Employment-intensive Growth for Indonesia: Job Opportunities for Young Women and Men (JOY)

The project aims to contribute to poverty reduction and the creation of income earning opportunities, especially for young women and men in Indonesia, through complementary national policies and local initiatives that lead to more employment-intensive economic growth.

Youth employment in Indonesia

Indonesia was one of the first nations to volunteer to be a “lead” country in the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Employment Network (YEN), created within the framework of the Millennium Declaration, under which Heads of State and Government resolved to develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work. YEN is a partnership between the UN, the World Bank and ILO that brings together leaders of industry, youth and civil society to explore imaginative approaches to the challenges of youth employment. Promoting youth employment is a key contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, as reflected under goal eight on “Partnerships for Development”.

Project description

The ILO supports the Government of Indonesia as a lead YEN country through the development and implementation of the Indonesia Youth Employment Action Plan 2004-2007 (IYEAP) and technical support to the Indonesia Youth Employment Network (IYEN). Through the Employment-intensive growth for Indonesia: Job opportunities for young women and men programme, ILO will seek to further contribute to addressing the challenges of youth employment.

Project strategy

The programme has a dual and mutually reinforcing strategy. On the one hand, the programme seeks to build the capacities of tripartite constituents and other agents of change to play a leading role developing and implementing national policies that enhance and sustain employment-rich and pro-poor growth. This is because placing productive employment generation at the centre of economic and social policies constitutes the foundation for the development of any employment intervention directed at young people. Specific interventions include:

  • Strengthening the institutional capacities of the social partners and other key stakeholders, including women’s groups and youth organizations, to engage in employment policy development and implementation;
  • Establishing a mechanism for enhanced systematic coordination and networking on employment issues;
  • Strengthening capacities to collect and utilize labour market statistics that can be used in policy making; and
  • Building capacities for the implementation of policies aimed at an improved and market-orientated certification and competency-based system.

The other programme strategy aims to support sub-national policymakers to develop youth employment policies and strategically planned, locally driven partnership and area-based approaches to creating decent employment for young people in the province of East Java. Specifically, this includes:

  • Strengthening the institutional capacities of ILO constituents and local communities and other stakeholders in East Java to formulate and implement youth employment policies;
  • Strengthening the capacities of local communities to design and undertake locally driven, partnership-based local economic development (LED) programmes benefiting young women and men;
  • Supporting the development of specific LED initiatives; and
  • Disseminating good practices developed throughout the province and in Indonesia.

The programme links the two strategic thrusts by ensuring that national policy debate, formulation and implementation is informed by local development initiatives, while national policies inform the basis for developing employment policies and interventions at the local level, taking into account local circumstances and objectives.

Key partners

  • Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration
  • Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs
  • National Development Planning Agency
  • Provincial and local governments
  • Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo)
  • Trade unions
  • Community and youth organizations
  • International organizations

Achievements to date

  • Knowledge built, through various research initiatives, on the key employment challenges facing Indonesia;
  • Supported the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs/ILO Forum on Public-Private Partnerships for Youth Employment;
  • Supported the launch of LED interventions in two districts of East Java;
  • Supported the development of Bromo as a new tourism destination;
  • Supported the University of Padjajaran in developing a concentration on labour market planning;
  • Supported the establishment of employment service centres in East Java;
  • Supported the launch of an agribusiness strategy for East Java; and
  • Supported the ministry of planning in its implementation of a national LED strategy.