insufficient basic skills Information about the value of education - Second chance programs Technical skills mismatch Training "plus"/comprehensive programs Information on return to technical specialties - On-the-job training Behavioral skills mismatch - Behavioral skills training Insufficient entrepreneurial skills - Entrepreneurial training Lack of Labor Demand Slow economy Wage or training subsidies Public service programs Labor Intensive public works Employed discrimination Affirmative action programs Subsidies to employers to hire target groups Job search constraints Job Matching Employment services Technology based information sharing Signaling competencies Skills certification Training center accreditation Firm constraints Lack of acces to financial or social capital Comprehensive entrepreneurship programs Microfinance Social constraints on the supply side Excluded-group constraints (ethnicity, gender, etc.) Target excluded group’s participation in programs Non-traditional skills training Safe training/employment spaces for specific groups Adjusted program content to account for excluded groups specific needs Source: World Bank (2010) There are 3 main steps to policy design: (i) selecting the interventions that correspond to the binding constraints, (ii) adjust the design according to country and target group factors, and (iii) evaluation of the program’s impact. Once the employment constraints have been identified, suitable interventions can be identified to help the target population overcome those barriers. Table 1 summarizes evidence-based program interventions that address each of the constraints. Adjusting the design according to country and target group factors has to be done according to the specific needs of the target population, the institutional and administrative capacity, and the particularities of the labor market. Despite positive job creation, labor market outcomes remain very stagnant for new entrants to the labor market (mainly youth and women). Despite moderate growth in GDP (averaging 4.5 % per year in the period of study), between the years 1998 and 2006 labor market indicators in Egypt displayed significant improvement. Labor force participation rates rose from 48.4 to 53.1% of the working-age population (15-64); unemployment rates decreased from 13.8 to 9.6% up
World Bank. 2010. “Narrowing the Gap. Improving Labor Market Opportunitie for Women in Egypt.” Washington, D.C. World Bank. 2010. “Female Labor Force Participation in Turkey: Trends, Determinants, and Policy Framework.” Washington, D.C. World Bank. 2010. “Active Labor market Programs for Youth: A Framework to Guide Youth Employment Interventions.” Washington, D.C.