Unemployment rate survey for next year

A survey to indentify the latest unemployment figures in the country will be conducted early next year, according to an official from the Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA). Anna Mugabo, the Director General for Labour and Employment in The Ministry, said that the survey is key to planning as currently the base on statistics that are more than five years old. “We are still basing on the unemployment figures on a household survey that was conducted in 2005 and 2006 where the rate is reported to be below two percent,” Mugabo said in an interview with The New Times. The house hold survey was conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). “I cannot speculate on whether there is an increase or decrease in unemployment rates because there are a lot of variables and scenarios to consider before getting to know the exact figure,” Mugabo added. However, she pointed out that the Ministry of Public Service has put in place mechanisms to address unemployment especially amongst unskilled and semi-skilled people. “For the case of skilled people, most especially fresh graduates from the higher institutions of learning, we have the internship programme to help them get used to the job environment and we are doing this in partnership with Rwanda Development Board (RDB),” Mugabo added. “So far, over 1,500 have benefitted from the programme and RDB is going to make an assessment to find out the impact of the programme.” Appearing before Parliament recently, Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi said that the government targets to add more value to agricultural products consequently creating off-farm jobs. “The government will focus on education and training, especially vocational and technical skills, so as to curb unemployment levels and 200,000 new jobs will be created each year,” Prime Minister told MPs. Mugabo further explained that the semi-skilled people will be enrolled in vocational training centres that would equip them with expertise needed to create jobs. frank.kanyesigye@newtimes.co.rw