Making College Count in Burundi
On the morning of the 17th November 2015, queues began to form outside the Burundian youth’s job fair. This event, organized by SPARK Burundi and local partner UMUCE, was one of the first of its kind. The job fair was a truly welcomed event as it was filled with bright eyed job seekers eager to kick-start their careers.
The grand opening of the fair greeted 128 students and recent graduates to the morning CV and interview workshop held by well-known business consultant, Ajax Konsult. Following this, the participants immediately applied these new skills in one-on-one mock consultation meetings with Human Resource Managers from seven established enterprises. Yet these interviews proved not to be solely a gimmick, as 20 lucky students secured internships!
The second day focused on the national employment policy; the participants shared their recommendations on how the national office of employment (OBEM) could further address the pressing socioeconomic issues. One Burundian youth outlined that: “Finding a job is like looking for a needle in haystack.” Some suggestions made were: specialised training courses, internship/volunteering opportunities, improved communication between youth and decision makers and more transparent recruitment procedures. A young Burundian graduate explains:
“When [jobs] are available, they remain insufficient and sometimes out of reach for a young graduate. The employer wants at least five years’ experience”
On the final day of the job fair, 105 student entrepreneurs were exposed to both the opportunities and the major challenges which await them in the labour market. The support and guidance, such as business services, were presented by the Agricultural Business Incubation Network team, the Burundi Business Incubator, Impact Hub, the Burundi Social Business lab and the Burundi Investment promotion Authority (API). The event closed with a celebration, where the hard-working students networked, danced, and loosened up a little!
SPARK’s Programme Officer, Elysé Ndayihimbaze, summed up the event in one sentence: “who says you can’t enjoy life in the midst of a storm”. Whilst Burundi’s societal stability is in turmoil, being described as being ‘on the brink of another genocide’, Elysé’s summary illustrates that, no matter the circumstances which people find themselves in, that it is possible to do something constructive. Furthermore, people shouldn’t be discouraged by their surroundings, but instead they can live life in a way which encourages their peers to keep advocating for improvements in society.
This event was held part of SPARK’s Youth Engagement Programme which engages young and ambitious men and women, and makes them part of the process towards creating stability and enduring peace in post-conflict societies.
Related news
-
News
Modernising the fishing sector around Lake Tanganyika, Burundi
-
News
International Youth Day
The theme of this year’s International Youth Day is ‘Green Skills For Youth: Towards A Sustainable World’. Green skills are…
-
News
Refugee Entrepreneurs Bring Hope Away from Home
Refugee entrepreneurs traverse huge obstacles in establishing their enterprises, often navigating complex labour restrictions and freedom of movement. However, refugee…
-
News
Europe Day: Celebrating the Year of Skills
-
Event
International Workers’ Day: Creating jobs strengthens communities
-
News
Bank loans for over 300 Rwandan entrepreneurs lead to 600 new jobs
Many micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Rwanda were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The GWIZA project supports…
-
News
Women’s Day: 6 ways we’re bridging the gender gap, digitally
-
News
B2B: Creating business links between agro-preneurs in South Sudan
As entrepreneur, Victoria Yatoma, mingled with fellow business owners from across South Sudan’s Yambio province during SPARK’s Business-to-Business (B2B) networking…
-
News
Introducing SPARK’s 2030 Strategy
Strategy 2030 ‘Stepping up and moving forward’ is SPARK’s fourth strategic plan and most ambitious yet. It outlines SPARK’s new…
-
Sustainable jobs in honey with the Bee King
-
COP27: Event on Climate Adaptation in Conflict Affected Contexts
-
Meet 3 interns from Burundi that are carving out their careers
-
IGNITE Conference: September 13, 2022