After nearly two years of operation, Brazil’s National First Job Incentive Program (PNPE) has already benefited 1.063 million young Brazilians, of whom more than 630,000 have found formal employment.
These data are from Brazil’s Ministry of Labor and Employment. The program is for youths between the ages of 16 and 24 who lack professional training and live in circumstances of social risk.
The federal government has already spent US$ 54 million on the PNPE. “We recognize that young people are the ones most affected by the unemployment problem, and that is why they are the focus of our training programs at present,” the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, affirmed at a breakfast with journalists on Friday, September 23.
As examples of successful initiatives, Marinho cited the Social Consortia of Youth, which work through partnerships between the government and organized groups from civil society. The 23 consortia created since 2003 in 15 states and the Federal District have trained 39,835 young people, according to the ministry. 12 thousand of the youths have found formal employment.
The job-training workshops are suited to needs of the labor market in the region in which the consortium operates. After the courses, the youths are directed to the formal job market. They also have the option of joining together and organizing labor cooperatives.
According to the Minister of Labor, the idea is to install consortia in every state capital by the end of 2006.
Agência Brasil