New Youth Labour Market Survey: Need for Promoting
Self-Employment in Three States of North

Federal Minister of Youth and Sports, H.E. Mr. Haj Magid Siwar

Khartoum, 28 June 2010: Self-employment is an effective antidote to counter the rising problem of youth unemployment in the three Northern States of South Kordofan, North Kordofan and Blue Nile State. Technical and vocational training institutions are in place throughout the three states, however, in most cases these institutions are in dire need of upgrading their physical infrastructure, their training equipment and their curriculum. These technical schools when adequately rehabilitated will ensure a steady supply of young and skilled workers with vocations that are suited to the local demands of the markets in each of the three states. These are just some of the findings from a Youth and Labour Market Survey, released here today. The findings were released at a Workshop that was inaugurated by the Federal Minister of Youth and Sports, H.E. Mr. Haj Magid Siwar.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Siwar said the Government of National Unity (GoNU) stands ready to cooperate with UNDP and other international partners in advancing progress based on the results of the survey. “We are ready to provide our political support to this initiative to develop a conducive enabling environment for youth employment in Sudan”, the Minister noted. He expressed the satisfaction that the initiative for exploring employment opportunities for the youth covers both North and Southern Sudan. “We hope to further integrate our efforts with the Micro Finance Unit (MFU) of the Central Bank of Sudan in finding durable solutions to the issue of youth unemployment”, Mr. Siwar said.

The survey,, supported under the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Spanish Fund (MDG-F), is an effort to explore skills development and opportunities for employment for Sudanese youth, is part of the programme, “Creating Opportunities for Youth Employment in Sudan”, a joint programme being implemented by eleven UN and UN affiliated organizations including UNIDO, ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, FAO, UNOPS, UNFPA, IOM, UNAIDS, UNV and their national counterparts.

Participants at the Workshop made several recommendations for kick-starting the process of jobs creation in the three States. They urged upon the Government to expand options for non-formal education, making qualitative improvements in the educational curriculum, creating a favourable legal framework for investments in the states. exploring small and micro-entrepreneurship development and involving the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) including I-NGOs in developing the capacities of the youth.

The fieldwork phase of the Youth Employment Survey commissioned by the UNDP in Sudan has been completed and provides an initial diagnosis of the youth labor market in North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile States with particular attention being paid to the situation of migrant youth, including returnees and demobilized soldiers. Additionally, the survey shed light on the declining as well as the advancing sub-sectors of the economy in each of the three states.

Stakeholders from national ministries, civil society and international organizations as well as partners from the three states being targeted by the programme, discussed the findings of the survey and validate the results emerge from the fieldwork, at a consultation that opens in Khartoum tomorrow. Outcomes and results of this validation workshop will be used to draw up a final report which will lay out strategic choices and options for creating opportunities for youth employment in Northern Sudan. Three individual reports for each state as well as a comprehensive report will be prepared as a part of the survey results.

The Sudanese Development Initiative (SUDIA), a national NGO in partnership with the international firm North South Exchange Consultants (NSEC) collaborated in the execution of the survey in the three states. The survey team led by SUDIA was supported at the both the Federal and State levels by youth members from the Youth Employment Units attached to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS).

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For more information please contact:

Kumar Tiku, Head, Communications Unit, UNDP Sudan: kumar.tiku@undp.org

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