On Wednesday, December 4, the Board of the African Development Bank Group approved US $28.92-million in budget support composed of a loan of UA 13.91 million and a grant of UA 4.93 million to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, from the concessionary African Development Fund resources to finance the country's Youth Employability and Insertion Support Programme (PAAEIJ).
PAAEIJ aims to improve the employability of vocational training and higher education graduates, and the insertion of unemployed youth to ensure strong and inclusive growth.
Through three components, it will (i) support vocational training and employment reforms; (ii) improve the relevance and governance of higher education; and (iii) strengthen sector coordination mechanisms. PAAEIJ was prepared based on a participatory and iterative process involving a series of consultations with the authorities, young people, students, Ivorian employers and sector technical and financial partners.
The project is in line with the 2012-2015 National Development Plan (NDP) and the Bank's 2013-2017 Country Strategy Paper.
The program is also consistent with the 'qualifications and technology' and 'gender' operational priorities of the Bank's Ten Year Strategy 2013-2022 as areas of particular interest. It is aligned with the Human Capital Strategy being prepared, the first pillar of which is focused on skills building for employment and competitiveness.
PAAEIJ will be disbursed in two tranches of 70 per cent and 30 per cent in 2013 and 2014, respectively, in keeping with the importance of the reforms planned from 2013 and the need to pursue dialogue on those planned for 2014.
The program' s expected outputs include: (i) closer involvement of the productive sector in training; (ii) establishment of mechanisms to monitor the insertion of those trained in three establishments; (iii) higher female representation in science and technology streams; (iv) more efficient governance of universities by introducing performance contracts with the Government and an operational mechanism for the internal and external evaluation of universities; (v) creation of direct jobs for 2,000 unqualified young people and women; and (vi) establishment of a process for coordination among the three Ministries in the education/training/employment sector.
