IDB Funds Job Training for the Unemployed

Hispanically Speaking News
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. About 65 percent of its 8 million people live in poverty. Informality prevails in its labor market, affecting particularly the young, women and persons with limited education.

Now, 12,500 young Hondurans have taken part in PROEMPLEO, the program supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as a part of US$30.6 million secondary education project from 2004 to 2011. The goal of the program was to boost job opportunities for unemployed and underemployed people aged 18 to 29.

A strategic alliance with the private sector enabled the program to achieve a high job placement rate of over 77 percent. Out of all the young people who went through the program, 9,607 obtained a steady job with benefits at the companies where they interned at the end of their training. More than half the beneficiaries were women. Trainees also received a certificate for their future job searches.

The program was developed by the Labor Ministry in partnership with the Honduran Maquila Association, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Tegucigalpa and Puerto Cortes and others, with IDB support. The business association played a crucial role in promoting the program among companies with vacant positions as well as in identifying young people with matching profiles for the jobs. ... The full text of this article can be read at Hispanically Speaking News

Note: This article was reprinted with permission.