PROSPECTS piloted rural employment services in Uganda, strengthening existing infrastructure and partnerships to improve employment service delivery in rural and refugee-hosting areas.

A rapid assessment of public employment services in Uganda in 2020 revealed gaps in services in the main refugee-hosting districts. These districts were in rural areas and at a distance from public services. The local labour offices serviced by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MOGLSD) were found to be primarily concerned with labour disputes and lacked sufficient capacity to deliver employment services. The introduction of employment services in rural areas had the potential to make hiring practices more transparent and equal for all, services more demand-driven and better matches between employees and the jobs available. Employers would then also find better employees and build confidence in the services thereby communicating more of their employment opportunities through the publicly available services, rather than through word of mouth. PROSPECTS piloted rural employment services in the Isingiro and Arua districts, introducing District Employment Services Forums as a vehicle to translate experience and lessons learned from the pilot into the delivery of more efficient PES.

Prior to the pilot, INGOs in the Arua and Isingiro districts had set up job centres and experimented with delivering employment services targeting rural areas. The main purpose of these projects was to bring employment services to remote and rural areas, but this had not been done systematically or in coordination with PES. PROSPECTS partnered with one of the INGOs to strengthen the model for rural employment services and introduce a mechanism to engage government representatives (including PES), employers’ and workers’ organizations, and young people. This aspect strengthened the coordination function of the PES.

The District Employment Services Forums were strategically placed in line with district development plans, which were the main vehicles for translating national development objectives into work at the district level. The Forums comprised staff from the district governments, the MOGLSD, the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) and youth representatives from the local communities in Arua and Isingiro. They provided space for local decision-makers to convene around skills needs and employment service delivery. The FUE’s main role was to engage potential employers at the district level, whereas the MOGLSD helped transfer the knowledge and outcomes of exchanges into PES practices. The Forum also helped the MOGLSD understand the specific needs of district employers and the expectations of young job-seekers. The partnering INGO and youth representatives also used information on job vacancies that were identified through the Forum to communicate with groups of young job-seekers that had registered in the pilot on rural employment services.

One indication of successful engagement through the Forums was the allocation of space by the MOGLSD to house employment services in the Isingiro and Arua districts. The district offices also earmarked a budget for the continuation of services in Arua. The intervention in Uganda is an example of a pilot that made use of existing employment service infrastructure, partnered with an INGO and built networks to engage PES in the process. By engaging district staff from the MOGLSD, PROSPECTS supported strengthening capacity and ownership, while also introducing innovation in the delivery of services in rural and refugee-hosting areas.

Find out more about the PROSPECTS programme’s wider learning about youth engagement.