Get West Africa’s young girls out from fragility: Are quality education and decent jobs enough?

West Africa’s young girls face significant challenges in accessing education and employment. In 2020, 30 million young West Africans aged 15-24 had no employment, education, or training, with two-thirds being young women (ILO, 2020).

Quality education and decent employment are essential for equipping young girls with the skills necessary to access decent jobs. However, West Africa’s education systems are often inadequate to meet the needs of young girls. Schools often lack resources, teachers are poorly trained, and curricula are not adapted to the needs of the labor market (World Bank, 2020)

Specific challenges for young girls in West Africa

Furthermore, young girls in West Africa are often confronted with obstacles such as poverty, early marriage, and unintended pregnancy. These factors can prevent them from accessing education and employment and force them to accept precarious and poorly paid jobs (UNICEF, 2020).

To get West Africa out of fragility and build a more stable and competitive future, it is essential to provide quality education and create decent jobs for young girls. This requires a comprehensive approach that takes into account the specific needs of young girls and aims to eliminate the obstacles that prevent them from accessing education and employment (OECD, 2022).

Concrete strategies to get West Africa out of fragility

To achieve this goal in West Africa, we propose two concrete strategies:

-Creating vocational training programs: Governments and non-governmental organizations should create vocational training programs for young girls, which enable them to acquire skills in demand on the labor market. These programs should be adapted to the specific needs of young girls and take into account the challenges they face in their daily lives.

-Establishing support mechanisms for female entrepreneurs: Governments and non-governmental organizations should establish support mechanisms for female entrepreneurs, such as preferential loans, business management training, and support networks. These mechanisms should help young girls create their own businesses and become economic actors in their own right.

However, quality education and decent employment may not be enough. It is also important to take into account other factors that influence the empowerment of young girls and their full participation in the economy. This includes promoting gender equality, combating gender-based violence, and promoting access to reproductive health (IMF, 2022).

It is also important to take into account the specific challenges faced by young girls in rural and urban areas. Young girls in rural areas are often confronted with challenges such as the distance between their homes and schools, lack of access to electricity, internet and clean water, and precarious employment opportunities (African Development Bank, 2022).

In conclusion, quality education and decent employment are crucial steps towards getting West Africa out of fragility and building a more stable and competitive future. However, it is essential to take into account other factors that influence the empowerment of young girls and their full participation in the global economy.

Baltazar ATANGANA

noahatango@yahoo.ca

References:

ILO. (2020). Youth Employment in Africa Report.

World Bank. (2020). World Development Report 2020.

UNICEF. (2020). The State of Africa’s Children Report.

OECD. (2022). African Economic Outlook Report.

IMF. (2022). Africa Financial Stability Report.

African Development Bank. (2022). African Economic Outlook Report.

Economic Commission for Africa. (2022). Economic Report on Africa.