Employment: The new National State-Private Employer Convention focuses on the territorialization of opportunities

The Employment Department organized this Monday in Saint-Louis an awareness and dissemination workshop of the new State-Private Employers National Convention for the Promotion of Employment (CNEE) “And Yombal Xey”. The meeting brought together stakeholders from the regions of Saint-Louis, Louga and Matam around the new directions of the system, in particular the territorialization of employment policy.

The new State-Private Employers National Convention for the Promotion of Employment aims to improve the connection between young people looking for work and the opportunities offered by companies. In Saint-Louis, territorial stakeholders were made aware of the new provisions and procedures of the NCEA “And Yombal Xey”, as well as their responsibilities in its implementation. According to Cheikh Ahmadou Abdoul Gueye, Director of Employment at the Ministry of Employment and Vocational and Technical Training, this reform comes after an evaluation of the impact of previous conventions. It takes into account new economic dynamics and the emergence of new sectors, while being aligned with Senegal’s transformation agenda and the National Development Strategy. “This convention is very important because it reflects today’s economic dynamics, with the emergence of new opportunities and new sectors,” he explained. The NCEA provides in particular mechanisms linked to internship and apprenticeship contracts, subsidized contracts and entrepreneurship, in order to offer concrete opportunities to young people entering the job market.

For the Director of Employment, one of the main innovations lies in the territorialization of the system. The objective is to identify, at the local level, economic potential, business needs and available skills. “The main obstacle used to be the lack of connection between demand and supply. This is indeed what the new convention brings: a match logic,” underlined Cheikh Ahmadou Abdoul Gueye. This approach should allow territorial actors to play a more important role in identifying and addressing needs in terms of employment and professional integration. “The novelty of the convention is indeed this increased responsibility of territorial actors in conduct and implementation,” he insisted.

The regional workshops benefit from technical support from the International Labor Organization (ILO), through the ADIJEFE project, and financial support from Italian Cooperation (AICS). In Saint-Louis, the work concerns the three regions of the northern axis: Saint-Louis, Louga and Matam. The process must then continue in other areas of the country to support the territorial implementation of the new NCEA.