Hundreds of thousands of Tunisian youth are enhancing their employment prospects by subscribing to a free, new mobile service offered by Tunisiana, in a programme that has the potential to help young people around the world achieve their ambitions.
The Middle East and North Africa has seen great change in recent years, but many people - especially the youth - face barriers in reaching their goals. These barriers include poverty, lack of quality education and high unemployment. In Tunisia, for example, those under 30 face an unemployment rate of more than 30%.
In line with its vision of supporting human growth, Ooredoo is encouraging its operations around the world to find new solutions to these challenges.
Tunisiana, which is a part of Ooredoo, has partnered with Silatech and Edupartage to launch the Najja7ni Employment mobile service in Tunisia this month. The strong response - with more than 300,000 customers signing up for the service in the first month - is indicative of the urgent demand for mobile services in this area.
Silatech is a social initiative that works to expand employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people throughout the Arab world, while Edupartage is a social network dedicated to education and society.
The first mobile service of its kind in the region, Najja7ni Employment provides career guidance, financial literacy, career search strategies, links to local training opportunities and tips on how to start a business. It uses an innovative and engaging method for customers to learn these topics, including quizzes, SMS alerts, coaching and psychometric tests, delivered via their mobile phones.
Najja7ni Employment is available for any mobile device, including feature phones, to ensure it can reach the widest possible audience. The service is currently provided in French and will soon be available in Arabic and English to reach Tunisia’s diverse population.
Dr Nasser Marafih, Group CEO of Ooredoo, said: “Across the Middle East and North Africa, youth unemployment is a major issue. It has an impact on individuals, their families, communities and the wider economy of the region. At Ooredoo, we believe that we have a responsibility to promote human growth and can have a real impact in enabling young people to achieve their ambitions. We are studying the success of Tunisiana’s Najja7ni Employment and assessing how this approach can be mirrored in other markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.”
Najja7ni Employment is the third in the Najja7ni series of mobile services, following 2010’s Najja7ni Education - a revision service based on the official course curriculum of the Ministry of Education, and 2011’s Najja7ni mEnglish - which helps customers learn English.
“With the launch of Najja7ni Employment, we will be able to reach youth in even the most marginalised communities, connecting them with skills and employment opportunities,” said Dr Tarik M Yousef, CEO of Silatech.
“Silatech’s partnership with Ooredoo exemplifies the type of collaboration between development organisations and the private sector that is absolutely essential to foster employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people in our region.”
Ooredoo is supporting a range of innovation and entrepreneurial startup programmes in Algeria and Tunisia to address the issues of economic development.
