Firstly, the youth of the Burundian population. Demographic data, which probably needs updating, show that 72% of the population is under 35.  Burundians aged between 15 and 35 alone account for more than 50% of the total population.

Secondly, young people have fewer job opportunities than adults. This means that unemployment affects young people more than adults, because data shows that more than 93% of young people graduating from Burundian educational establishments, whether at secondary or higher education level, spend more than 5 years before finding their first job. This high level of youth unemployment was confirmed by the census of unemployed young people carried out in 2020, the results of which showed that Burundi has almost 400,000 young graduates without jobs.

It is also worth pointing out that, according to the 2020 census of civil servants, Burundi currently has 120,000 civil servants, which means that there are three times as many unemployed people as there are civil servants.

What's more, the demographic curve shows that Burundi's population is set to reach 26,000,000 by 2050. If nothing is done, this population growth is bound to have a negative impact on the environment and pose challenges in terms of population management and the redistribution of available resources.

That's why the PAEEJ has been set up, to take advantage of these young people and look after them at the same time.