Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi has urged government institutions and private sector to do more to create more jobs to jointly tackle unemployment and underemployment in the country.

The premier was opening the fourth national forum on employment, which seeks to promote productive employment in the country by ensuring provision of information on job opportunities, networking and sharing experiences between different stakeholders, including those from the region.

"Unemployment is a universal challenge but Africa has been more affected. It is a shame for our youth to be drowning in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe for employment. We should stabilize our youth. I, therefore, urge everyone from a high governmental official to local leaders, private sector and all stakeholders to commit on promoting youth employability and this is possible through concerted efforts,” he said.

The two-day forum is being held under the theme; Employment Promotion for National Development.

Murekezi noted that this forum should establish mechanisms to increase employability for the youth and women and increase productivity and skills needed at the labour market.

According to the national population census of 2012, the unemployment rate stands at 3.4 percent nationwide with the City of Kigali having the highest rate of 14 percent.

"Though the rate in Rwanda is much lower than it is in most developed countries, our country is still struggling with underemployment because three quarters of those employed are underemployed,” said the Minister for Public Service and Labour, Judith Uwizeye.

Uwizeye added that the economic growth must be underpinned by appropriate skills and productive employment especially for the growing cohort of youth.

"Without employment, the national sustainable development would remain a dream,” she said.

Lamin M. Manneh, the UN Resident Coordinator in Rwanda, commended the government on the National Employment Programme (NEP), which aims at creating at least 200,000 off farm jobs annually.

Manneh insisted that the on-going forum becomes a platform for exploring the national policies, strategies, and programmes to interlink them with the national agenda for generating adequate and productive employment opportunities and that the targeted 200,000 jobs should be given renewed impetus during the workshop.