The European Investment Bank will hold a seminar on the human resources and labour market challenges in the Mediterranean, a theme in line with the priorities of the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean.

The seminar is organised within the framework of the FEMIP Internship Programme that is open to students and young professionals who are nationals of Mediterranean partner countries.

Who should attend?

The seminar is designed to bring together political decision-makers, academic experts, and representatives of the private sector and international financing institutions.

Basic facts about human capital in the region

• The region presides over the highest unemployment rate in the world. Over 50m jobs need to be created by 2020 just to cater for new entrants to the labour market.
• People under 25 make up 60 per cent of the population.
• Although the relatively high rates of annual growth have started to generate jobs, there is a mismatch between education and the demands of the labour market. The unemployment rate remains particularly high among young graduates.
• In most countries, university education has been producing graduates destined for jobs in the public sector. The system remains unresponsive to the demands of an economy that is seeking to diversify and attract private investment.
• Furthermore, while migration is an important channel for resolving local market imbalances, with potentially large benefits for the individuals and nations concerned, the sheer size of the job challenge means that labour demand abroad cannot fill the employment gap.

Programme

The seminar is organised into three sessions looking at:

• What types of jobs and which economic models should be promoted?
• How to better match educational curricula with labour market requirements?
• How to increase job opportunities and improve the labour market?

The programme is available in [EN] and [FR].

• Format

  The seminar will be interactive. After the opening session which will provide a broad outline of the topics to be discussed, each session will be introduced by an expert in the field, and a panel will then comment briefly on the subject before opening the floor to discussion with seminar participants.

  The seminar languages will be English and French with simultaneous interpretation available throughout all sessions.

  Seminar venue

  Opening

  Welcome speech - Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of the EIB
  

  Adapter les compétences au besoin du marché: Le défi du capital humain dans la région méditerrannée - Eneko Landaburu, General Director, European  Commission
  

  Presentation

  Session 1 

  Matching skills and labour market needs: the human challenge in the Mediterranean region - Muriel Dunbar, Director,  European Training Foundation

  Beritech - Maroun Chammas, President of Berytech 

  Adapter les compétences aux besoins du marché : le défi du capital humain dans la région méditerranéenne - Slim Othmani, General Manager, Nouvelle Conserverie Algérienne 

  Session 2 

  Looking for Solutions: What are the needed skills? -  Marcello Scalisi, Deputy Director General, UNIMED

  Looking for solutions: what skills are needed? - Anthony Gribben, Team Leader, Entrepeneurial Learning, European training

  Expérience du Royaume du Maroc -  El Hassane Benmoussa, Secretay general, Department of  Professional Training, Moroccan Ministry of Employment  and professional training

  Strategy/Concepts and Projects implemented by GTZ -  Manfred Diehl, Team Leader, EU- Egyptian Assistance to reform the Technical and Vocational Education and Training System, GTZ

  Session 3

  Développer l’emploi dans les pays méditerranéens - Frédéric Blanc, Chief Economist, FEMISE

  Comment accroître la demande de main d’œuvre ?  -  Monia Skhiri, Secretary General, UMCE-BUSINESSMED

  Looking for Solutions: Jordan’s Case - Ghazi Al-Daboubi, Executive Director for Development and Coordination Unit, Jordanian Ministry of Labour

  Investing in African Youth: The North African Experience - Henri-Bernard Solignac Lecompte, Head of Unit, External Cooperation and Policy Dialogue Unit, OECD Development Center

  Bibliography

  Vocational Training in the Informal Sector - Richard WALTHER

  Towards a Renewal of Apprenticeship in West Africa - Richard WALTHER

  Finance Mechanisms of Vocational Training in 5 sub-Saharan African Countries [EN], [FR]- Richard WALTHER and André GAURON

  Conclusions of the first Euro-Mediterranean Employment and Labour Conference [EN], [FR]

  Related links

  Berytech