Bridging the youth skills gap in Jordan

Youth develop and strengthen critical capacities such as leadership, planning teamwork, problem solving, active citizenship and communication. They can use their capacities to engage their communities at social, civic or economic levels. They can also present their skills and views, engage with the community and policymakers and, in this way, they can ultimately influence decisions affecting their lives and make their voices heard.

Skills-building programmes need to be relevant to the market, flexible enough to meet current and emerging needs, relevant to the context in Jordan but at the same time broad enough to be relevant to different economies. Successful skills programmes should offer access to skills for the most vulnerable young people, leaving no one behind; it should support the acquisition of the skills through learning; and then utilisation through practice, to create the most impactful change. 

The private sector should also be heavily involved in the designing of skills programmes, to ensure the relevance of skills offered and positive employment outcomes; public-private partnerships are needed to develop demand-driven skills packages that respond to reality.