What Works for the Youth: Analysis of Youth Employment Policies in Rwanda

In Rwanda, over 75 percent of youth are not in education, employment and training (NEET). These are mostly absorbed in the informal sector that provides little or no protection to workers against shocks, and are prone to several socio-economic, technical, and financial constraints. Through desk review of existing policies and studies, key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus group discussions (FGDs), this study reviews and analyzes the existing youth employment policies (YEPs) and interventions with intent to identify the hurdles and outcomes of the actual implementation of these YEPs in Rwanda. Youths aged 18 to 30, policy makers, policy implementers, and implementing partners were the key target respondents. The study finds a multitude of YEPs and interventions to promote youth education and skilling, entrepreneurship, and business development funding; though most of them are more focused on supply than demand-side of the labor market, with limited vulnerable youth inclusivity. Common hurdles encountered during implementation of YEPs include: poor coordination among the vast YEPs causing monitoring challenges both at national and district level, and duplication of services. Difficulty to integrate education and skilling into decent youth employment, matching labor laws with youth welfare, cultural bias limiting young women from participating in some labor market activities, funding gaps, and limited youth engagement during program design. Addressing these challenges requires a well-coordinated stakeholder engagement, and strong collaboration between the public and private sector, as well as civil society organizations.