Haitian Out-of-School Youth Livelihood Initiative (IDEJEN)

The Haitian Out-of-School Youth Livelihood Initiative (IDEJEN) is a project of Education Development Center (EDC). It was launched in 2003 to provide education and job training for Haitian youth ages 15-24 with little to no formal education. IDEJEN provides program participants with support in the areas of employability and skills training, basic and vocational education, job placement and small business development. Recently expanded, IDEJEN plans to reach 13,000 youth by 2010. In addition to working directly with youth, IDEJEN provides technical support to different government ministries and is assisting in the development of the National Youth Policy and the Policy on Nonformal Basic Education.

The project has four main objectives:

  • Re-integrate marginalized youth into society through basic education and livelihood training.
  • Improve the ability of local Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to address the programming needs of out-of-school youth.
  • Strengthen the Government of Haiti’s ability to provide and oversee improved services to out-of-school youth.
  • Spread HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention messages to out-of-school youth.

Re-integrating marginalized youth

IDEJEN provides Basic Employability Training to out-of-school youth. This includes literacy, numeracy, life/employability skills, HIV/AIDS awareness, and vocational training. The training takes a total of twelve months and is implemented by local Community-Based Organizations. After youth complete the Basic Employability Training, IDEJEN offers them six months of livelihood accompaniment, during which trained staff members provide support and services to youth as they either return to school or seek employment in the formal or informal economy.

Building CBO capacity

IDEJEN builds the capacity of local organizations through a number of activities. First, the project builds the capacity of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to run the Youth Training Centers, where the out-of-school youth receive non-formal basic education, life skills and technical training over twelve months. The project also supports the Youth Career Centers that run accompaniment activities in the areas of local labor market analysis, youth mentorship strategies, job opportunity development, and youth entrepreneurship techniques. In addition, IDEJEN builds the capacity of CBOs to become increasingly self-sustainable through trainings in business and marketing plan development, and/or finding diversified sources of funding.

Strengthening government services

IDEJEN has established working partnerships with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to support the development of youth-friendly policies. These policies will help provide the necessary framework for strengthening and multiplying education and livelihood services to young people on a large-scale basis.

HIV/AIDS awareness

IDEJEN, with the help of 200 Youth Peer Educators, integrates HIV/AIDS prevention messages into its Basic Employability Training and Livelihood Accompaniment activities. At-risk youth also receive referral information and relevant HIV/AIDS services, including counseling, testing, and treatments.

Related Projects/Programs:

SEEP PLP for Youth and Workforce Development

Contact Information:

Cornelia Janke
Project Manager
cjanke@edc.org

Guerda Previlon
Chief of Party
gprevilon@edc.org

Performance Period:

October 2003 to September 2010