It is a Great honour to be invited to share the Timor-Leste s experiences on addressing the youth unemployment.

Transcription

1 Presentation: Timor-Leste President of the Civil Service Commission, In the Occasion of the United Nations Public Service Forum 2017, Den Haag June Title: Addressing Youth Employment in Timor-Leste Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemens, It is a Great honour to be invited to share the Timor-Leste s experiences on addressing the youth unemployment. Being aware that the youth issues is a cross-cutting and subject to the context (political, socialeconomic, socio-development and socio-cultural) of individual countries, the countries development history and stages. The following interventions is a brief on Timor-Leste s youth development and employment case. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlements It is Timor-Leste s vision to ensure that our youth to achieve their potential as healthy, educated and ethical citizens and as leaders who are proud to be Timorese. This is in alignment with our plan to be an upper-middle income country by 2030 with per capita income at between US$3,946 12,192 by Our vision for training and skills development will provide Timorese with increased opportunities to participate in a society that has more services, is more prosperous and is more equitable. A training system in 2030 that will be characterized by: the young people of Timor- Leste following clearly linked pathways that take them from school - to training - to work - and to higher education; a skilled labour force driving increased services, industrial development, 1 Ministerio das Finanças Direção Nacional Política Economia, Direção Geral Finanças do Estado, Fevereiro Kresinetu Ekonomiku Timor-Leste Toó 2030: Aprosimasaun Kresimentu Akuntabilidade no Total Fator Produtividade. P.1. 1

2 economic diversification and innovation; training being measured by its quality and how training services match the needs of industry and communities; and industry and civil society working in partnership with Government to increase the skills of all people and to increase opportunities for secure and meaningful works 2. Our Technical and Vocational Education and Training Plan (TVET) supports the initiatives outlined in the Timor-Leste Strategic Plan The Plan is consistent with the principles and methods of a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) 3 and considers Timor-Leste s future in the context of: economic development and diversifications; infrastructure development and services; primary health care services; education and training systems; labour force development; and the Human Capital Development Fund. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlements.. Our Challenges Timor-Leste is a young country, only one and a half decade old. We recognize that almost a half of our population are still living below poverty line. However, it has been registered some remarkable achievements in the reduction of poverty from 50.4% in 2007 to an estimated 41.8% in The poverty in urban areas has been remarkable from 38.3% in 2007 to 28.3% in 2014 while in the rural area is only from 54.7% in 2007 to 47.1% in The challenge remains as the Government policy to reduce poverty is not in line with the pace of the urbanization phenomenon which is identical to the trend of youth urbanization. Timor-Leste is also country of growing population with approximately annual growth rate of 2.8% 4. This percentage is relativeky high when compared to the other countries annual population growth. There is progress in imporvmen the life expectancy of which is now 2 Timor-Leste Technical and Vocational Education and Training Plan Europe Aid, Tools and Methods Series, Guidelines No.2: Support to Sector Programmes (European Commission, 2017), p.8. 4 The Government of Timor-Leste The Timor-Leste Population and Housing Census Population Projection, Volume 8. 2

3 registered at for male and for female 5 ; a total population below 14 years old is (39.1%) (male= , female = ). A total working age population (15-64 years old) of (55.2%) person (male= , female= ) of the total population of in However, the employed population is 388,952 (M=228,389 (58.7%); F= 160,563 (41.3%)) of the total population. The majority (64.3%) of the employed population is of the job category of self-employed farmers followed by the Government and Government Owned Enterprisers at 16.9% (65 791), and self-employed non-farmers at 10.5% (40 789). The other percentage of the employed population are of the category of private owned business or farm 4.8%, non-governmental/non-profit organizations 1.4%, embassies and bilateral institutions 0.2%, the United Nations and Specialised International Organizations 0.1%, and others 1.9%. The Census 2015 informed us that we have a total of 313,290 (48%) working age population is unemployed or is seeking employment. The public sector employement is still perceived by the youth as the most descent employement which used to be depend on oil revenue has been shifted into a sustainable source, non-oil revenue. Though there are various training centers for youth (it is registered a total of 18 accredited centres), the challenge remains on the lacking of training facilities, teaching and learning resources or qualified trainers to train the skilled labour force required for our planned development. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlements Our Initiatives and Strategies to Address the Youth Unemployment Our plan is to implement a comprehensive strategy for our youth development and employment including implementing a framework for a high quality national training system, comparable to the best achievements from countries across the regions. by: There is a clear commitment of the Government in addressing the youth employment. The current Government Structure, for instance, contemplates also two Secretary of States (Ministerial Level structure) mandated specifically for professional training, employment, 5 Census

4 youth development and sports. The sectoral Line Ministries and Autonomous Agencies have specialized contributing roles of youth empowerment and employments through specialized skills-oriented training and development institutions. For example, the Secretary of State for Professional Training and Employment (SEPFOPE) for youth labour skills development and employment; The National Institute for Entrepreneurial Development Support (IADE) for supporting the development of small enterprisers and TradeInvest for under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Community Tourisms Initiatives by Ministry of Tourism and Culture; and others. The establishment of the Human Capital Development Fund, which also provides funds for the Youth, is a fund for national investment in future human skills development and other types of small scale and programmatic funds- to finance projects and programmes that supports the trainings and employment of our youth, through relevant Line Ministries, State Autonomous Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, Youth Associations, and Youth Groups of Specialized Areas, and community centers, in the areas of small business; small enterprisers; micro-industry; agriculture, fisheries and livestock; civil, mechanical and electrical engineering skills; community tourisms and cultural including arts and music; languages and ICTs courses, sports through competitions at various level of administrative territorial and physical fitness; civic education initiatives and skills development through training in leadership and management, conflict resolution, civic values and Scouts; and sponsoring innovations hubs for youth. A total of 18 accredited centres for training and development benefitted with 22,325 persons (11,989 males, 10,336 females) being trained and developed during Employment Counselling has benefited 23,433 (13,081males, 10,352 females), during Supporting the establishment and functioning of Youth Associations and Youth Centers: Youth Parliament (Parlamento Foin Sae e); building and ensure the functioning the multipurposes Youth Centres to implement the youth trainings and development programmes and projects at the Capital, Municipality, Sub-districts and village level. In the political 6 SEPFOPE Annual Report 2014, 2015, and

5 sphere, there is youth representatives at Village Council (Conselho de Suco) for decision making. Adopting the Government to Government (G2G) modality with other countries worldwide including with neighbouring countries by supporting the access to Regional Employment opportunities with Australia, South Korea, and others, in the area of youth training and employment. Australia has accommodated a total of 647 persons during , working in the area of tourism and hospitality and horticultural. The cooperation with South Korea is based on the employment permit opportunities applied to fifteen countries in the region. This cooperation aiming for employment as well skill development for future selfemployment for the returnees. The programme has accommodated 2,534 persons, during , working in the area of fisheries, industry, and agriculture/farms. About 16,610 youth registered undertaken Korean Language courses during as preparatory to work in South Korea 8. Thousands of Timorese youth, with individual initiatives and cost, are being employed in UK, Ireland, Portugal, and other countries in Europe. Supporting Sister Cities modality through which a range of youth capacity development is facilitated, involving youth participation and a non-profit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities of the cities from Timor-Leste and the supporting country. For example Timor-Leste has sister relationships with Ainaro - Madison, Wisconsin, USA, Melbourne and Baucau, the Darwin and Dili Youth Exchange The sister city program has begun to focus on international activities are moving towards economic development, youth employment opportunities and away from the traditional social and cultural exchange, and are now built around international development partnerships, particularly those involving Timor-Leste. Adopting the Rural Employment Programmes, aiming to provide opportunity for skill development and employment opportunity for the youth at the rural level. The strategy has been realized through local development programme such as Municipality/District 7 Ibid 8 Ibid 5

6 Integrated Development Programme (Programa Desemvolvimento Integradu Município = PDIM), National Programme for Village Development (Programa Nacional Desenvolvimento Suco=PNDS), Rural Water and Sanitation Programme (Programa Besik), Rural Road Development (RD 1-5), and others. These programme have been the strategy of employment of youth at rural level has implemented about 150 projects of constructions benefited approximately 13,206 persons during Enhancing Public-Private Partnerships modality, as one of the key strategies of providing employment opportunities for the youth. This modality has changed the Government s role from the traditional public service nature of work as implementer to act as an enabler and catalysator of employment opportunity generation. The Government is investing in the Timorese Owned companies/enterprisers in investment, both physical and non physical, aiming at strengthening capacity as well as creating job opportunities for the youth. Shifting the focus of education system to more technical and vocational and training is another strategy for youth knowledge and skills development. We have our Technical and Vocational Education and Training Plan (TVET) that supports the initiatives outlined in the Timor-Leste Strategic Plan This is in line with the principles and methods of a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) 10, targetting Timor-Leste s future in the context of: economic development and diversifications; infrastructure development and services; primary health care services; education and training systems; labour force development; and the Human Capital Development Fund. Realigning the formal education system by giving more attention on the technical and vocational education. The Government has a new policy for technical vocational oriented secondary education to the 10 th to 12 th years of schooling. Many general secondary education has been shifted to technical vocation schools with diversified areas of study: engineering: civil, mechanical, electrics, tourisms, trade and business, agriculture and fisheries, carpentry, food and catering, etc. This is aimed at investing more in building the 9 Ibid 10 Europe Aid, Tools and Methods Series, Guidelines No.2: Support to Sector Programmes (European Commission, 2017), p.8. 6

7 technical vocational skills of our young generation toward job market demands and selfemployment. Policy innovations for youth employment in a broader sense is implemented through decentralization, applying incremental approach. For long-term plan to address youth employment, we are decentralizing services to bring them closer to the population, ensuring their active participation (inclusive society), and addressing the issue of urbanization. Adopting Pool of Development (Polo de desenvolvimento) as long term development strategy focusing on mega infrastructure projects aiming, interallia, at providing access, connectivities, jobs opportunities for the youth. We have and we are undergoing the National Strategic Zones Development: the long-term mega infrastructure Projects such as Zona Economic Exclusive, Social and Market (ZEESM) to develop our enclave Municipality Oe-cusse RAEOA; the Special Economic Zone Development in the South Coast of the Country Suai-Betano-Beaço Enclave - Tasi-Mane Project - which is a mega project to implement an integrated infrastructure development by opening the access (Road/By Pass) of the South Corridor, Suai Airport, Fuel Refinery, Fuel Export Station; The Manatuto - Baucau- Lautem (three eastern Municipalites) for creation of new husbandry, plantation, and fish processing industry, and tourism; Bobonaro Suai enclave for creation of agriculture services for new food crops, new livestock areas, new creative industry, and tourism destinations; Dili Ainaro Corridor Road Development; Dili Airport Development; etc. These Mega Projects are aimed at long-term development by developing infrastructure for access and investments for long term diversifying economic development which will provide jobs and training opportunities for the youth of Timor- Leste. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlements Critical Dimensions toward Achieving Our Goal We are aware that leadership with clear vision and capacity to inspire innovations is critical in our development. In this regard, Timor-Leste has strong leadership who is capable of 7

8 prioritizing these strategies; The demand to invest more resources (financial, human and infrastructure) is inevitable in the development of the youth; Timor-Leste has a twenty years National Strategic Development Plan; Political stability is key to development; all parties perceiving the youth as a strategic actors and subjects of the development; Our Government itself recognizes its scare capacity to address the issue of youth development and employment on its own. Therefore it adopts the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as an alternative modality in pursuing the youth development and employment. It is adopting the enabling role in the youth development and employment generation. The adoptability to the situation is another critical dimension in the youth development and employment. The Government has conducted a range of reforms Public Administration Reform (institutional strengthening, civil service consolidation and revitalization, training and development, internal control -, Fiscal Reform, and Legislation Reform aiming at spurring investors (national and international) to invest and develop economic activities and job creations. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlements Recommendations to Take Home To look at youth as a potential cadre of development and employment, and should not be seen and addressed in isolation, but rather as an integrated way involving all relevant stakeholders. To Foster Public-Private Partnership by investing in Local enterprisers/companies to strengthening their capacities while opening up youth employment opportunities is an adaptable strategy. 8