Mongolia has a young population with nearly 30% represented by youth aged 15-34 years. Income generation and gainful employment is one of the major challenges youth are facing with youth unemployment rate nearly 21% (15-24 years, 2016) and the school-to-work transition for urban Mongolians is up to 2.9 years. (source)
Supported by Lorinet Foundation, Sustainable Employment for Youth Program (SEYP) designed and implemented by the Mongolian NGO – Zorig Foundation (ZF), aims to provide young people from the marginalized areas of the capital city – Ulaanbaatar, with the skills and knowledge to better navigate the transition from education to full time employment. The goal is to assist unemployed youth to access employment through soft skill development training, career coaching and gaining practical on job experience. The program will target socially, economically and politically marginalized “Ger” district (large unplanned settlements, which lack access to basic services) youth aged between 20-26.
This pilot project is aimed at building an effective program to bridge marginalized youth to employment opportunities , that can be scaled to benefit more young people after the successful pilot. In the longer term, the ZF will use data collected from the SEYP pilot to work with businesses and district employment offices to close the gaps in the skills being taught in universities versus the skills desired by employers and address further obstacles inhibiting young people from full-time employment.
Zorig Foundation has been at the forefront of youth engagement in Mongolia and have experience of implementing innovative education and youth development programs including Young Leadership Program, Professional Fellowship Program, Environmental Fellowship Program, School Exchange Program, Young Scholars Program.