Suez, 31 May 2016 - The last workshop of the Labour Migration and Human Development Component of START programme took place on May 30-31 in Ain Sokhna. The workshop gathered the programme's partners and service providers in Egypt, including Education for Employment Egypt, El Mahrousa Center for Socioeconomic Development, Innovety, Microsoft, Nahdet El Mahrousa, and the National Employment Pact. The objective was to celebrate the completion of the activities and take stock of achieved results and lessons learned.

“The workshop has been an excellent opportunity to share experiences and make recommendations for future programming. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) will produce a short publication summarising the findings, which will be shared among participating partners,” said START programme manager and IOM Egypt head of office Amr Taha.

“This promgramme is part of the European Union's efforts to help Southern Mediterranean partner countries address migration-related challenges. The programme achieved promising results through the improvement of  employment services for young Egyptians living in areas suffering from high unemployment and/or struggling to absorb returnees from Libya”, said Ambassador James Moran, Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt.

For instance, the programme provided technical, soft skills, and entrepreneurship training to 2,782 young people in the Fayoum, Qalyoubia, Sharquiya and Menoufeya governorates. 2,347 beneficiaries were referred to job interviews and about a quarter of them were hired as a consequence. Moreover, five employment fairs were organised and four Information, Counselling and Referral Services offices were established. These offices now serve as one-stop-shops for job seekers and employers and provide them with a wide range of services including training, job placement, and support to business creation.

START is a €9.9 million four-year (2012-16) programme fully funded by the European Union and implemented by the IOM in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. One of the objectives of the programme is to address unemployment and underemployment in communities impacted by large numbers of migrants returning from Libya and outward migration due to lack of training and jobs for young people.

For further information, please contact Amr Taha at IOM Egypt, Tel: +202-27365140, Email: iomegypt@iom.int.