60% youth unemployment in Lebanon in the absence of government counter-policy

The Intellectual Civil Forum organised a seminar yesterday on “job market and university majors” in Aley.  The event was held under the auspices of the Minister of Agriculture, Akram Chehayeb, who spoke about the problem of unemployment in Lebanon which, according to him, ranges between 18 and 20% but increases to 60% amongst young people and graduates.  He noted that this unemployment rate is amongst the highest in the region.  Chehayeb deplored the absence of government employment policies, the lack of clear assessment of the problem and poor data. Chehayeb further added that work opportunities in Lebanon are limited and that the situation is further complicated by the deepening crisis.  He highlighted the incompatibility between the needs of the job market and existing programmes to train technicians and specialists, adding that there are some 35,000 university graduates every year against only 5,000 new jobs.
Source: Al-Diyar 13 December 2014