528 young graduates, including 308 women and 220 men, have been placed in internships at 345 companies across the 14 regions of Senegal. Among them, there were also 12 people with disabilities (6 men and 6 women). These are the results of the first phase of FIT! Action PAIJEF (Project to support the integration of trained youth and women), which took place from September 2024 to June 2025 over a period of 10 months.
The internship certificate award ceremony was held in Thiès in the presence of the Minister of Vocational and Technical Training, Amadou Moustapha Njekk Sarre, the Italian Ambassador to Senegal, Caterina Bertolini, and the Minister of Labour, Employment and Relations with Institutions, Abass Fall.
As part of the FIT! Action PAIJEF initiative, led by the Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training (MFPT) and co-financed by the EU and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), a programme of activities was undertaken to support the professional integration of trained young people—men, women, and people with disabilities—across the 14 regions of the country. The goal is to promote the first work experience for young people, including in professions that will be useful for the organization and execution of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The focus sectors of this initial integration phase were mainly agri-food, hospitality, tourism, and catering, as well as commerce and services, with job profiles ranging from marketing agents to agri-food technicians, graphic designers to IT specialists, accountants to executive assistants.
“Italy and Senegal are strategic partners in the field of vocational training and the integration of young Senegalese men and women into the labor market. As part of the Senegal 2050 Strategy and the Mattei Plan for Africa, Italian Cooperation is committed to strengthening the role of local and regional authorities to ensure that young Senegalese have access to decent job opportunities throughout the country. The PAIJEF project is part of a broader initiative implemented thanks to the joint efforts of the European Union, particularly through the FIT! Sénégal project – Supporting Youth Employment within the Framework of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games,” said H.E. the Italian Ambassador to Senegal during the ceremony.
The presence of the young interns and the representatives of the companies that employed them contributed to promoting and disseminating the results of the initiative, which is based on fruitful collaboration between the Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training (MFPT) and the ecosystem of actors involved in professional integration at the local level.
