Preparing And Accessing Decent Work Amongst Rural Youth In Cambodia

The case study explores which skills and training opportunities young people need in order to gain access to decent employment in rural areas. The research was undertaken in order to develop recommendations to support the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and FAO Cambodia in developing appropriate recommendations to support rural young people, especially those of the 15 to 17 age cohort. The study highlights the limited decent employment opportunities that currently exist along various agricultural value chains in rural Cambodia. Poverty and the structural problems of the agricultural sector are the main barriers for youth in accessing decent rural employment. A substantial enhancement of the education system, as well as the provision of appropriate training services to ensure successful schoolto-work transition is seen as necessary to tackle these challenges. A well-balanced policy mix reflecting national and local circumstances can encourage employment opportunities and create an environment that enables rural youth. Building on previous research on agriculture in Cambodia, agricultural transformation requires promotion of agribusiness enterprises, support to community-managed organizations of farmers, promotion of agropreneurs, and investments in agricultural and rural development, particularly in infrastructure, energy, water, education and health. Moreover, most youth entering agriculture are self-employed and work as smallscale farmers. Therefore, the provision of skills and training in rural areas should focus on the skills required to be self-employed.

The FMM Annual Report for 2018 highlights the concrete results achieved through the continued support of key resource partners. This report details initiatives, innovations, impacts, outcomes and human-centred stories from the field. The report shows how deepening our engagement with resource partners and fostering new alliances is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

This document features the results of the Expert Meeting on Addressing the Challenges Faced by Rural Youth Aged 15-17 in Preparing for and Accessing Decent Work. The expert meeting took place from 25 to 28 October, 2016. It contributed to the identification of feasible and effective policies and actions to enable rural youth aged 15-17 to prepare for and access decent work. The agenda was organized around three main phases to reach three overarching objectives: (1) preparation for decent employment through education, skills development and life skills; (2) assessment of decent work opportunities in the rural economy, in particular related to agriculture; and (3) factors that enable youth to access decent work in agriculture and rural areas.

This document features all problem statements and recommendations emerged during the Expert Meeting "Addressing the challenges faced by rural youth aged 15 to 17 in preparing for and accessing decent work", which took place in October 2016, in FAO HQs. The aim of the document is to help FAO and other stakeholders design interventions to facilitate skills development and generation of decent rural employment opportunities for youth aged 15-17, in the context of sustainable rural transformations.

Cambodia's growth in the last 20 years has been remarkable and the lives of its people have improved substantially. But low-cost labour advantages on a narrow economic base have driven this growth. The country now needs to move beyond the four sectors that have dominated its economy: garment manufacturing, tourism, construction, and agriculture. Better education outcomes and higher-level skills are crucial for economic diversification and structural transformation and to sustain its inclusive growth. Labour force participation is high and unemployment relatively low, but the large majority of jobs are informal and more than a half of the employed have just a primary education or less. Addressing the problems of skills mismatch and future skills demand is therefore a priority. This joint report from the Asian Development Bank and the International Labour Organization examines constraints and opportunities for increasing productive employment in Cambodia. It can help the country exploit the opportunities its youthful labour force offers, but this window is closing fast.

Cambodia's economic performance over the past decade has been impressive, and poverty reduction has made significant progress. In the 2000s, the contribution of agriculture and agro-industry to overall economic growth has come largely through the accumulation of factors of production---land and labor---as part of an extensive growth of activity, with productivity modestly improving from very low levels. Despite these generally positive signs, there is justifiable concern about Cambodia's ability to seize the opportunities presented. The concern is that the existing set of structural and institutional constraints, unless addressed by appropriate interventions and policies, will slow down economic growth and poverty reduction. These constraints include (i) an insecurity in land tenure, which inhibits investment in productive activities; (ii) low productivity in land and human capital; (iii) a business-enabling environment that is not conducive to formalized investment; (iv) underdeveloped rural roads and irrigation infrastructure; (v) a finance sector that is unable to mobilize significant funds for agricultural and rural development; and (vi) the critical need to strengthen public expenditure management to optimize scarce resources for effective delivery of rural services.

Rural youth constitute over half of the youth population in developing countries and will continue to increase in the next 35 years. Without rural transformation and green industrialisation happening fast enough to create more wage employment in a sustainable manner, the vast majority of rural ...

The purpose of the FAO’s framework is to guide the Organization and its personnel in the integration of measures addressing child labour within FAO’s typical work, programmes and initiatives at global, regional and country levels. It aims to enhance compliance with organization’s operational standards, and strengthen coherence and synergies across the Organization and with partners. The FAO framework is primarily targeted at FAO as an organization, including all personnel in all geographic locations. But the framework is also relevant for FAO’s governing bodies and Member States, and provides guidance and a basis for collaboration with development partners. The framework is also to be used as a key guidance to assess and monitor compliance with FAO’s environmental and social standards addressing prevention and reduction of child labour in FAO’s programming.