1,000 projects approved under government's youth employment initiative

The first phase of the project was launched in mid-March, with approximately EGP 3bn in investments

The Ministry of Local Development has approved over 1,000 projects in one month under the national initiative for community, human and local development, entitled "Your Project" (Mashrou'ak), with EGP 34m in investments, according to Minister of Local Development Adel Labib.
The first phase of the project was launched in mid-March, with approximately EGP 3bn worth in investments.
The initiative aims to provide employments opportunities for youth in all governorates, realise sustainable development, eliminate emigration from villages to cities, elevate the quality life in Egypt, as well as establish the concept of citizenship and direct the youth to the right path in order to create a new generation of young investors, according to Labib.
The first phase of the initiative includes 11 governorates, including Giza, Upper Egypt and border governorates, according to Labib. He added that the second phase of the initiative will begin next week in the northern governorates.
Approximately EGP 3bn will be pumped as down payment in those 11 governorates to implement small- and medium-projects for youth in several sectors, Labib noted. The value will be funded through coordination between the ministry and several banks, including the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, the Nasser Social Bank (NSB) and the Principal Bank for Development and Agriculture Credit (PBDAC).
Labib said the initiative will include three tracks; expanding existing projects, governorate-focused projects, and unconventional ideas.
Egypt's unemployment rate has slightly decreased in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015 to register 12.8%, down from 12.9% in Q4 of 2014, and 13.4% in the corresponding quarter last year, state-run agency the Central Agency for Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported on Sunday.
In fiscal year (FY) 2013/2014, the unemployment rate stabilised at 13.3%. Before the 25 January Revolution, the unemployment rate had recorded 9%, according to CAPMAS' 2010 figures.
At the beginning of this year, the government developed a national training plan to encourage employment as part of its efforts to reduce unemployment. The plan is to also eliminate the problems associated with over three million individuals, almost 13.1% of the labour force, being currently unemployed.
The plan aims to provide two million with jobs. 170,000 jobs were provided throughout 2014, of which 70% were filled, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said, noting that the goal is to increase the number of these opportunities by 25% during each stage.