Education and youth employment data sharing in sub-Saharan Africa

#SDGAction43707

Description

This work seeks to understand the ecosystem for knowledge production and use within tertiary education in sub-Saharan Africa. ESSA’s objective for the preliminary phase of this project is to understand how policy-makers, educators, learners and investors in tertiary education use data to make effective decisions about education and employment skills. The longer-term objectives are to set up and curate a sustainable “go-to place” or “go-to network” for impactful knowledge on improving tertiary education and job opportunities or young people (in digital and non-digital means). The knowledge will be used by the networks to influence and change policies and practices.

Implementation of the Project/Activity

ESSA is running a webinar series on ‘Unlocking Data to tell the Story of Education in Africa’. ESSA is undertaking a mapping of available data sets across education based on research published in the African Education Research Database, built as a collaboration between ESSA and the REAL Centre at Cambridge University. This mapping covers early childhood education, primary and secondary and into tertiary.  
Openly sharing education data would give decision-makers in sub-Saharan Africa a fuller picture of the state of education in their countries, provide scholars with local knowledge, and support universities to grow local capacity for analysis where primary data collection is often beyond their resources. 
ESSA and Zizi Afrique are building a coalition to increase access to education data in Africa, with a particular focus on tertiary education.
This coalition will convene data users: academics, NGOs, policy-makers, national statistics offices and multilateral, to design solutions that fit demand.
These convenings will result in in a mixture of knowledge products, e.g. an analysis paper of data use in articles featured in the African Education Research Database (built by ESSA and REAA Centre at Cambridge University), and practical tools, e.g. adapting the UN's Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) platform for the needs of the education community.
It is anticipated that this process will also inspire collaborations between other partners. 
 

Partners

Education Sub Saharan Africa; Zizi Afrique

SDGS & Targets

Goal 8

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

8.1

Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries

8.1.1

Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita

8.2

Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors

8.2.1

Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person

8.3

Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

8.3.1

Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex

8.4

Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, with developed countries taking the lead

8.4.1

Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP

8.4.2

Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP

8.5

By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value

8.5.1

Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities

8.5.2

Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

8.6

By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training

8.6.1

Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment or training

8.7

Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms

8.7.1

Proportion and number of children aged 5‑17 years engaged in child labour, by sex and age

8.8

Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

8.8.1

Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers, by sex and migrant status

8.8.2

Level of national compliance with labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization (ILO) textual sources and national legislation, by sex and migrant status

8.9

By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

8.9.1

Tourism direct GDP as a proportion of total GDP and in growth rate

8.10

Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

8.10.1

(a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults

8.10.2

Proportion of adults (15 years and older) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider

8.a

Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries

8.a.1

Aid for Trade commitments and disbursements

8.b

By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization

8.b.1

Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy for youth employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national employment strategy