Fight Against Unemployment: Gov’t Signs Convention With Local Councils

(Cameroon Tribune) The agreement paves the way for establishment of Municipal Employment Offices (MEO).
A framework agreement has been signed between the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation and the United Councils and Cities of Cameroon (UCCC) to launch the pilot phase of a project to establish Municipal Employment Offices (MEO) nationwide.
The convention was signed January 24 in Yaounde. Ministers Jules
Doret Ndongo and Zacharie Perevet signed on behalf of the central government, while the President of the UCCC, Hon Emile Andze Andze signed on behalf of the mayors’ union.
The MEOs, placed under the authority of councils with technical assistance from the National Employment Fund, is going to be in charge of developing and implementing employment policies at the local level. They will serve as an information and guidance center for jobseekers, self-employed citizens in the informal sector and people looking for job mobility or retraining.
The Offices are also expected to develop partnerships with other institutions involved in local development. This includes institutions like the National Community Driven Development Programme (PNDP), Integrated Support Program for Actors of the Informal Sector (PIAASI), Program of Support to Rural and Urban Youth (PAJER-U), Special Fund for Equipment and Inter-communal Intervention (FEICOM) and the National Civic Service for Participatory Development.
Involved in the trial phase of the project are the councils of Ndop, Mokolo, and Yaounde II. The Minister Delegate to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Jules Doret Ndongo said the ministry will develop a practical guide for the management of the MEOs and equally establish an employment portal at the National Employment fund to facilitate collaboration between the fund and the MEOs.
The Minister of Employment and Vocational Training for his part said the tripartite collaboration agreement is an eloquent and concrete translation of the government’s determination to implement the very high prescriptions of the Head of State, who in his address to the nation on December 31, 2017 stated that acceleration of the ongoing decentralization will strengthen development of the regions of the country.
MBOM Sixtus