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Benin

Strategies for youth employment

Strategies for youth employment
Yes

Youth employment strategy planned in the next 2 years

Discussions within the government
Yes
Consultations with national-level stakeholders (e.g. employers’ and workers’ associations, youth councils, etc.)
Yes
A draft strategy already exists
Yes
Other (please specify)
Yes

Countries with national action plans for youth employment

Monitoring framework (timeline and activity/outcome indicators, e.g. youth labour market indicators)
Yes
Funding (indicative budget to implement the plan)
Yes
Institutional responsibilities (e.g. ministries/agencies in charge of specific planned activities )
Yes
Other, specify
No

Public funding for the national youth employment strategy

Public funding for the national youth employment strategy
Yes

Additional information:
• Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Employment Promotion; • Ministry of Economy and Finance; • Ministry of Health; • World Bank; • Youth Inclusion Project (ProDIJ); • AZOLI; • GIZ.

Youth in the national development / employment strategy

Youth in the national development / employment strategy
Yes

Additional information:
Benin includes youth as a target group in several key national strategies and policies: • The National Development Plan (PND) 2018–2025 • The Government Action Programme (PAG) 2021–2026 • The Holistic Social Protection Policy 2024–2033 • The National Employment Policy (PNE) 2020–2025

Countries with national goals for youth employment

Countries with national goals for youth employment
Yes

Additional information:
Benin has set objectives to promote youth employment, focusing on both salaried and self-employment pathways. The priorities include: • Supporting job seekers in accessing both salaried employment and self-employment opportunities; • Facilitating the professional integration of 2,000 young graduates into companies; • Increasing the economic inclusion of young people aged 15 to 30 who are underemployed or inactive and have a low level of education (up to lower secondary, or BEPC level); • Strengthening employment services and the technical and vocational training system in Benin.

Countries with quantitative targets for youth employment

Countries with quantitative targets for youth employment
Yes

Additional information:
• Reduce the youth underemployment rate from 72% in 2018 to 50% by 2026. • Increase the number of jobseekers integrated into salaried or self-employment from 29,058 in 2020 (data from the National Employment Agency, Special Programme for Employment Integration, PSPIE, and ProDIJ) to 80,000 by 2026 (based on data from AnpE, PSIE, PSPIE, and ProDIJ). The integration data mentioned here refers to the National Employment Agency (AnpE), which serves as the single point of contact for employment promotion in Benin. As of September 2024, approximately 68,358 beneficiaries have already been integrated.

Policy areas in national youth employment strategies

Macroeconomic and Sectoral policies
No
Enterprise Development
Yes
Education, Training and skills development
Yes
Labour Demand
Yes
Labour Law and Legislation
Yes
Labour Market Policies
Yes
Other (please specify)
Yes

Social partners' inclusion in the youth employment strategy

Workers
Implementation of youth employment strategies/programmes (e.g. social partners as official implementers of the strategy or programme)
Informed
Assessment of youth employability (alignment of youth qualifications and skills to labour market needs)
Informed
Monitoring and evaluation of youth employment interventions (e.g. active labour market programmes)
Informed
Awareness raising, marketing and promotion of youth employment (e.g. campaign to promote youth employment)
Informed
Formulation of youth employment strategies (e.g. national action plan for youth)
Consulted
Development of youth employment programmes (e.g. sectoral programme with a clear target to employ X number of youth)
Informed
Employers
Implementation of youth employment strategies/programmes (e.g. social partners as official implementers of the strategy or programme)
Informed
Assessment of youth employability (alignment of youth qualifications and skills to labour market needs)
Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
Monitoring and evaluation of youth employment interventions (e.g. active labour market programmes)
Consulted
Awareness raising, marketing and promotion of youth employment (e.g. campaign to promote youth employment)
Consulted
Formulation of youth employment strategies (e.g. national action plan for youth)
Consulted
Development of youth employment programmes (e.g. sectoral programme with a clear target to employ X number of youth)
Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)

Youth-led organizatios' inclusion in the national strategy

Fully involved
No
Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
No
Consulted
Yes
Informed
No
Not involved
No

Countries with national partnerships for youth employment

Countries with national partnerships for youth employment
Yes

Additional information:
2025: National Civil Society Network for Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment (ReNEEJ) The Special Employment Integration Programme (PSIE) has established a partnership with the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIB) to the extent that all recruitment interviews to meet the demands of companies are conducted in the conference room of this institution, with representatives of the companies concerned. 2020 There are no formal partnerships but these institutions are solicited and involved in the various employment promotion activities.

Inclusiveness of vulnerable groups in national strategies

Women
Yes
Migrant Workers
No
NEETs
No
People with disabilities
Yes
Low skilled workers
Yes
Rural workers
Yes
Other (please specify)
No

Youth employment strategies and international cooperation

Youth employment strategies and international cooperation
Yes

Additional information:
2025: World Bank: Institutional, material, logistical and technical support, etc. GIZ: Institutional and technical support International Education SNV: Institutional and technical support, etc. Handicap International: Humanity and Inclusion (HI), institutional, material, logistical and technical support, etc. UNICEF: Material, logistical and technical support, etc. UNDP: Institutional, material, logistical and technical support UNESCO: Technical support IOM: Technical support AFD: Technical support 2020 - ILO (Funding for capacity building and women's empowerment projects) - UNDP (Financing of the project to set up the Business Promotion Centres) - World Bank (Financing of the Youth Employment Project) - Handicap International (Financing projects for the inclusion of people with disabilities) - Agence Française pour le Développement (AFD) - Swiss Cooperation - GIZ