Download Country fact sheet on youth employment

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
A country fact sheet on youth employment - Regional side event of the Near East, North Africa and Europe Division
Population total (2009)
Rural population (2009)
Number of rural poor
Agriculture
Total GDP (US$)
Share of agriculture in GDP (US$)
Number of people employed
in agriculture
21 092 000
9 584 000
1 364 000
52 176 788 000
1 095 712 000
945 000
Source: IFAD Rural Poverty Portal and FAO STAT 2009
Age structure
•
Fifty-eight per cent of the population in Syria is constituted by people below the age of 24 years.
Age group (years)
0-14
2010
7 824 000
2020
8 531 000
2030
7 874 000
15-24
4 618 000
4 807 000
5 751 000
Source: Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, medium variant
Unemployment characteristics
•
The youth unemployment rate is 48 per cent, six times higher than the rate of unemployment among adults.
•
Seventy-five per cent of unemployed young people (15-24 years old) have been without employment for more
than a year.
•
Just over half (54.2 per cent) of all unemployment is found in rural areas.
•
The rate of unemployment among young women is nearly four times that among young men.i In addition,
66 per cent of young men above the age of 15 are in employment, while 75 per cent of young women aged 15
or over are neither in employment nor in education.ii
•
The gender gap in access to employment is greater in rural than in urban areas.
•
Unemployment rates among young men with a primary or preparatory education are lower than those among
young men who are university graduates. Among women the trend is reversed.
Gender
Male
Female
Total
Youth employed
1 301 000
272 000
1 573 000
Youth unemployed
158 000
186 000
344 000
Youth labour force
1 459 000
458 000
1 917 000
Youth population
2 333 000
2 259 000
4 593 000
Source: Estimations based on International bench files, KILM, Key Indicators labour Market Youth, Beta version 2008
Sectors with potential for job creation
•
Value-added trade, including agricultural trade, could offer Syria substantial benefits in terms of poverty
reduction and employment generation, provided that policy support is oriented towards the more competitive
fruit, vegetable and meat subsectors, as well as removing the domestic marketing and distributing restrictions,
and improving the business climate.iii, iv
•
Non-farm wage employment in Syria, which consists of commerce and services, has been increasing more
rapidly than agricultural employment,v and can absorb the rural workforce and stabilize migratory pressure on
urban areas.
•
The informal sector is the main entry point in employment for young men and women. Currently it absorbs
48 per cent of the poor in rural areas,vi of whom 80 per cent have a low level of education. The informal sector
is composed of own-account workers and employers who represent more than 90 per cent of private
enterprises.vii
Job creation barriers
•
Limited access to capital and assets drives the poor to engage in casual activities for which the returns are
low.viii Entrepreneurship in rural areas is hindered by fragmented and small land holdings, weaknesses in the
marketing infrastructure, underdeveloped local markets, limited information on export markets, high
transaction costs and burdensome customs procedures.
•
The low level of education perpetuates the low productivity of labour in rural areas (enrolment rates for higher
education are 54 per cent higher in urban than in rural areas).
•
Gender gaps in rural areas stem from: (i) education, with 53 per cent of working women in rural areas being
illiterate and less than 1 per cent having completed secondary education;ix (ii) lack of knowledge of women’s
rights; (iii) inadequate access to financial resources; (iv) limited land rights; and (v) difficulties in linking
women’s businesses to markets.
•
Syria has a ranking of 144 on the World Bank ease of doing business index in 2010.
Government policies and reforms
•
The Government, with support from IFAD, launched a large-scale de-rocking and land development project,
covering 170,000 hectares and benefiting 100,000 households. The economic internal rate of return is
22.5 per cent over 30 years as a result of the cultivation of higher-value horticulture crops, higher yields and
higher value of land.x, xi
•
SHABAB is a youth employment strategy that has been initiated with the strong support of H.E President
Bashar Al-Assad and has the aim of building an entrepreneurial and business-oriented young workforce in the
sector of small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, in
cooperation with the Emir of Qatar, has created the Youth Loan Fund. This is an initiative based on engaging
the private and public sectors in order to promote large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship and access to
capital for young people.
The Agency for Combating Unemployment was set up in 2001. It aims to mitigate unemployment and
underemployment through: conducting surveys on unemployment; financing new business start-ups as the
principal instrument of job creation (to date 23,500 enterprises have been established, yielding 60,000 new
jobs); funding public works in rural areas; and targeting impoverished individuals, families and regional
communities.
•
i
Responding to Weak Labour Market Conditions Facing Youth: The Case of Syria (2006), Street, R., Kabbani, N., Al Oraibi, Y. Paper prepared for the Conference on Youth in the
Middle East and North Africa, Rabat
ILO (2010). “Gender, Employment and the Informal Economy in Syria”. Policy Brief 8, Beirut
iii
FAO, Cooperazione Italiana, Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (2004), Options for reforming Syrian Agricultural Policy Support Instrument in view of WTO Accession,
Damascus
iv
World Bank (2008), Operational Response to the Food Crisis in MENA : Summary.
v
NAPC (2007). “Non-Agricultural Rural Activities Preliminary Results from Selected Area of Syria”, Hamza, R. , Working Paper No 28
vi
ILO (2010). “Gender, Employment and the Informal Economy in Syria”. Policy Brief 8, Beirut
vii
Kattaa, M., Al Cheick Hussain, S. (2009). "Women Entrepreneurs Facing the Informality in Rural and Remote Areas in Syria”. European Journal of Social Sciences, Volume 11,
Number 4.
viii
NAPC (2007). “Non-Agricultural Rural Activities Preliminary Results from Selected Area of Syria”, Hamza, R. , Working Paper No 28 x
IFAD (2010). Syrian Arab Republic: thematic study on land reclamation through de-rocking. Rome
xi
IFAD (2009). Country strategic opportunities programme. Rome
ii