World Learning Organizes Youth Summit 2.0 in Algeria

Publication Date: December 10, 2018
Publication Location: Algiers, Algeria
Contact: Kathryn Schoenberger   |   [email protected]

Download the original press release.

Like many countries worldwide, Algeria is working to integrate young people into a dynamic and challenging global economy.

In July 2016, World Learning convened over 250 educators, employers, and officials for the inaugural Youth Employment Summit in Algiers. That event marked the public launch of the Algeria Youth Employment Project (YEP), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).

At the summit, attendees learned from career development experts about the career development center model, along with international best practices and local examples for delivery of career services to help youth enter and succeed in the world of work.

Under the YEP project, World Learning has collaborated with private schools and associations to launch 9 career centers across Algeria. Since the first Summit, those centers have served over 7,000 young job-seekers through career orientation, soft skills and technical skills training, internship and job placement, employment fairs, and other services adapted to the needs of local employment markets.

The Youth Employment Summit 2.0 is a two-day conference, being held December 10-11 in Algiers, that will unite leading employers and government officials with representatives of public and private educational institutions, vocational training centers, private schools, and civil society organizations from across Algeria to explore career centers as a solution to modern employment challenges.

At the opening, the YEP career centers will join together to officially launch the first Algerian career center federation, which will work to spread the career center model nationwide for the benefit of Algerian youth. Employers and officials will be invited to meet the federation members to discuss possible collaboration.

Next, YEP career center staff and international experts will lead interactive workshops to guide participants in how to deliver effective career services to youth. With guidance from these professionals, participating institutions will explore ways to adapt the career center model to their local context, then will develop action-oriented workplans for offering career services to youth in their communities.

World Learning will also mark the close of the Maharat Mentorship Program, a highly successful pilot initiative sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Algeria linking young women job-seekers with established professionals.

The Algeria Youth Employment Project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). The Maharat Mentorship Program is sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Algeria.

World Learning is an international nonprofit organization advancing leadership through education, exchange, and sustainable development programs in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1932, the organization includes Global Development and Global Exchange divisions supported by the School for International Training (SIT), an accredited higher education institution providing world-class global education. World Learning has worked in Algeria since 2005. For more information, visit algeria.worldlearning.org, or contact us at [email protected].