Azzi acknowledges the huge unemployment problem in the country but calls on the youth to steadfast

While politicians continue to futilely debate the problem of unemployment in Lebanon and its causes, labor minister, Sajaan Azzi, underscored once more that unemployment in Lebanon has reached nearly 25%, 36% among the youth and 47% among university students, disclosing that some 67 thousand young Lebanese of different education levels leave the country every year while still claiming that the protection of the Lebanese workforce will increase employment prospects. However, Minister Azzi did acknowledge that Lebanon needs some 34 thousand new jobs per year, while in fact only 3400 jobs are presently generated. This, he added, “drives the youth towards joblessness, emigration or even illicit activities,” as he puts it. In conclusion, the labor minister appealed to this age group not to give up easily and to exert serious efforts in the lookout for jobs within Lebanon. Azzi intervention came yesterday during the launching of the Vocational Adjustment in the Labor Market for Students Program with a demonstration of the new website, organized by University of Saint Joseph, USJ. About the program, USJ president, Father Salim Daccache, revealed that the above program is one of its kind in the Middle East region and basically aims to enrich employment opportunities for students.(For more details about the program, please check: http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/218203)

Similarly, the minister of industry, Dr. Hussein Haj Hassan, in his response to EU pleas, said yesterday that while Lebanon sympathizes with the Syrian refugees residing on its territory, the international community should take into consideration the worsening unemployment crisis in the country before asking the government to provide jobs for the displaced. Hajj Hassan was speaking during his participation in a seminar entitled, ‘The New Dimensions for the Performance of the Social Responsibility of Corporations and Comprehensiveness of Investment.” (As Safir, Al Diyar, An Nahar, April 21, 2016)