Support to ACI 2: Jobs and skills for youth - Sri Lanka

Five years after the end of the civil war, Sri Lanka’s goal of becoming an upper middle income country is progressing well. Economic performance translated into an annual growth of 7% in 2013 and the President’s vision, known as the Mahinda Chintana Way forward for an “Unstoppable Sri Lanka” is promising. The success story of Sri Lanka remains to be shared equally among its population of 20 Million however. While unemployment has declined to just about 4%, young people bear the brunt of the disparity. They remain the “last in and the first out” on the labour market and suffer from a 19% unemployment rate –the highest in the region. Young people are four times more likely to be unemployed than adults in Sri Lanka. For the most vulnerable, such as those working on plantations; those involved in the informal sector; or those unskilled seeking to migrate to urban centers, the prospects of finding a decent job are particularly dim. Too often, they end up in cycles of poverty. They lack the skills employers are looking for, they are unaware of their rights at work and they do not benefit from macroeconomic policies that place jobs first and promote their interests as a matter of priority. The Government of Sri Lanka is committed to improving young people’s prospects in their quests for decent jobs. In May 2014, it hosted successfully the World Conference on Youth which continuum feeds into the 2015+ agenda. In this process, it has requested the support of the ILO to help plan activities that can enhance employability and encourage the development of national policies for youth employment. Specifically, the Government seeks the assistance of the ILO to support the implementation of the National Human Resources and Employment Policy (NHREP) and to build up on its technical assistance provided over the years. The ILO proposes to respond to this request by cooperating with the Government of Sri Lanka and with social partners on a new youth employment project entitled “Planning and Coordinating for Youth Employment in Sri Lanka”. While building on the 2012 International Labour Conference resolution on youth employment ‘The youth employment crisis: A call for action”, it will endeavor to review the potential to build on the best practices identified in its area of critical importance – ACI 2, Jobs and skills for youth. The project will focus on priority sectors which offer strong prospects for growth and for the creation of decent jobs for youth. Reviewing the existence of knowledge on “what works on youth employment” under ACI 2 will serve as a basis for the formulation of strategies to address the supply side of the labour market– tackling employability through skills training programmes- and on the demand side, paving the way to the creation of policies geared toward decent jobs for youth.

Project symbol

SRL/14/52/SID

Admin unit

CO-Colombo

Start date

01/11/2014

End date

31/12/2015

Total allocation

441848

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

432736

Development Partners

Sweden, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

Country/Countries

Sri Lanka

Outcomes

More and better jobs for inclusive growth and improved youth employment prospects