Moroccan business leaders and NGOs have bold plans to stem youth unemployment.
With the pace of Morocco job creation still sluggish and employment prospects especially bleak for youth, civil society groups and employers are stepping in to help.
More than 26% of unemployed people in Morocco are young graduates, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP). Around 67% of those without work are between 15 and 29 years old.
"The numbers are staggering," Moroccan General Business Confederation (CGEM) official Jamal Belahrach said in Casablanca on Monday (March 11th).
Employers and trade unions "must think long and hard about the issue of youth employment," he said at a Casablanca press conference held to outline CGEM strategies for coping with the crisis.
"The alarming youth unemployment figures and the failure to meet the needs of the labour market are issues for which adequate and urgent solutions must be found," Belahrach underlined.
Unions and the government now have a duty to turn social dialogue into something meaningful to guarantee business competitiveness, improve pay for workers and promote job creation, agreed company head Najibi Youssef.
The employers' organisation is determined in 2013 to help resolve the problem of youth unemployment, CGEM officials said.
For one, the business leaders' group proposes making internships mandatory at universities.
"The university continues to create unemployment and this is not acceptable," Belahrach said.
In response to the troubling rise in unemployment, many Moroccan NGOs are also working to help jobless youth.
These organisations are stepping up to assist young people by offering training, recruitment and support. Meriem Lotfi, 25, said that civil society groups had helped her seek new opportunities and broadened her horizons for the future.
"They enabled me to learn about other people's career paths and has given me examples to follow, and has had a positive effect on my productivity and professional independence," she said.
Young Casablanca resident Safaa has also benefited from NGO assistance."I improved my professionalism," she told Magharebia.
"In addition to determination and stamina, NGOs offer young people another pathway to employment," said Mounir, a Marrakech teacher in his twenties.
Meriem Kadiri, who runs EFE-Maroc, said her institution was working to create a bridge between young people and companies by ensuring that people's qualifications meet market needs.
On March 4th, EFE launched its new "Al Morad" project, which will assist some 15,000 young Moroccans. The training programme is devised by international experts and tailored to the local labour market. More than 100 experts in different fields (consultants, HR experts, HR managers, company directors and academics) are involved.
"Employment is now a national issue and it is our duty, as an NGO that specialises in helping young people, to give them the tools they need to find lasting employment", Kadiri said.
© Magharebia.com 2013
