Education for Employment
Equipping youth for the green economy
With support from the Trafigura Foundation, Education for Employment (EFE) will embed the green economy in programmes to provide young people and women across the Middle East and North Africa with the skills and opportunities to succeed in the job markets of today and tomorrow.
The challenge
Under-35s account for two-thirds of the population of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), yet the region is considered among the hardest places in the world for young people to find work. Markets increasingly struggle to accommodate the new generations, with youth unemployment reaching 25% – almost double the global average. For young women, the gender gap adds to the challenge of getting a job or sustaining their own business.
At the same time, the MENA region ranks high on vulnerability to climate change and is considered a hotspot for heat stress and water scarcity, putting more pressure on already precarious living conditions in cities like Cairo.
Without a just transition to a green economy, these mutually reinforcing factors risk further disrupting livelihoods and heightening poverty in the region.
The solution
Education for Employment is a network of non-profits dedicated to equipping young people across the MENA region with skills and opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. Its programmes work by delivering technical and life skills and job placements, and by fostering alumni communities. It works closely with the private sector to ensure its activities are in tune with economic realities.
With previous support from donors including the Trafigura Foundation, the network has already helped nearly 19,000 youth to access the job market, with a 77% job placement rate for its graduates, of whom about 60% are women.
Now, under an exclusive new partnership with the Foundation, Education for Employment will sharpen its focus on innovation by developing a green economy engagement strategy and placing it at the core of its programming.
Partnership impact
Through this new partnership (2024-2026), Education for Employment will design and implement a robust, evidence-based strategy to strengthen its ability to help young people find employment in growing green economy sectors such as renewable energy and climate-smart agriculture.
The strategy will also consolidate Education for Employment’s position as a thought leader for youth employment and enable it to push for a just transition to more sustainable economies across the MENA region.
The network-wide partnership is expected to have a catalytic effect by helping attract more financial support for its country programmes over the long term.
