PRESENTATION OF THE EXPERIENCE IN CAMEROON

Transcription

1 Innovations in the governance of youth employment Innovations in funding PRESENTATION OF THE EXPERIENCE IN CAMEROON By Pierre Tekapso Director, Agence du Fonds National de l Emploi de la région de l OUEST [National Employment Fund Agency for the WEST Region]. Cameroon Dakar, 18/09/2015 1

2 Mr President of WAPES, Mr President of the AAPES, Representatives of international organisations; Mr moderator, Dear participants, It is a real pleasure for me to participate in this Africa Zone Event, the subject of which is Innovations in the governance of youth employment. In our presentation, we will first discuss the importance of Innovation for a Public Employment Service (PES), then we will set out the experience of the National Employment Fund (FNE) regarding innovations in funding youth employment, through successful innovative programmes. 2

3 WHY INNOVATE? When speaking of innovation, it is important to distinguish three different kinds: - Ex-nihilo Innovation, which, in the case at hand, is a new feature of a functional aspect of a PES, such as the payment of a living allowance to job-seekers; - Radical Innovation, which is a clear break from what existed previously, and; -Incremental Innovation, or the adaptation/improvement of a programme, a tool or an organisation. However, it should be pointed out that the dividing lines between the three types of innovation are not very clear. 3

4 WHY INNOVATE? Thus, innovation can concern organisation, tools, methods, procedures, strategic approaches or programmes, etc. PESs offer products and services for Employers and Job-Seekers. The employment market, which acts as the meeting point for these two types of stakeholder, is in a state of constant flux. This is the cause of the significant challenge PESs are facing with regard to innovating in the three foregoing senses, so as to increase their effectiveness and efficiency. This innovation also provides PESs with an advantage for development, financial resources that they are able to use thanks to innovation. Such funds would not have been available if they had remained static in their traditional activities. This is also of great importance to our African PESs, which are cruelly lacking in funds to enable them to fulfil their mission. 4

5 SOME INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMES FOR FUNDING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT As regards the FNE, this concern over innovation is permanently at the heart of our target functioning scheme. In addition, we regularly introduce programmes and tools that enable the release of additional funding for youth employment. Such programmes and tools include: The PED, programme emploi diplômé [Qualified Employment Programme] The PADER, programme d appui au développement des emplois ruraux [Support Programme for the Development of Rural Employment] The PROCCON, programme de captage des compétences nationales [National Skills Channelling Programme] The PARIC, programme d appui au retour des immigrés camerounais [Support Programme for the Return of Cameroonian Immigrants] The CIIEJ, centre intégré d'informations sur l'entreprenariat des jeunes [Integrated Centre for Information on Youth Entrepreneurship] The USEP Programme, Urban Special Employment Programme. 5

6 THE PED This is an interactive training/pre-employment programme, lasting 12 months and splitting the allowances paid to interns 50/50 between the FNE and the business. So far, the programme has made it possible to release to business leaders around 3 billion CFA francs and to place almost 7000 qualified young people within their companies. 6

7 THE PADER Programme d Appui au Développement des Emplois Ruraux [Support Programme for the Development of Rural Employment] Faced with an employment market with a small formal sector (less than 10% of jobs), the FNE has introduced the PADER, the objective of which is to promote employment in rural environments, through training rural associations of young people in modern production techniques, material and financial support and in the marketing of products. This Cameroonian Head of State made a special donation of 1 billion CFA francs to support this programme. In certain cases, economic and social stakeholders also contribute to the programme, by providing additional funding, which is currently calculated at over 360 million CFA francs. 7

8 THE PROCCON Programme de Captage des Compétences Nationales [National Skills Channelling Programme] The PROCCON consists of taking an inventory of all of the professional skills spread throughout the country, with a view towards optimising the use of the national workforce by businesses, in particular as part of large structural projects, and avoiding the importation of qualified labour where it already exists locally. This programme has enabled the release of initial funding of 100 million CFA francs by the Ministère de l Economie et de la Planification du Territoire [Ministry for the Economy and Territorial Planning - MINEPAT] in

9 THE PARIC Programme d Appui au Retour des Immigrés Camerounais [Support Programme for the Return of Cameroonian Immigrants] This programme, which is dedicated to Cameroonian people dispersed throughout the world, was designed by the FNE as a twofold solution - firstly to the difficulties relating to the professional reinsertion of Cameroonians returning from abroad and, secondly, to businesses need for highly qualified labour. It formed the object of a funding agreement with the German employment office ZAV, representing the government, to support young people who chose to return, through support to fund SMEs, in the acquisition of professional equipment or salary subsidies (1 to 2 years), in the event of recruitment within a business. So far, 17 SMEs have been created; 115 people have received equipment and 352 people have been place in salaried employment..9

10 THE CIIEJ Centre Intégré d Information pour l entreprenariat des jeunes [Integrated Centre for Information on Youth Entrepreneurship] The CIIEJ is an organisation that we have established to foster a sense of entrepreneurship in young people, to help them in creating their businesses and to building the management capacities of young promoters through: Entrepreneurial Management Workshops; A library; Areas for discussions with professionals; Access to virtual information on entrepreneurship; Access to the information required to create a business. This new tool has enabled the release of over 6 million CFA francs from the ILO, as part of the APERP2 programme, for the creation of a database and the acquisition of of a VSAT..10

11 USEP Urban Special Employment Programme This is a programme with a high degree of labour intensity, aimed at combating mass unemployment in cities, for young people who are out of work. It comprises a section focused on training in sanitation and the construction of small-scale infrastructure and a section focused on reinsertion through self-employment, by funding very small projects (3 times the amount of the savings of the recipients). This programme, which was launched only two years ago, has enabled the training of 600 young people, the funding of 264 small projects and the raising of 694 million CFA francs. Of which: 534 million CFA francs from the government; 160 million CFA francs from the city councils. In the near future, the government will release 2 billion CFA francs to extend this programme. 11

12 CONSTRUCTION OF CULVERTS 12

13 Work TO LAY PIPES 13

14 In addition to the FNE, and still in the context of innovation in funding employment, we would like to highlight: The project to train Employment Advisers of the African PESs. Launched in April 2015, this project that contributes to the capacity building of our PESs, releases funds from WAPES, the AAPES and, in particular, the ILO, amounting to around 55,870,000 CFA francs per year. 14

15 THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION 15