Nouakchott — One of the main sources of worry for young people in Mauritania is whether they can find a job.

With the support of the culture ministry, the Youth Guidance Forum (FJO) organised a fair for young baccalaureate holders and training institute graduates in Nouakchott.

The two-day event ended on Saturday (July 6th).

"With the benefit of their experience in higher education, the students will talk about life at university and enable high school students to find answers to their questions and perhaps discover their vocation," FJO press officer Aounen Moctar told Magharebia.

There is a serious dearth of education-related events of this kind in Mauritania, according to the FJO.

This explains the high failure rate among Mauritanian students in their first year at university, "since they don't really know what they want, and what they can do", event organisers said.

The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of the government.

"Only young people can move the country forwards," Secretary-General at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport El Khalil Ould Jiyid told participants.

"Because it is aware of this reality, the government has implemented a strategy intended to provide local guidance to young people. This forum, which will help to get young people into work, forms part of these efforts," he added.

Students who came to the fair were excited: "It's really good," first-year economics student Mohamed Lemine Ould Oumar said.

"I learned a lot of things here, in particular how to write a CV and a cover letter. There are also a lot of training courses that I'm interested in," the student added.

Some attendees chose to chart their own paths. Cheikh Ahmed Ould Cheibani is a young University of Nouakchott graduate who set up his own school.

"I have now managed to succeed," he told Magharebia. "It was very difficult for me. I had to deal with irritating red tape and raise finance from those close to me. Since this year, 2013, I've started to make a profit. So I think the future is looking good."

He recommended that "authorities launch awareness-raising campaigns to dispel young people's hang-ups on jobs wrongly thought of as being degrading".

"My advice to all young people is to go into the private sector and start up business projects that enable them to rely on themselves," Ould Cheibani added.

Official figures estimate the jobless rate at 30%. And according to the National Agency for the Promotion of Youth Employment (ANAPEJ), only a small proportion of jobs are held by graduates.

"The efforts made by the government so far are not enough," said Mouammar Ould Mohamed Salem, the chairman of the Association of Unemployed Higher Education Graduates.

"Unemployed young graduates face many problems and appropriate steps must be taken to deal with the issue," the activist added.

According to an official with the Mauritanian employment ministry, the country has already "piloted a number of projects" to address the problem of jobless degree-holders.

"The government will continue to implement this strategy, the goal of which is to get young people into work," Abdellahi Ould Mohamed Ewah added.