INTERNATIONAL – Cameroon unveiled a plan on Wednesday to reform the nation's employment system to facilitate access to jobs.
The new strategy intends to enhance the creation of small businesses, promote decent employment within macro-economic framework and boost vocational training.
"We have hundreds of thousands of our youths who do not find jobs because they don't have the skills. They don't have the skills because they have not been trained. That is why we have to focus on vocational training," said Cameroon's Minister of Employment and Vocational Training Issa Tchiroma Bakary.
The Priority Action Plan of National Employment Policy was made public in Yaounde during the third Session of Employment Monitoring Inter-ministerial Committee.
"We have to come together with national and international experts to validate this document which will enable us create jobs for the youths," Bakary, who chaired the committee, told reporters.
According to government statistics, unemployment rate in Cameroon stands at slightly above 4 percent.
In February, Cameroon's President Paul Biya said the government plans to create 500,000 jobs for young people in 2019.