Morocco’s Youth Employment Initiative Boosts Job Prospects, BBC Reports

In total, EFE-Morocco has supported more than 50,000 job seekers since its creation in 2007, 52% of whom are women, reports the BBC. According to the same source, 88% of the graduates of its "Training-Integration" program are employed, with a 94% employment retention rate.

The foundation is a member of the "Education For Employment" (EFE) network, present in North Africa and the Middle East.

Fatima Ezzahra, 24, is one of the many beneficiaries of one of EFE-Morocco’s flagship programs focused on retraining in the IT developer profession.

Holding a Master’s degree in environmental engineering, she had been looking for a job for nearly a year without success. It was then that she retrained in another sector.

"That’s when I discovered the IT development training offered by EFE-Morocco," she recalls. For Fatima Ezzahra, "this retraining opportunity is her chance to get a job."

For his part, Anas Guennoun, President of EFE-Morocco, believes that Fatima Ezzahra’s story illustrates the frustration of many young Moroccans who remain poorly informed or oriented on the opportunities and career prospects available to them.

"Yet, companies are recruiting and struggling to find the right profiles," he points out.

To match supply and demand in the job market, EFE-Morocco collaborates with companies to collect their needs, adapt training to the requirements of recruiters, and train or retrain unemployed youth who are then placed in jobs.