Video: Youth at Heart Dutch Development Policy
The countries in the Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation focus regions (the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and North Africa) have very young populations. This presents immense opportunities but also serious challenges. To keep pace with this youthful world, the Netherlands is increasingly putting youth at the heart of its development policies.
Worldwide there are 1.8 billion young people between 10 and 24 years old.
Most young people are in education or have a job..
but a large group of young people are not.
And when they do have an education, their skills often do not match the labour market’s needs…
particularly in parts of Africa and the Middle-East.
That’s why The Netherlands invests in these young people.
The young population offers tremendous growth potential…
but access to and quality of education are low
practical training such as hydraulics, crafts, carpentry, industry must be better developed because they are more pragmatic and closer to our needs.
Agriculture could generate more jobs, but holds little appeal for young people.
Besides that, the level of education is low and not sufficiently practice-oriented
In Kenya are very less technicians or agricultural workers so that industry is low-developed. People are just looking for ‘white-collar’-jobs. Until these changes are improved, you can better develop in agriculture, which is cheaper and not such a competitive industry.
In Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq, education and the labour market have been disrupted by conflict for a long time.
Youth unemployment is 26.1%, and among women it’s even higher
The educational system in Jordan lacks the practical aspect for students.
Students in school are lectured theories that they might use or not use in their practical lives.
How do we invest in youth?
We do so in 3 ways:
Firstly, we set up programmes focused on education and work
Secondly, we scale up projects and join partnerships
Thirdly we aim to strengthen the voice of youth
That’s how we keep the youth at heart