RISING YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY

1. RISING YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY September 19, 2007

2. BASIC DEFENITIONS YOUTH IN ARMENIA- “State Youth Policy” conception established by the RA Government decree No 789 as of 14 December, 1998, is the first and yet the only legal normative document, by regulations of which the RA State Youth Policy is directed. • Citizens of the Republic of Armenia at the age of 16-30 • Foreign citizens at the age of 16-30, who do not have Armenian citizenship, but their presence in the RA imposes certain responsibilities of respective state bodies • The NGOs registered in the RA, where the age of the members do not exceed 30, or the NGOs that deal with youth affairs up to the age of 30 • Young families, only when one of the family member is younger than 30. EMPLOYEMENT IN ARMENIA - Working activity of the hired by employer, business undertakings, term obligatory military service, in educational institutions, at specialized educational courses and studies in other educational forms.

3. YOUTH • Less experienced • Less Productive • Paid Less • More adaptable

4. What Young People Want full employment stable employment rewarding employment safe work respect for rights at work social security What Young People Have unemployment/ under-employment low earnings, poverty hazardous work lack of rights at work lack of social protection YOUTH

5. YOUTH UNEMPLOYEMENT: GLOBAL ISSUE

6. UNEMPLOYEMENT CONSEQUENCES Loss/lack of income Frustration Exclusion Anti-social behavior Waste of talents

7. ECA REGION: GENERAL PICTURE • Statistical data mask a wide variations between countries • High number of youth neither in education, nor in employment • Invisible underemployment based on skills mismatch • Poor quality of jobs for young people • External Migration - brain drain • Gender discrimination by sex and age

8. ECA REGION:GENERAL PICTURE • Youth economic activity is not high ( at the level of average worldwide level) • Low job quality • Large scale youth self-employment • High share of youth in informal sector, specially young women

9. ECA REGION: LM TRENDS • Youth share in working-age population increase by .5% during 10 years (from 22.1%- 2005 to 21.6%-1995) • Youth Labor Force decrease by about 5% during 10 years ( from 1995 till 2005) • Share of young women in LF decrease by 6.5% during 10 years (from 41.5%-1995 to 35 %-2005 • Young men LF decrease by 4.4% (from 52.8%- 1995 to 48.4%-2005) • Youth inactivity rate increase by 5.4% (from 52.8%- 1995 to 58.2 %-2005 with prevailing female share of 55.1%)

10. ARMENIA: YEA NATIONAL PRIORITY • SYP (YPC-1998, PRSP-2003) • LEGAL ENVIRONMENT (Labor Code-2005) • INSTITUTIONAL SET UP

11. ARMENIA: YOUTH LM • Country population is around 3 219 200 (2006) • 24.3-27.3 % of total population are youth aged 15-29 (2006) • Unemployment level in the country- 7.2% this number is much higher in regions - around 15%*. By ILO estimation – 34% • Total number of unemployed people with higher education is 2.3%, with technical education-3.9%, with high school education- 8.9%, and with incomplete high school education- 1% / * Data Source: SEA

12. ARMENIA: YOUTH LM • Average number of economically active population in Armenia*: 1,195.8 (2006) • 779 361-819 546 (68.5%) of EAP belong to 16-30 age bracket • 8.2 % of economically active population is unemployed (2005) • Young people's rate of unemployment is 47.7 %* * Data Source: 2005 Labor Force Survey

13. UNEMPLOYED YOUTH BY AGE

14. ARMENIA: YOUTH LM • Youth economic activity is rising (48% in 2005 against 38.2% in 2003) • Average monthly salary is 52 060 AMD (2006) • Quality of work: informal sector and self-employment, waged and non-waged employment

15. YOUTH MIGRATION • 4 migration waves since 1988 • About 1 100 000 people have emigrated from Armenia since 1988 • 70% of emigrants left Armenia in 1991 • 76.8% of young respondents expressed their willingness to leave Armenia (2004) Data Source: NYR, 2005

16. DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS • The youth share (aged 15-29) among 15-64 age bracket ranges about 39.4% • Birth rate drastically dropped down from 21.6 to 8.4 (1990-2005) • Cumulative birth rate is less than 2 children per women (1.8 for 2003-2005) against 2.8 for 1990-1992 • Gini Coefficient (43.8% -2004, 53.5%-2001 against 27% in 1987-1990) Data Source: ILO Report (2006)

17. GENDER AND UNEMPLOYEMENT Data Source: MOSA

18. EDUCATION • Inequality of Access to Education (budget spending on Education and VT dropped from 2.6% in 1995 to 2.3% 2004; paid educational services occurred: 77.7% of VET students and 68.5% of higher education students are paying for education-2005/2006 academic year) • Poor Quality of Education (especially professional education, 84 Higher EI and 81 VETI) • Mismatch between the occupational composition of graduates and LM needs • young women accounted for 64% of students at state run secondary vocational schools, 76.3 % in private ones and 55% for higher education level (2004/2005)

19. VET STUDENTS: OCCUPATIONS Data Source: NYR, 2005

20. EDUCATION: YOUTH IN REGIONS As a rule: • Education in regions is less qualitative than in urban areas, lack of tutors to enter higher educational establishments • Rural population is poorer than the urban one • Restricted physical access to educational establishments because of transportation problem

21. OTHER FACTORS: YOUTH IN REGIONS Regional employment is linked to agricultural sector, namely: • Seasonal work • In private firms • In agricultural mechanization • In regional centers (admin., trade) • Shops in villages

22. DISABLED: 56 % are invalids of working age, while young invalids form 27% of total number of working age people (2006)* REFUGES YOUNG PEOPLE FROM REMOTE AREAS ORPHANS *Data Source: MOSA Lack or complete absence of corresponding facilities in educational establishments for invalids Absence of specialized work places for invalids (only 7 % of invalids have job) Extremely low basic pensions for all 3 invalid stages VULNERABLE GROUP OF YOUTH

23. TACKLING YU: GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME (2007)

24. DONOR PRESENCE

25. MAIN FINDINGS • In the next decade the number of young people entering LM will start decreasing • Country’s educational system, especially VET system does not help to solve employment issues • Youth unemployment rate exceeds the average worldwide figures • Youth economic activities is slightly below worldwide average • Low quality of jobs for young people • Large –scale youth self-employment in informal sector • Labor migration, often illegal migration • Young women are the most affected by long-run unemployment

26. MAIN FINDINGS • Ineffectiveness of fragmented and isolated interventions • Need for long-term and consolidated approach comprising a wide range of polices (active labor market polices (ALMP), education, health, social, demographic policies) • Need for implementation of targeted programmes and specific steps to develop and improve the systems of education and employment services across countries

27. POLICY FRAMEWORK

28. INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES: EDUCATION • A few workable solutions so far • Duel apprenticeship system operating in Germany, and to a lesser extent in Austria, Switzerland and Denmark are the most successful in integration young people into employment

29. INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES: ALMP

30. RECOMMENDATIONS • LM Monitoring and Evaluation • Education and Training System • ALMP

31. RECOMMENDATIONS Integrated approach: from macro to micro to macro… • Problem analyses • Identification of target groups • Project interventions • Strategic partnership • Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting

32. EDUCATION: Increase awareness campaign both out and in school on LM Introduce professional orientation programs Broaden informal learning including e-teaching Update list of specialties taught in EE and introduce new ones Introduce knowledge appraisal methods and certification recognition system Make education as a compulsory component for unemployment benefits ALMP: Introduce, institutionalize and make sustainable at the country level tools for increasing waged employment opportunities and enhancing employability: Modular Skills Training; Start and Improve Your Business; Know About Business; Information, policy advice, capacity building, training and counseling on LM opportunities, access work space, finance and support network, etc. Execute Employment Intensive Infrastructure Programmes Address self-employment programmes for disadvantaged RECOMMENDATIONS

33. RECOMMENDATIONS • Collecting statistical data and conducting qualitative analyses, mastering in LM statistics analyses • Policies on Youth Employment need to be carefully targeted and should be very well incorporated not only into national employment framework but should be a part of other social-economic polices • The most usual source of financing are government revenues or international donors • Seek opportunities for PPP on YEP • Introduce strategies for growth and jobs creation • Increasing opportunities for decent work, making special emphases on the quality of job • Mainstream numerous islands of local good practices • Localize best international practices

34. OUTCOMES RISING YE & REDUCING POVERTY troughs addressing actual and potential economic exclusion of youth, promoting effective polices for productive and decent employment and self-employment

35. THANK YOUKarine SimonyanVET Project CoordinatorSeptember 19, 2007