DUSHANBE, October 1, 2013, Asia-Plus – The International Labour Organization (ILO) will launch a project to improve the effectiveness of youth employment policies in order to support the creation of more and better jobs for young people in the CIS nations on October 3.  

Press release issued by the ILO Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia notes that the global economic crisis has exacerbated the difficult situation that already existed in youth labor markets of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  The crisis resulted in a dramatic increase in the youth unemployment rate, jumping from 17.0 per cent in 2008 to 20.5 per cent in 2009.  The rate decreased between 2009 and 2012, but it has not yet returned to pre-crisis levels.     

This technical cooperation project, funded by the OAO LUKOIL and implemented by the ILO, seeks to counteract problems of lacking institutional capacity to deal with the youth employment crisis, labor market mismatches and insufficient knowledge of existing youth employment barriers and opportunities.  This is dealt with through regional cooperation and at national and sub-national levels in three countries - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

The kick-off event will conclude training on Public Employment Services for staff from Ministries of Labor and Public Employment Services in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation and Tajikistan (Almaty, Kazakhstan, September 30 – October 3, 2013).