73001 June 2012 – Number 66 PROMOTING YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES AND PARTICIPATION IN MOROCCO females2, it only provides a partial picture of young Gloria La Cava, Tara Vishwanath, Matteo Morgandi, people„s exclusion from economic life. Umar Serajuddin, Maros Ivanic, Irene Jillson 1  In 2009-2010, close to 90 percent of young Introduction: This Quick Note is based on the report women and about 40 percent of young men who of the same name which was prepared just prior to were not in school were either unemployed or the Arab Spring. The study anticipates the demands out of the labor force, suggesting that progress for social and economic inclusion articulated by in educational attainment has not translated into Moroccan young people, especially following effective transitions to the labor market. February 2011. Since then, these demands have been amplified and reached a new level of urgency. This  The bulk of unemployed youth have little or no study adopts a mixed method approach combining education: almost 80 percent have less than an innovative quantitative instrument with secondary education (or no education at all); less qualitative and institutional analysis. than 5 percent have tertiary education. Yet policy interventions in Morocco have focused on The goal is to provide policy makers with a nuanced tertiary graduates, while ill-serving the less analysis of barriers to employment and active civic educated majority. participation encountered by young people aged 15 to 29 years so as to tailor youth interventions more  Gender disparities in employment are glaring in effectively. It identifies a wide range of all age groups. Many young women appear recommendations available to support youth- reluctant or unable to work as a result of social inclusive activities and policies, and a roadmap for norms and the attitudes of their families. integrated youth investments.  Governmental programs to assist young people The transition to work: Youth (aged 15 to 29) make in job search and placement tend to have a up some 30 percent of Morocco„s total population limited impact. For example, ANAPEC3, the and 44 percent of the working age population (aged public intermediation agency, remains mostly 15 to 64), but have been largely excluded from the unknown to young people, and only 8 percent sustained economic growth the country has of surveyed unemployed youth who did know experienced in the last decade. Though the youth of ANAPEC used its services. unemployment rate is high, averaging about 22 percent among males and 38 percent among This report suggests that inactive youth should be considered a key excluded group. Qualitative 1 This MENA K&L Quick Note is based on the report with same analysis suggests that the social cost of economic title which will available at http://worldbank.org/mena in early July 2012. This MENA K&L Quick Note was cleared by Franck Bousquet, Sector Manager Urban and Social Development Sector 2 and Disaster Risk Management, Sustainable Development Note that the unemployment rate refers to the ratio of Department (MNSSD), Middle East and North Africa Region, The unemployed young people and young people who are in the World Bank. labor force. 3 For more see Anapec.org exclusion is high, with young men in particular socially constructive outlets. Youth spend little time experiencing very high levels of frustration. After on productive civic engagements, such as volunteer completing their studies with their families‟ support, work. Apart from sports, youth participation in young men are expected to become breadwinners recreational or social activities is insignificant. and earn sufficient income to care for their future Indeed, few institutions offering recreational or family and, at times, for their parents. The inability social activities exist and many of the youth turn to to do so engenders feelings of failure and despair. the internet and social media for social interaction. As it is socially more acceptable for women to stay at home, despite lower levels of employment, they Youth are concerned about the consequences of appear more reconciled to this than are men. being excluded from economic and civic life. Nevertheless, many young women, especially Dropping out of formal education, unemployment, tertiary graduates, demonstrated strong underemployment, and the lack of support expectations of working. structures to facilitate social participation are all factors contributing to idleness, isolation, and Employment Quality: Young men and women who frustration, making youth susceptible to high-risk do have work widely report holding poor-quality behaviors such as drug use and crime jobs, often working without job security or benefits (about 88% of employed youth work without a Analysis of Existing Youth Programs and Services: contract, meaning that most have informal sector The study reviewed a wide range of institutions and jobs), experiencing underemployment (especially in programs that offer diverse services to young the informal sector, where many jobs are temporary people, including employment, training or part-time), and poor working conditions. opportunities (for example, vocational training, skills training, personal development, basic literacy, Overall, youth in Morocco report being dissatisfied life skills, self-employment, microfinance, and with their jobs and recount many problems with leadership), community participation, summer them—the most widely cited are the low pay, heavy camps, sports, and recreational activities, which workloads, long hours, and boredom. form the foundation for a comprehensive youth program in Morocco4. Private versus Public sector Jobs: Approximately 50% of youth are salaried workers in private companies. Vocational training is in high demand, and is The importance of the public sector as a source of associated with improved employment prospects jobs has declined. Only 5% of youth have public and job satisfaction. However, these programs still sector salaried positions. Despite the interest have limited coverage, especially among expressed by young survey respondents, very few disadvantaged youth, and some common are actually self-employed. constraints: Youth feel they have little control over their  Many agencies provide similar services, without economic future. Better education and skills are apparent coordination, leading to fragmented considered insufficient to obtain a decent job coverage, and some ambiguity and overlap in without personal or family networks and roles; connections, whether in the public, private, or informal sector, and even just to gain an internship.  Most programs are seriously under-resourced; This is due to limited formal job intermediation mechanisms. One in three youth desires or plans to  Staffing is inadequate: there are few young leave Morocco because of poor future prospects. training staff, and there insufficient trainers for Youth Participation in social and civic life: Moroccan youth participation in social and civic life is very low. Most of their time is spent on 4 The analysis presented in this section was conducted under the unstructured personal activities. The pattern of coordination of the Ministry of Economy with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Agency for Social Assistance leisure activities Moroccan youth are engaged in (Entraide Nationale), and the Ministry of Agriculture and strongly suggests the lack of more productive or Fisheries. June 2012 · Number 66 · 2 new skills in demand such as ICT and broader youth policies. These findings link closely to the life/work skills; government„s own youth strategy, currently under preparation.  Facilities may be poor or inaccessible, and lack necessary equipment; Supporting employability and entrepreneurship: Private sector intermediation and certification could  Insufficient use of partnership mechanisms to substantially improve the labor market entry of less assess, improve, and provide services; educated and poorer youth. Partnerships with the public and/or non-governmental sector, notably  Little (or regressive) poverty focus - the largest through existing employability programs will be share of youth program funding goes to Active critical in this regard. This would expand the action Labor Market programs targeted at university of ANAPEC, which is the primary source of graduates who constitute only 5 percent of employment intermediation but which currently unemployed youth, while the programs of the mostly targets youth with higher levels of education. Ministry of Youth and Sports, Entraide Similarly, private skills certification and Nationale, and the Ministry of Agriculture accreditation could complement the existing directed at disadvantaged youth face significant technical degrees offered by the Entraide Nationale resource and other challenges. and agricultural institutes. Together, these constraints highlight the challenges Youth employment measures should focus on and point to the need for a more systematic, training as well as comprehensive programs, which strategic, and integrated approach to youth combine technical training, life skills training, development. Also needed is a clearer focus on private sector internships and/or apprenticeships, targeting the disadvantaged youth. wage subsidies (or a subsidized training period/paid internships), and accreditation. Among The study also notes that it is possible to overcome the most relevant international training plus these challenges. For example, several recent programs are the “Jovenes� programs in Latin stakeholder partnerships in the field of youth America, which have had significant positive services (i.e. between the public sector, private impacts on disadvantaged youth, and the Ecole de la sector, international development agencies, Deuxième Chance (E2C) in France and other European charitable organizations, NGOs) show promise in Union countries. The E2C focuses on providing facilitating the integration of disadvantaged young youth with life skills, mentoring, psychosocial people into the workplace. These offer applied support, remedial education, training in information vocational training linked to job placements. and communication technology (ICT), and Although the coverage of these programs is limited, apprenticeships with private firms. ICT training their strategies and placement rates make them programs may be particularly effective in Morocco, models for future market labor intermediation since ICT offers opportunities for less formal programs. Several new opportunities for active learning and lowers barriers to labor market entry, youth participation are also emerging in the new including geographic boundaries, time flexibility Moroccan context, as highlighted by the youth and home-based work. consultations held by the Moroccan Government in May 2011 (Assises de la Jeunesse). Comprehensive entrepreneurship programs that offer entrepreneurial skills training, access to capital, Recommendations: An integrated package of and mentoring from new and established measures aimed at improving existing services and entrepreneurs, are also needed. Such interventions offering new ones to cover current gaps is urgently would target secondary graduates and needed to address youth demands for meaningful disadvantaged less-educated youth, which social and economic inclusion. The report constitute the bulk of unemployed youth, recommends focusing in particular on two key complementing the existing Moukawalati5 program areas: (i) promoting employability with linkages to labor markets and entrepreneurship and (ii) active youth participation in the programs and designing 5 For more see http://www.moukawalati.ma/ June 2012 · Number 66 · 3 for tertiary graduates (who tend to show a lower infrastructure, etc. To promote the participation of propensity to self-employment). unemployed and low-income youth, participants may receive a stipend or allowance for their work. Restructuring the Existing Youth Centers : In line with the strategic orientation of the Ministry of Youth participation in the development and Youth and Sports, a new model for the Youth implementation of national youth policy should be Centers (Maisons des Jeunes) is recommended, in strengthened through institutional channels. In most which integrated services are offered under the European countries young people and their themes of life and social skills, active youth representative bodies are recognized as stakeholders participation, and employability skills. Investments and equal partners in the implementing youth and reforms should also focus on building policies - a system referred to as co-management. In partnerships and fundraising capacity, improving Morocco, similar models are being developed. For beneficiary targeting and outreach efforts, while example, Conseil Local des Jeunes, implemented by introducing robust monitoring and evaluation the NGO Forum Méditerranéen de la Jeunesse et de systems. In the same manner, the Foyers Féminins l‟Enfance is a four-year program promoting the need substantial investment and reform to meet participation of youth in public life in rural and their mandate of furthering the inclusion of young urban regions of each province. Meanwhile, the women, including better defining their target Programme Concerté Maroc, designed to build the beneficiaries, rehabilitating and improving their youth capacity in exercising their civic duties and current facilities and improving program content in improve public policy on youth issues, has coordination with other public programs and supported the creation of youth councils in four relevant NGO service providers. Moroccan cities. These councils are working in concert with local, public, and civil society actors6. With respect to targeting disadvantaged young These and other initiatives are promising beneficiaries, the report encourages the adoption of foundations. However, wider and coordinated services and outreach tailored to specific age groups, efforts to build representative and elected local and gender considerations and/or youth categories. The national youth councils will be needed to ensure a second priority is to expand coverage of well- unified national approach to constructive interaction designed interventions in order to attract a much between youth, government, and society as a whole. greater volume of disadvantaged youth in a cost- effective, inclusive manner. The third priority is to Contact MNA K&L: focus on the impact of cross-sectoral programs Laura Tuck, Director, Strategy and Operations. initiated by different ministries for the same MENA Region, The World Bank beneficiary groups. This requires mapping existing program mandates and integrating them through a Regional Quick Notes Team: Omer Karasapan, and Roby Fields common and comprehensive monitoring and Tel #: (202) 473 8177 evaluation system. The role of municipalities in the local coordination of youth inclusion services The MNA Quick Notes are intended to summarize lessons offered by various national entities should also be learned from MNA and other Bank Knowledge and strengthened in order to facilitate synergies and Learning activities. The Notes do not necessarily reflect cross-sectoral cooperation. the views of the World Bank, its board or its member countries. Active Youth Participation in Programs and Policies: There is a critical need to include youth in the delivery of quality services and the monitoring of local accountability in Morocco, especially in the context of greater youth engagement and voice in the public sphere. Youth service programs are a tested avenue to provide opportunities for young people to learn new skills while actively engaging in 6 This program is implemented by the Carrefour Network and is community development, for e.g. literacy tutoring, a partner of CCFD-Terre Solidaire. See Programme Concerte protecting the environment, small-scale Maroc at www.pcm.ma June 2012 · Number 66 · 4