YEN Egypt

CAIRO: Youth looking desperately for jobs found new hope in a series of ads encouraging college graduates to join jobs usually considered to be beneath them.

The ads don’t just offer advice but provide viewers with a phone number, 16456, to call and ask about job openings.

Daily News Egypt tried to call the number several times, but there was no answer.

The media campaign, which was launched this Ramadan by the Ministry of Social Solidarity, is merely an awareness raising campaign, Yehia Mahmoud, media consultant at the ministry told Daily News Egypt.

The ads show a young man at a coffee shop, whiling away the hours by playing backgammon. He refuses to apply for a job at a factory, waiting for the government to provide him with employment commensurate with his university education.

A speaker (representing the government) talks to the unemployed young man about how important it is for him to work and to be a productive member of society, saying that the government is unable to provide jobs for “six million unemployed citizens.” The government instead, the narrator continues, has helped the private sector to blossom and open factories that need workers.

The narrator then urges the young man to apply for a job through the hotline.

While these ads are only part of an awareness campaign, Mahmoud noted, the ministry is currently working on other projects to create job opportunities for the youth.

Both the ministry and the Social Fund for Development recently launched a new system to enhance the quality of subsidized bread and its distribution services. The ministry asked Al-Masriyeen Distribution company to employ youngsters to deliver the government’s subsidized bread.

“Young men will also be employed to work on the new covered carts that will transport the bread in most places and so the bread will be available to citizens everywhere,” said Mahmoud.

The salaries will be around LE 300 a month, he said.

The new delivery service and distribution points aim to make it more convenient for citizens to buy bread, instead of waiting for hours queuing at bakeries.

The project has already started operating in Cairo, Giza and Al-Beheira governorates and is expected to launch nationwide soon, according to Mahmoud.

Besides delivering bread to homes, the project will also hire people to deliver butane gas containers to homes, said Mahmoud.

“There is a flat fee of LE 5 for any delivery,” Mahmoud added.

According to Mahmoud, any citizen who wishes to work in the new project can directly apply at the ministry if he lives in Cairo or Giza or they can go to the local governorate offices in other cities.