AGROECO

ended

In this project, we intend to empower rural youth by providing them AGRO ecological entrepreneurship skills, in Finland, Italy, Morocco, and Egypt through international cooperation. The target groups are unemployed or NEET youngsters of 18-25 years old coming from rural areas and youth workers of 18-30 years old willing to learn about agroecology and share this knowledge with young people. The general objectives of the project refer to: • promote non-formal learning activities in Partner countries, especially targeting young people with fewer opportunities, with a view to improving the level of competences while ensuring the active participation of young people in society; • raise awareness about the different styles of agricultural in an ecological and healthier way for rural youth; • foster cooperation across different regions of the world. According to Eurostat, in Europe, the youth unemployment rate reached 14,8% in February 2020 before the COVID-19 crisis and 17,1% in September 2020. In Middle East and North Africa, in 2019, the predicted youth unemployment rate was 25.7% according to the ILO (22.3% in Morocco and 26.5% in Egypt). The limited access to education in rural areas compared to urban areas is an important obstacle to the achievement of equal opportunities in terms of employment, in particular for young people. Promoting economic opportunities for the rural poor and expanding social protection in rural areas is key to reducing the aforementioned disparity. The COVID-19 crisis has pushed towards a rising of poverty both in urban and rural areas. In rural areas the pandemic resulted in: travel and transport restrictions which disrupt the livelihoods of the rural poor, many of whom depend on mobility, seasonal and migrant work and remittances. In some countries, there has been a massive return of migrants to rural areas, largely due to job loss (online article social protection in rural areas: achieving universal access for all, UN/DESA Pol