skills training, business development services and access to financial ... 17 percent sought further training; over 34 p
This Report synthesizes the results of the IFAD-ILO project “Promoting decent and productive employment of young people in rural areas: A review of strategies and programmes”. The overall objective of the ILO-IFAD project is to help develop elements of a framework of intervention for the promotion of decent and productive work for youth living in rural areas; a framework based on lessons from past programmes, their main successes and shortfalls, in terms of decent work. This project has studied the impact of a set of 23 programmes on decent work opportunities for rural youth. Impact is analyzed with regard to the four pillars of decent work: Employment creation and enterprise development Working conditions and social protection Rights at work Workers’ and employers’ organization and social dialogue A desk review first examined 18 programmes worldwide implemented recently by various international agencies and NGOs, to gather an overall view of how they approach the issue. Key findings include the fact that few programmes target rural youth. A mere 10 percent of World Bank interventions on youth, for instance, concentrate in rural areas. Also, although all initiatives profiled in this desk review contain innovative components, virtually all focus on the first pillar of decent work, through some forms of skills training, business development services and access to financial support. Working conditions and social protection, rights at work, as well as workers’ and employers’ organization and social dialogue, which are also important enabling factors for young workers, rarely feature. As for gender equity, another key enabling factor given the serious and persistent gender gaps in rural contexts, initiatives addressing it specifically are only present in some programmes. In view of the very little documentation available on most of those 18 programmes to allow systematic reviews and conclusions, this study concentrates on five IFAD programmes that it reviewed in depth: 1. West Noubaria Rural Development Programme (WNRDP), Egypt 2. Support Programme for Rural Microenterprise Poles and Regional Economies (PROSPERER), Madagascar 3. Leasehold Forestry and Livestock Programme (LFLP), Nepal 4. Programme for the Economic Development of the Dry Region (PRODESEC), Nicaragua 5. Promotion of rural entrepreneurship (PROMER), Senegal Based on interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with youth, producers and entrepreneurs, and local leaders, this study has shown that all five projects have had some impact on decent and productive employment of young people, to a varying degree, with regard to the four pillars. Below are the views expressed by youth, and shared overall by the other interviewees. Employment creation and enterprise development is the pillar where all projects have had positive impact. Over 45 percent of the youth interviewed acknowledge that their employment situation has improved, 44 percent note an increase in their probability of finding employment; and as much as 56 percent agree that the projects have provided good training opportunities. With regards to working conditions and social protection, 39 percent of youth interviewed find that their income has increased, and 24 percent comment that working hours and other working conditions have improved; but only 8 percent note improvements in social security.
Progress rights at work is slight, as only 15 percent of all youth respondents feel their employment contracts have improved, and no more than 28 percent consider their employers to have greater awareness of and respect for workers’ rights. As for Workers’ and employers’ organization and social dialogue, only 2.7 percent of interviewed youth note increases in trade union membership and progress in collective bargaining. Impact of the projects can also be gauged by the level of follow-up independently sought by beneficiaries. In the case of the five IFAD projects profiled here, 28 percent of youth participants undertook follow-up; 17 percent sought further training; over 34 percent attempted to find new jobs; 32 percent sought to start their own businesses; and 29 percent have implemented improvement to existing businesses. As for gender dimensions, two of the projects had women as priority target, PRODESEC in Nicaragua and PROMER in Senegal. Women were also highly present in Nepal’s LFLP and Madagascar’s PROSPERER, representing the majority of beneficiaries; but much less so in the WNRDP of Egypt. The West Noubaria Rural Development Programme (WNRDP), Egypt, and the Leasehold Forestry and Livestock Programme (LFLP), Nepal, both registered low impact in terms of decent work. It is only with regard to Employment creation and enterprise development that a percentage of interviewed youth note some impact, but this share is markedly less than in the other three projects. Youth who participated in the Support Programme for Rural Microenterprise Poles and Regional Economies (PROSPERER), Madagascar, feel that it had a positive impact on Employment creation and enterprise development, as 100 percent note an improvement in their employment situation, professional skills and income; although only 35 percent believe their probability of finding a new job has increased. PROSPERER has also had some impact on Working conditions and social protection, as 58 percent of youth indicate that their social security coverage has improved, and 38 percent that their working conditions have improved; but on the other hand, none report improvements in working hours. The project appears to have had very little impact on Rights at work, and only 7 percent report improvements in employment contracts or employers’ awareness and practice of labour rights. It has had no impact on Workers’ and employers’ organizations and social dialogue, and no youth respondent finds improvements in their trade union membership and in collective bargaining. In the Programme for the Economic Development of the Dry Region (PRODESEC), Nicaragua, interviewed youth point to a number of improvements related to decent work. They find, in particular, that the project has had a significant impact on Employment creation and enterprise development, as 76 percent indicate an improvement in their employment situation, 86 percent that their probability of finding employment has improved, and 91 percent that their professional skills are stronger. However, only 45 percent report income growth. PRODESEC has also had some noticeable impact on Working conditions and social protection, with 42 percent noting improvements in working hours, and 26 percent feeling that they enjoy better working conditions, although only 7 percent indicate improvements in their social security coverage. PRODESEC also displays encouraging results on Rights at work, as 48 percent of youth report improvements in their employment contract, and as much as 71 percent indicate that their employer now shows greater awareness of and respect for workers’ rights. Nevertheless, the programme has had little impact on Workers’ and employers’ organization and social dialogue, as only 8 percent experience increased trade union membership and improved collective bargaining. Youth in the programme Promotion of Rural Entrepreneurship (PROMER), Senegal, note important achievements in a number of decent work dimensions. They indicate that the programme has
boosted Employment creation and enterprise development, with practically 100 percent reporting improvements in their employment situation, their probability of finding employment, income levels, and professional skills. Interviewed youth feel that PROMER has also positively impacted their Working conditions and social protection; with 100 percent feeling improvements in their working conditions, and 37 percent noting improved working hours, although only 1.3 percent report a better social security coverage. Encouraging results are reported concerning Rights at work as well, as 14 percent note improvements in their employment contracts, and as many as 73 percent indicate that employers demonstrated greater awareness and respect of workers’ rights. However, the programme has had minimal impact on Workers’ and employers’ organization and social dialogue, with only 3 percent mentioning improvements in trade union membership and collective bargaining. This study points to a number of important elements in rural development interventions that can strengthen impact on decent and productive work for youth. General design of rural development interventions should consider that: Projects including enterprise development have a greater impact on decent and productive employment of young people than “general” rural development projects; Promotion of decent and productive employment for young people is easier to attain if young men and women are an explicit target group; A two-pronged approach of working with both enterprises and youth is best suited for projects promoting decent and productive employment; Training of young women and men should aim both to strengthen their potential in the labour market and as self-employed entrepreneurs. Gender imbalances in access to resources, training and other empowering features need to be explicitly addressed and compensated; Integrated approaches including employment and enterprise development, as well as working conditions and social protection, rights at work, organization and social dialogue, are most effective to stimulate productive and attractive jobs for youth in rural areas; Including working conditions and social protection, rights at work, organization and social dialogue, all require using a rights-based approach; Both formal and informal activities need to be targeted, taking into account their specific opportunities and challenges; Relations with relevant national policies and programmes, as well as with other projects, can lead to synergies that strengthen, broaden and sustain impact on decent and productive work for youth. Each of the four pillars of decent work requires special attention. Boosting employment creation and enterprise development calls for support to production based on local resources, packages of market demand-based training for youth (including entrepreneurship training) along with access to land, funding, materials and start-up kits, and technical/legal support for self-employment and local enterprise development. Improving working conditions and social protection for youth needs much emphasis through awareness raising among youth and enterprise owners, inducing producers and entrepreneurs to abide by national legislation, but also to support training in both technical and legal aspects of occupational safety, make available tools, equipment and technologies to improve safety, ensure health services, as well as awareness programmes.
Strengthening rights at work includes prompting and assisting informal enterprises to acquire legal status, as well as awareness raising among youth and employers about workers’ rights, and developing labour inspection to monitor and advise on workers’ rights in rural enterprises. Developing workers’ and employers’ organization and social dialogue requires encouraging young workers, self-employed and entrepreneurs to see the value and mutual benefit of these associations, and of dialogue among them. If the impact of interventions is to be felt beyond immediate project areas and beneficiaries, and to reach strategic and policy levels, work is needed to prompt Government, in partnership with labour unions and employers’ associations, to strengthen the national framework. This includes: Incentives for economic development in rural areas; Measures encouraging employers to recruit youth; Incentives for self-employment of youth; Reviewing enforcement mechanisms, including labour inspection, to ensure that youth enjoy their labour rights, appropriate working conditions, social protection and representation; Reviewing how social security may be strengthened and extended to cover small and informal rural enterprises; Incentives for owners of informal enterprises to give them formal status, which is often a condition for youth to enjoy labour rights, social protection, representation and bargaining rights. Labour unions and employers’ associations meanwhile, ought to work are to considerably strengthen their presence in rural areas as well as support their rural affiliates.
