The government is preparing to launch the final evaluation of the project “Support theeconomic insertion of the young»(SIEJ), implemented in the region of Marrakech-Safi with the support of World Bank. This project, designed as a territorial pilot, aims to be extended to other regions of the kingdom. The final evaluation thus aims to shed light on decisions concerning its generalization throughout the national territory.
The project of support for theeconomic inclusion young people were launched in 2019 with a financial support of $ 55 million from the World Bank. He finances an innovative approach, which combines formation For low -skilled young people, support for entrepreneurs budding and investment in companies local operating in promising value chains.
The economic inclusion of young people represents a crucial issue for the Morocco. The state has launched ambitious plans to stimulate job creation, strengthen the skills of young people and promote theentrepreneurship. However, the fragmentation of programs and the difficult alignment between the skills sought and the available profiles are all brakes on the integration of youth in the economic life of the kingdom.
Faced with the challenge of the unemployment Young people, Morocco is based on the World Bank’s experience to deploy innovative solutions, based on enhanced coordination between central bodies, local authorities and the private sector. The project is a continuation of the programs ofemployability of the country, in particular the pillar “inclusion of young people” of the third phase of the iNational Nitiative for Human Development (INDH). It is also aligned with the principles, guidelines and objectives of the new development model. This strategic and structuring initiative aims to improve young people’s access to economic opportunities, through an integrated approach combining employability, entrepreneurship and institutional strengthening.
The project is based on the establishment of two regional ecosystems. The first concerns employability and includes qualifying training or by learningas well as services oforientation and support provided by a network of eight Youth Employment Spaces (EEJ)managed by private providers under the supervision of theAnapec. The second ecosystem is dedicated to entrepreneurship, through the creation of Entrepreneurship support centers and local economic development (Caedel)a regional support program for business creation and support for regional value chains with high employment potential.
The innovation of the project also lies in its multi-level governance system (central, regional and provincial), with the implementation of a Regional Coordination Committee (CCR) and Provincial coordination committees (CCP)and the development of piloting tools such as an observation device labor marketa monitoring-evaluation system and a complaint management mechanism.
-The objectives set during the design of the project aim to promote the insertion of 9,500 young people via training, 16,000 young people through EEJ, and the creation of 1,500 formal companies, while targeting specific categories: womenyoung people from rural areas and NEET (neither in employment, nor in studies, nor in training).
Since the start of the project, ten missions of implementation support have been carried out by the World Bank. A “mid-term journal” (RMP) was conducted in March 2023. It highlighted significant progress, despite delays related to pandemic of the COVID-19 and, more recently, at Earthquake of Al Haouz From September 2023, which affected several provinces of the region.
The year 2024 was started under the sign of the acceleration of the execution of activities in order to improve the rate of disbursement of the project. The overall performance evaluation of the implementation remains classified as “moderately satisfactory”, due to the still low level of disbursements with regard to the objectives.
Recall that the World Bank loan is based on a conditioned disbursement system for achieving defined results. The final evaluation will be entrusted to a specialized firm, to be selected by the Ministry of Economic Inclusion via a call for expressions of interest. It is structured according to three axes and eight main activities.
The first axis concerns the performance of the project, with an analysis of the achievement of the results, the performance of service providers and the operation of governance and monitoring systems. The second is interested in the impact of the project and the appreciation of the beneficiaries, via a field survey of 8,000 people, combining a qualitative approach (level of satisfaction) and a quantitative approach (impact measure by comparison with a control group). The third axis looks at economic and social profitability, through the analysis of the project’s financial assembly, a cost/advantage study and an evaluation of the socio-economic effects on inserted young people, the companies created or supported, as well as the reception structures mobilized.
Note that the closing of the project is set for September 30, 2025. The final evaluation constitutes a crucial step to document the lessons learned from this pilot experience and guide the choices of public policy in terms of economic inclusion of young people in the years to come.
