A World Bank delegation visiting Lebanon this week sees the potential for major job development in the north, specifically for women and youths. The purpose of the trip is to review social protection programs, bring their best experience from the World Bank, identify links between jobs demand and supply, and how all of these aspects can be integrated, said Michal Rutkowski, senior director for social protection and jobs at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
He was speaking Thursday morning with three of his colleagues at a roundtable discussion with a small group of journalists at the World Bank office in Beirut. Their five-day trip this week entailed a trip to the north Wednesday to launch the report "Jobs for North Lebanon," an analysis on how the private and public sectors can work together to boost employment opportunities for the area's most vulnerable, with a focus on women and young people; their visit also includes meetings with ministers and leaders in the private sector.
According to the World Bank's own figures, the working age population of the north is around 610,000, about 53 percent of whom are inactive in the workforce.
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