Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification – Aligning skills strategically with sector development in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia

The project responds to the need of young people in the Maghreb countries - Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia - to be offered a qualified, sustainable and accessible (for both women and men) employment perspective. Youth unemployment ranges from 20% (Morocco) to 31.8 % (Tunisia). Female labour force participation is among the lowest in the world ranging from 16% to 26%. The three countries observed a growth in export in the previous years, however coupled with negative trade balances but also an underexploited potential for trade and economic diversification, in particular regarding regional trade. At the same time, a large proportion of the workforce is employed in low value-added services or enterprises which offer relatively poor working conditions. Building on its successful STED program and methodology, the ILO is implementing a four-year project funded by KOICA. The project rationale is that a development strategy that combines skills and technological upgrading with investment in higher value added non-traditional sectors (diversification) helps to ensure that productivity growth is accompanied by employment growth. The Republic of Korea has demonstrated this successfully over the past decades, entering into a virtuous cycle of increasing wages, productivity and employment by aligning skills development with national and sector development strategies, focusing on exporting sectors. The project facilitates learning from ROK and between the three countries.

Project symbol

RAF/19/10/KOR

Admin unit

CO-Algiers

Start date

22/10/2019

End date

31/01/2025

Total allocation

5236837

Total expenditure

Status

Active

5203550

Development Partners

Korea International Cooperation Agency

Country/Countries

Algeria
Tunisia
Morocco

Outcomes

Outcome 3: Full and productive employment for just transitions