Adolescence

COUNTRY: JordanEnsuring productive work for youthAdolescents attend acomputer-skills trainingsession at a social centre foryouth in Amman, Jordan.“Almost 60per cent of thejob seekers inJordan are belowthe age of 25.”Jordan is a lower-middle-income country with anaverage gross national income per capita in 2009of US$3,740. Owing to the country’s limited naturalresources, its economy is dominated by commerceand services, which account for more than 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and more than75 per cent of jobs. Over the past decade, the countryhas enjoyed unprecedented growth, with real GDPgrowth averaging 6.4 per cent yearly between 2003and 2007. This has been accompanied by improvementsin social development indicators, particularlyhealth and education.Nevertheless, Jordan still faces some key challenges.There is significant income disparity: Almost 14 percent of the population lives below the poverty line,and between 1995 and 2007 the lowest 40 per centof income earners earned less than a fifth (18 percent) of the total income in the country. There arealso high rates of unemployment, particularly amongthe young. While Jordan’s overall unemployment rateis 15 per cent, the rate among young people is almost32 per cent. Nearly 70 per cent of the population isunder the age of 30, and adolescents accounted foralmost 22 per cent of the total population in 2009.With an annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent between2000 and 2009, Jordan’s population is one of thefastest growing in the world.According to a 2005 study by the European TrainingFoundation, almost 60 per cent of the job seekers inJordan are below the age of 25. The main causesof youth unemployment are lack of career guidancecounselling, lack of opportunities to find satisfyingwork following graduation, the difficulty of obtainingjobs compatible with qualifications, the mismatchbetween the skills of graduates and the needs ofemployers, social and cultural obstacles to the fullintegration of women into the labour market and thewider international economic situation. The risk ofbeing unemployed is greater for women, despite theirhigher educational achievements. Currently, less than12 per cent of women participate in the economicsector, putting Jordan close to the bottom of the listof Arab countries in female economic participation.The Government of Jordan has engaged in a numberof policy initiatives to address these challenges.For instance, the National Social and EconomicDevelopment Plan for 2004–2006 aimed at reducingpoverty and unemployment. Section I of the planemphasized the need to address human resourcedevelopment, including public education, higher education,vocational and technical training and youth care.Its successor, the National Agenda for 2006–2015,focuses on reforming institutional frameworks. TheGovernment has also strengthened collaborativeefforts with partner and donor agencies. One exampleis the development of an Internet-based labour marketinformation system with the support of the CanadianInternational Development Agency. Managed by theNational Centre for Human Resources Development,the project links employers with job seekers and alsohas a professional career-counselling component.Partner agencies have also taken steps to increaseemployment opportunities among young people. Forinstance, Mustaqbali (‘My Future’ in Arabic) waslaunched jointly by UNICEF and Save the Childrenin 2009 to increase opportunities for adolescentsbetween the ages of 15 and 19 to learn and developskills that will ultimately enable them to improvetheir livelihoods and household economic security. Itdelivers an integrated package of career explorationand preparedness activities to adolescents at variousyouth and women’s centres, and also includesa community awareness component specifically forparents of adolescents, as well as sensitization sessionswith private sector employers. The project hasbeen implemented in a number of regions, as well asat the Jerash camp for Palestinian refugees (knownlocally as the Gaza camp), and has reached morethan 250 adolescents, half of them girls. Currently,discussions are ongoing with various stakeholders,including the Government, to scale up the programmeat a national level.Addressing unemployment and poverty remains acritical concern for Jordan. A key part of any solutionto this problem will be increasing the participation ofwomen in the labour market. Preparing young peoplefor employment and creating opportunities in thepublic and private sectors will have both economicand social returns.See References, page 78.the emerging generation13