Microfinance Focus, November 22, 2011: Education for Employment (EFE) , a network of non-profit organization in the Middle East and North Africa, and the MasterCard Foundation, launched a partnership to increase youth employment in Morocco. The project, called MORAD, aims to increase the employability skills of 15, 500 unemployed and disadvantaged youth in Morocco.

MORAD is part of a four-year, $3.2 million partnership between EFE and The MasterCard Foundation and will be implemented by EFE’s Moroccan affiliate, EFE-Maroc.

As part of this project, 3,000 unemployed university graduates, half of whom will be young women, will receive market-relevant training, of which at least 80 percent will be placed in career building jobs. EFE and its local partners will use mobile phone platforms to connect young job seekers to prospective employers and send informational updates.

To extend its reach, EFE will provide employability training to a larger and more diverse segment of 12,500 economically disadvantaged young people. After completion of training, youth participants will enter the EFE alumni network where they will have the opportunity to interact with peers using web portals and social media tools, receive ongoing mentoring support and take on civic engagement and leadership in their communities.

EFE will collaborate with ManpowerGroup, providing workforce solutions, and Microsoft. ManpowerGroup will provide a work-readiness curriculum, train-the-trainer program, on-line courses, talent management system such as psychometric testing, capacity building and leadership to EFE Maroc and its beneficiaries. Young people will also benefit from the collaboration between EFE and Microsoft, which will provide software and IT curricula essential for succeeding in today’s job market.

In Morocco, more than 40 percent of people between 15 and 34 years of age are unemployed. This rate is disproportionally higher for young women. This project aims to reduce youth unemployment by directly addressing the mismatch between young people’s skill sets and what employers demand.

EFE plans to work closely with its network of universities, local and international companies, NGOs and youth centers to deliver training and job placements that are directly linked to sectors that have high potential for growth but lack qualified human resources.

Based on business requirements, employers from these sectors will be asked to commit to hiring a certain number of disadvantaged young people who complete EFE’s training. This demand-driven model equips young people with market-relevant skills, and at the same time enables local businesses to employ qualified young people who can help their businesses grow and compete.