DILI, 29 april 2022 (TATOLI) – A report produced by Australia’s Monash University and written by Professor Brett Inder, Timor-Leste’s Youth Population: The Employment Challenges of a “Youth Bulge” explored Timor-Leste’s youth unemployment challenges whilst offering solutions on how to create employment opportunities and ensure young people are work-ready.
Research published this week highlights the urgent need for investment in youth employment initiatives in Timor-Leste.
Launched by the Minister of Finance, Rui Gomes, and Australia’s Ambassador to Timor-Leste Bill Costello on april 28, the report shined a light on the challenges created by the fast pace of growth in the country’s youth population.
“With 30.000 young Timorese completing their education and becoming ready to join the workforce every year, but only 2.275 new jobs created in 2021, the report estimates that Timor-Leste’s youth unemployment is now at 30% overall, with one in three young people seeking work unable to find any,” said in a statement released on thursday.
The report suggested that creating employment opportunities through agriculture, where 37% of Timorese adults already work, and the private sector, which employs 50.000 people, can be a key solution to Timor-Leste’s youth unemployment challenge.
Recommendations in the report also included improving basic education in primary and secondary schools and investing in vocational training and tertiary education to ensure young people have the ‘job ready’ skills they will need.
At the launch event Bill Costello, Australia’s Ambassador to Timor-Leste said, “Australia was committed to working with the Government of Timor-Leste to help find solutions to the issue of youth unemployment.”
Organized by the Australia-funded Workforce Development Program Timor-Leste ‘WDPTL’ and Governance for Development ‘GfD’ in collaboration with the Secretary of State for Vocational Training and Employment, the event included a panel discussion with Government and private sector representatives and entrepreneurs who shared their experience on creating employment opportunities for Timorese youth in their industry or sector.
Workforce Development Program Timor-Leste (WDPTL) described that Youth Bulge is a term used in the economics and demographics literature, describing a situation where a very large proportion of the population are “youth”. In Timor-Leste, it is a topic that is raised when observing the large number of young people often populating Dili, the capital city, who appear to be struggling to engage in the economy.
“These youth are at risk, because of the lack of employment opportunities and often limited access to valuable educational opportunities. The youth bulge has been sometimes described in Timor-Leste as the problem of youth unemployment or underemployment,” said WDPTL.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
