Her training in urban planning with a focus on administration was a turning point for 26-year-old Marieme. In 2021 this young Senegalese woman had completed her degree in collective municipal management and local development, as well as urban planning, the environment and land law. But she couldn’t find a permanent job for months. Then CSAEM informed her about a training course in the city of Saint Louis in north-western Senegal. It was organised by the Senegalese-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (CSAEM). Marieme registered and become one of 40 participants.

Getting jobs directly after the training course

“I didn’t know much about the difference between the public and private sectors before this training course. I had no idea about the building permission process”, says Marieme. “I gained a lot of practical knowledge from the training course, more than I learned in administrative law at university.” She now knows much more about municipal taxes, for example. That’s important in her new position. In February 2022, the young woman signed her employment contract as a secretary with the regional urban planning authority in Saint Louis. The other participants on the training course are now also working in the census, surveying and administration departments at this regional urban planning authority.

Job placement even in rural locations

The centre has its head office in Dakar, so it also collaborates with partners who have better contacts in other regions. They know the needs of the companies in their regional network and can refer people directly. The main target group for the training are young people and women. The aim is to assist the local population and returnees in their search for employment. The centre has therefore created a database containing the CVs from the jobseekers' applications.

The public authority now also informs CSAEM about vacancies. “We first search our database for suitable profiles when a state institution informs us about its needs. We then publish the vacancy on our website if we can’t find someone who matches the job description”, explains Amadou Tidiane Diallo from CSAEM. This enables job seekers to find the right jobs.

As of: 08/2022