Initiative to develop labor market in Sinai

Problems of Education are the focus of the second action week in Sinai Cooperation Protocol between the Ministry of Education and the associations organizing the action week for training and qualifying teachers. Train 40 young persons on the management of small and micro -enterprises and on marketing in addition to how to increase productivity Sinai businessman offers 70 grants for the education of youth in the universities to obtain higher qualifications.

2nd Media Report

This report was prepared to cover the activities of the "Initiative to Create an Enabling Environment for Workforce Development in the Sinai Community" in May 2011 , organized by the Technology Center for Human Rights (TCHR), a founding member of the Young Organizations Network (YON) and in partnership with the Roaa Gadida (New Visions) Association for Development in North Sinai - member of the Network- and In collaboration with the Rawabet (Links) Association - member of the Network- with a financial fund from the Middle East Partnership Initiative "MEPI."

What is the project of developing the labor market in Sinai? The current project is a special initiative to create an enabling environment aimed at developing the workplace in the community of Sinai through the development of informational and the technical systems along with the integration of gender, to link between the education, the training and manpower in order to meet the requirements of the labor market, in addition to developing individual initiatives to promote competitive The youth in Egypt face disappointing results in the labor market, due to different structural reasons. The rates of unemployment in Egypt are high, but they are decreasing over the years; as the levels of youth unemployment reached 16.7% in 2009, which is a significant decrease comparing to 1998, which was up to 25%. Although this decline is a relatively large, the researches that based on recent study of the labor market, confirms that this decline in unemployment rates are associated with deterioration in the quality of jobs and there isn't significant improvement in labor market conditions. These studies also confirm that unemployment in Egypt is a result of the rapid growth in population of young people in exchange for the consequences of the partial transformation of the economy of the state to the form a marketoriented development. Furthermore, the intensity of percentage increases gradually in view of the distribution of the labor market in the governorates of Egypt; as studies confirm that poverty and unemployment are very high in rural areas and Upper Egypt and remote regions, so that the percentage of unemployed youth in these provinces, comparing to the unemployed youth in the capital and major cities, is nearly 70% of the unemployed persons in total. On the other hand there is another problem represented in the compatibility of educational outcomes with the needs of the labor market; as the loss of compatibility between the outputs of education on the one hand, and the requirements of the labor market on the other hand, is regarded as one of the most important reasons that lead to many negative consequences, notably: large numbers of educated persons suffer from unemployment and the spare time, resulting in generating of problems with profound effects in the social structure, in addition to the lack of human resources capable of meeting the needs of the labor market. Objectives: Firstly: The development of an informational and organizational infrastructure for labor market in the Sinai community. Secondly: create compatibility between the workforce development in Sinai and employment opportunities in the Sinai labor market. Thirdly: train and build capacity of young people in the field of individual initiatives management and increase productivity....

The project activities: Firstly: To strengthen the capacity and training of young people Sinai: Training of Sinai youth is one of the main axes in the project; as it is scheduled to train young people on how to manage small and micro projects and how to finance those projects this addition to train young people on how to increase productivity for projects that already exist and how to manage the marketing operations successfully. A number of professional trainers in the field of management, human development and marketing will undertake the training programs. The training is targeting Sinai youth, in each of North Sinai and South Sinai governorates. Researches and studies: One of the important activities in the initiative is preparation of a number of researches and field studies of the labor market in Sinai, which will include a full vision of available employment opportunities and Problems of employment, in addition to preparing a guide for companies and private institutions in the Sinai. In addition to preparing a study on integration of Sinai women in the labor market and how to take advantage of innovative work systems such as flexible time, co-sharing, part-time work and teleworking to increase the contribution of women in economic activity with reconciling with family duties. Development of an electronic information network on Sinai labor market : The Technology Center for Human Rights seeks, through this initiative, to develop a technological structure that contributes to the development of the labor market in Sinai and addresses some shortcomings in the structure of the workforce through preparing an Online Recruitment Forum targeting young people in Sinai, this forum will include an innovative application through which a direct link could be created - according to clear criteria - between Sinai young job-seekers and companies and institutions operating in Sinai, which will be completed through the preparation of a Mobile Recruitment Forum in Sinai cities to hold a direct link between the youth and the labor market.

The 2nd Action Week Firstly: The Training Week The first training program "managing small and micro enterprises" The Technology Centre organized, within the activities of the action week, a week of training that included organizing a training program on the "Management of Small and Micro Enterprises", which lasted for 3 consecutive days, started on October 1st and ended on October 3rd 2011. It should be noted that more than 19 young trainees from El Sheikh Zwed City, Sinai, benefited from this training. It should be noted that the training program included a number of issues, like for example: the concept of small and micro enterprises, strategies for promotion of small businesses, practical steps to begin implementation of small projects, and how to prepare feasibility studies and technical projects, small and micro enterprises, in addition to how identify funding sources and sources of credit.

The second training program "Marketing and Increasing Productivity" Furthermore, The Center has also organized a training program under the title of Marketing and Increasing Productivity, which lasted for 3 consecutive days, started on October 4th and ended on October 6th 2011, were more than 21 young trainees, from El Sheikh Zwed City, Sinai, benefited from this training. This training included many issues of particular importance for the young initiators, like for example: training on the nature of marketing and its importance and the importance of planning for the process of marketing, how to make the right decisions, the main stages of decision-making, problem-solving, the proper methods for submission of proposals and plans and ideas, in addition to ways to develop marketing strategies and how to prepare marketing plans, and the definition of the art of selling and valuation "pricing", personal skills necessary for the administration department in personal time and risk management.

Secondly: Mobile Recruitment Forum:

The Mobile Recruitment Forum is an innovative offer to create a link between the labor market represented in companies and institutions operating in the Sinai and young people in Sinai, worth mentioning that during the action week, the center held a recruitment forum that included many related activities and continued for four consecutive days from October 3rd to October 6th 2011, including: The operating companies were identified through a number of public and private companies representatives in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce in North of Sinai, in a meeting between the young trainees and those representatives.

A seminar was held on the unemployment in Sinai and the role of private companies in reducing the unemployment rate in the Sinai.

Many young people were registered in the Online Recruitment Forum in addition to a number of companies.

Thirdly: the Conference on "Problems of Education in Sinai" (The Sinai Tent) 8 9 October 2011

More than 60 participants attended the conference on the Problems of education in the Sinai in addition to senior representatives of departments of education in Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah cities. Furthermore, dozens of interested persons in education in northern Sinai participated in this confernce, which was held on Sunday in Sheikh Zuwaid at Rawabet Association. The participants discussed chronic and emergency problems in the sectors of education in Sinai, with a vision for the advancement of education. Mr. Nasser Abu Aker, president of Rawabet Association for Development, has presented to the attendees the files of the conference and honored the trainees who passed the training courses on developing the labor market. He affirmed the importance of providing teachers to work in Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid, rejecting reliance on the tone of what is called security chaos, adding that the region is stable. Abdullah Qandeel, the President of the Chamber of Commerce in northern Sinai, said that the Ministry of Education is the first sovereign of the importance of education in the construction of any renaissance. Qandeel suggested the establishment of a committee for education in the Chamber of Commerce to coordinate the generation of employment for graduates in particular.

Mr. Salma Abu Sheikha, Management Agent in Sheikh Zuwaid educational department, presented the constraints of the educational process, including the shortages of teachers in schools of Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah, and he added that 173 contracted teachers were appointed to cover the deficit which is not enough after the withdrawal of female teachers living in Arish, from the schools of the two cities after the revolution. The political activist, Mosaad Abu Fagr, called on the establishment of a center for the development of education in Sinai, in line with the requirements of the region and its circumstances, and he called on increasing attention to education in Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah because of its importance to Egypt and Sinai. Abu Fagr said that he learned that the grant of the European Union for students of Central Sinai which reached up to 3 thousand euros for each student, was missed and did not reach the students in the former regime. While Mr. Mustafa Singer, member of the Independent Teachers Association, discussed the problematic of education in Egypt in general and in Sinai, because of the educational policy in Egypt, which did not put the system of education as a priority in public spending and wasted teachers rights and the rights of the university graduates, and he compared between spending on education in developed countries and in Egypt.