This project, implemented by IOM, aims to establish and sustain a comprehensive Skills Enhancement Training program in the cities of Sabha and Benghazi, fostering long-term human capital development. The project's approach involves collaborative partnerships with local educational institutions, industry experts, and governmental bodies to tailor training programs that align with the specific needs and demands of the job market. By addressing both technical and soft skills, the initiative seeks to enhance employability and promote entrepreneurship, contributing to the overall socio-economic development of the regions.
Higher education enrolment rates in Libya are extremely high, which results in tens of thousands of higher education graduates entering a labor market with limited employment opportunities. Although the public sector provides jobs for most of the labor force, its ability to support these large numbers of university graduates remains limited. Thus, most of those that are currently unemployed in Libya are newcomers to the labor market, i.e. young people that received tertiary education.
Furthermore, Libyan educational and financial ministries have not identified any definite plan for the optimal employment of labor market outputs; nor have they developed a specific and clear system for accepting and distributing the outputs of the technical education process in alignment with labor market requirements. For example, there is no clear action plan between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Rehabilitation to determine the actual needs of the labor market and to prepare a prior analysis of this plan.
Thus, to help carry the burden of economic challenges caused by lack of employment opportunities and job creation, The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been working towards increasing youth employability and improving livelihood opportunities as well as addressing deeply rooted mismatch between acquired and required skills in the labor market in Libya. To achieve this, IOM is directly engaged in upskilling youth skills in selected sectors. This is primarily achieved through collaborations with the government bodies and private sectors in Libya, which resulted in the creation of Youth Employment One Stop Shop (YESS) centers in Benghazi, and Sabha.
The YESS centers act as a community service center for upskilling youth to enhance their competitiveness in finding decent jobs in the labor market and thereby enhancing their livelihood opportunities and foster social cohesion and community development in the long-term perspective. However, YESS centers still require intellectual rigor and support to enrich their capacity building and vocational training to help meet their objectives. Thus, the general objective is to provide various vocational and soft skills training programs for unemployed youth, who fall under certain criteria in Benghazi and Sabha. This is with an aim to upskill youth and enhance employment and livelihood opportunities as well as reducing the profound mismatch between acquired and required skills in the labor market in Libya.
The expected methodology used for the project includes:
- The skill training should prioritize those skills required in the labor market and youth interest.
- The training should include the skills that will help participants to perform their tasks and enhance their job opportunity more efficiently.
- A participatory and trainee-cantered approach should be employed. Trainers shall try to
avoid long theoretical sessions but use skill-based training methodology. It is expected that more than 75% of the skill training should be practical. - A framework training program and key training materials will be developed/ tailor-made by the training provider (based on the need of the target group) and under supervision of IOM.
- Behavioral science designed approach should be employed. Behavioral science training courses will be offered by specialized experts working in IOM.
Some of the services that are expected to be provided by the YESS centers include:
- Provide full training package for each selected topic to enhance youth capacity to navigate better for employment opportunities. Each youth will be trained based on individual interest from the available list of skill training programs.
- Develop at least three Curriculum and training manual development for new skills identified as highly demanded in the labor market.
- Adjust all type of skill training to be delivered in workshops depending on the labor market need of each city as well as the designated workshops’ capacities.
- Follow up with each participant and provide them with career path and employment related services and placement. This includes, in collaboration with IOM, identifying, compiling and communicating with private companies who are interested in collaborating for internship and job placement opportunities.
- Identify key skills required per location and suggest minimum three skills that are highly demanded at each location.