Education For Employment (EFE), the leading youth employment network in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), has this year reached a milestone with over 40,000 of its graduates linked to jobs or the world of work.

The achievement comes amid renewed calls for expanded economic opportunities for youth in the region following the United Nation’s assertion that job creation is the most challenging issue facing the region.

The Arab Human Development report, released in November by the United Nations Development Programme, estimates that 60 million new jobs must be created in the next decade to keep pace with the region’s growing youth population.

The EFE network is widely regarded as the region’s leading youth employment organization. Through partnerships with thousands of companies, EFE links youth to skills that reflect market demands, as well as tangible opportunities like jobs, internships, and business startup support – a distinctive approach in the region.

EFE’s success in linking 70 per cent of its jobs-track graduates to employment has prompted entities such as the World Economic Forum to consider it a promising model for catalyzing change in the region’s education institutions.

“Each day, EFE's graduates highlight a simple truth: when youth have the right skills and opportunities, they demonstrate ambition and dynamism that can transform their societies for the better," remarked Ron Bruder, the founder and chairman of EFE.

"We are grateful that over 2,500 partners share our conviction in the positive power of the region’s youth. With their support, tens of thousands more youth will feel the hope and dignity of employment in 2017 and we will be able to soon share our exciting growth plans for the new year," he stated.

In a region where unemployment rates for young women are the highest in the world, EFE has been particularly successful at providing economic opportunities for young women.

A record number 61 per cent of EFE graduates in 2016 are young women. The organisation has developed specialized initiatives to facilitate young women’s entrance into jobs in industries such as IT, sales, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship.

It has grown considerably since launching its first job placement training program in 2006 with six Palestinian youth. Today, the network extends across the region, with EFE Saudi Arabia established in 2016 as the newest EFE Affiliate in the Gulf.

Locally-managed EFE affiliates are now in operation in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and support hubs are located in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), US (Washington, DC and New York City) and Europe (Madrid).-TradeArabia News Service