Train, Integrate and Create Jobs for Youth: Ministerial Conference to be Attended by 30 African Countries Will Adopt Regional Action Plan

Tunis, June 13, 2014. ADEA’s Inter-Country Quality Node on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (ICQN-TVSD) will organize a major regional event that will address the crucial issue of youth employment in Africa.

The “2014 Ministerial Conference on Youth Employment: How to Improve, Through Skills Development and Job Creation, Access of Africa’s Youth to the World of Work” will be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on July 21-23, 2014.

The conference will start with a one-day experts’ meeting. It will share strategies developed by African countries to integrate the youth in the work force and create jobs.

The ministerial meeting will adopt a Regional Action Plan (2014-2017) for youth employment. It will also adopt the ICQN-TVSD’s work program (2014-2017).

The conference is organized in partnership with ADEA and with the support of the French Agency for Development (AFD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Development Research Center (IDRC), the German Cooperation (GIZ), Luxemburg’s development agency (LuxDev), the Swiss Cooperation through NORRAG and the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).

Participants will include Ministers and experts from the invited African countries, as well as partners from the economic and professional world. Experts working on themes related to youth’s access to the world of work are also expected.

ADEA’s Inter-Country quality Node on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (ICQN-TVSD) was created to enable countries to share experiences, strategies and policies in the field of TVSD. Ultimately it seeks the effective implementation of policies and actions at the service of Africa’s accelerated and sustainable development. The ICQN-TVSD is led by the Ministry of State, Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Vocational Training of Côte d'Ivoire. It currently brings together 25 Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries from all the regions of Africa.

The conference has a dedicated web site at youthemploymentforum.adeanet.org conference information, including documents on participant countries’ strategies to integrate youth in the work force are available online.

For more information, contact:

• Mr. Amara KAMATE, Technical Advisor, Ministry of State, Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Training, Côte d'Ivoire, e-mail: amarakamate25@yahoo.fr, tel:  +225 22 44 09 70, cel : +225 02 00 43 59

• Mr. Richard Walther, International Consultant in skills development, e-mail: walther.richard@orange.fr tel. : +33 6 88 06 32 88