Youth in Sudan
Opportunities & challenges
Presented by:
Rasha Elmahdi
Head of Policy & Programmes
Sudan National Population Council
Feb - 2012
Aims of this Presentation
To present the situation of youth in Sudan in relation
to employment
2. To highlight the opportunities, constraints and
challenges of youth employment in Sudan
3. To shed light on how to assess the capacity of youth
and, develop appropriate strategy to build their
capacity.
1.
Background
 The
post CPA period has become extremely
challenging for the current Sudan. The decline in oil
revenue resulting from the secession of South Sudan
has resulted in to macroeconomic shocks on both the
domestic (fiscal) and external (balance of payment)
front.
 Sudan has completed a Five-Year Development Plan
within a 25 years strategy (2007-2031). The
Government is now finalizing the second Five-Year
Development Plan (2012-2016) intending to reduce
poverty and achieve the Millennium Development
Goals.
Youth Characteristics
 Youth sector in Sudan represents main feature of
the population composition by the fact of being
the fastest growing segment among the different
age groups of the communities of the high
fertility levels, where those below the age of 25
represent 60% of the total populations.(2008
census)
Youth Unemployment
According to 2008 census, the unemployment rate
is 16.8 percent. The number of unemployed persons
seeking work for the first time, has increased to
about 0.94 million in 2008 compared to 0.6 in 1993
census.
More than half of the unemployed are youth. The
age group 20-24 accounted for 18.5 percent of those
seeking work for the first time, indicating the flow
of a large number of college graduates resulting
from the massive expansion of high education
institutions in the 1990s.
Government attempts to reduce
unemployment among youth:
 The national policy for Micro credit where
12% of the commercial bank lending
portfolio go to micro credit projects.
 National project for graduate employment.
 National youth employment policy.
Constraints to Youth Unemployment
 The low growth of employment, increasing
unemployment and low levels of productivity
remain at the root of high and persistent levels of
poverty in the Sudan.
 Agriculture continues to be the main source of
employment for the majority of the labor force,
particularly in rural areas; and 34 percent of the
total labor force was engaged in agriculture. In
rural areas 50 percent of the rural labor force is
engaged in agricultural activities.
 The majority of the poor are engaged in agriculture
sector. In rural areas, the incidence of poverty in
the agricultural sector is found to be 64%., while in
the non-agricultural sector it is 51% indicating
rural poverty is concentrated in the agricultural
sectors.
 In urban areas formal employment is provided
mostly by government agencies and the trade
sector which government is the biggest employer
and accommodates the major economic and noneconomic activities even after the advent of oil early
2000.
 Most of the services, economic activities, skilled
labor professionals and government institutions, as
well as, private sector companies and NGOs are
located in Khartoum , the capital.
Assessing the needs of youth
 UNDP (DDR) with other 8 UN agencies in
partnership with the Government of Sudan
conducted an in-depth study in three states in
Northern Sudan to analyze the employment labor
market supply and demand regarding youth
employment .
 The results identified seven (7) main growing
economic
sectors
namely:
agriculture,
manufacturing,
construction,
wholesales,
transportation, accommodation, health and social
work.
Youth Perception vs. the Reality
 Youth believed that stable jobs should be within
the government and government large business in
private sector.
 Government doesn't expand its employment, and,
the large public and private investments in sectors
like oil companies and industry who create more
opportunities for employment -such opportunities
need specialized experience and knowledge most
of the youth do not have.

On the other hand employers are not willing to
invest to train local youth or provide them with the
opportunity to acquire the required knowledge or
on-the-job training .
 In addition, education, generally, not up to the
standards of large private sector companies
 Considering this situation, youth will be operating
in a dual environment and have to make the choice
between seeking employment in the traditional
economic sectors, or trying to make their way into
the modern and expanding sectors, where they will
have more long-term opportunities but will also
need to acquire the appropriate skills.
 UNDP/DDR survey to explore the perception and
needs for both youth and market concludes the
following:
1. Youth are eager for training that would assist
them in running their own small businesses in
different growing sectors.
2. They expressed a willingness to participate in
formal vocational training programs, but would
require sponsorship for their living expenses.
Major Challenges
 In spite of the fact that the majority of the population
working in agricultural sector specially in the rural area
and the huge natural recourses in relation to agriculture
production this sector is almost neglected specially after
the advent of oil early 2000.
 Shortage of technical training (Hygiene and food safety,
Engineering and Vocational Training) and no vocational
training institutes for those domains in the area.
The training centers are available with suitable facilities but
training are thought to be theoretical rather than functional
the training is not consider the actual need of labor market.
 When it comes to self-employment, youth face
many problems from lack of lending facilities to
the lack of knowledge about obtaining loans and
starting their own business, allot of requirements
are needed such as different documentation and
guarantees which may frustrate youth and deter
them from taking advantage.
Way forward
Training to build the capacities of the youth are
Technical training in the construction and agriculture
supporting activities, entrepreneurship and Managerial
and financial training for small businesses, leadership
training is of highly importance.
Building the ability of the youth to enter this labor
market entails more than only vocational training, it
should include training and coaching aimed at the
acquisition of a professional attitude so that youth may meet
the more stringent conditions of the large companies.
 Revitalizing the non-oil productive sector of the
economy through diversification and promoting
private sector investment is another important
area of challenge as the non-oil sector has been
on the decline since the advent of oil. The oil
sector being capital intensive, its employment
intensity and hence poverty reduction impact has
been limited
 Sudan should adopt a strategy for youth
employment based on the needs of the growing
and promising sector as they will need to assist
youth in getting employed and improve the
competiveness of the country as well as its capacity
to attract national and foreign investors. the
strategy should support the development of a
flexible skill acquisition program in which specific
marketable skills could be learnt and immediately
used.
Thanks