EBRD celebrates International Youth Skills Day

How the Bank helps young workers and employers find each other

Shabnam grew up in a small town in northern Uzbekistan. A bright and curious child, she loved learning about science and maths. By the time she was in ninth grade, she knew she wanted to become an engineer.  

With global youth unemployment on the rise and more than 200 million young people either unemployed or living in poverty despite having a job, youth inclusion has become a critical social, economic and political issue.

Ahead of International Youth Skills Day, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) wants to underscore the importance of equipping young people like Shabnam with the right skills for employment, adequate work and entrepreneurship.  

By bringing together the private and public sectors, the Bank supports high-quality, work-based and certified training for young people across its regions, in partnership with national education authorities, local technical and vocational education and training (TVET) schools and universities. 

For example, in Egypt, the EBRD has teamed up with Hyundai Rotem to provide on-site certification and training to 80 young women and men on maintaining Cairo’s Metro infrastructure and rolling stock. It is hoped that many more students will follow.  

In Turkey, the EBRD has partnered with agribusiness company May Seed to create three dedicated training programmes that will help attract and prepare young people for a future career in the sector. The programmes combine work placements, grants for students, paid internships and field experience opportunities. Twenty-five participants have already been employed, with many more young people set to join the May Seed workforce in future. 

Better skills standards

Big private-sector employers also have an interest in helping to introduce national occupational skills standards (NOSS), which ensure that skills are comparable and recognisable at national level and allow companies to recruit based on a transparent skills framework.  

In Jordan, for example, the EBRD helped establish the first Sector Skills Council for tourism and hospitality. Comprising private firm representatives, the Skills Council has developed more than 25 NOSS. This was supported by the United Kingdom.  

In Tunisia, with support from Switzerland, the Bank has supported national electricity and gas utility Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (STEG), helping to develop NOSS for key energy-sector occupations including renewable energy, data analytics and cybersecurity, which will be critical to building green skills for young people. The EBRD has also partnered with local technical universities, helping to launch the STEG Talents Programme, which has introduced an accredited Master’s-level programme for young engineers. 

A programme on green skills for solar and wind technologies, developed by EBRD client ACWA Power at the Shirin College of Energy, opened the door to an unexpected and exciting future for her. The free programme focuses on honing the technical expertise of local students in the energy sector. It also aims to boost female participation in the STEM field and to increase the number of technical jobs for women. This initiative is supported by Japan and the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund.  

Shabnam's story is testament to the EBRD's commitment to empowering individuals, catalysing positive change and driving sustainable development in the countries where it works. It also exemplifies the potential transformative impact of providing access to quality education, skills and jobs for all.