This report summarizes the results of a field test of the Market Assessment Toolkit for Vocational Training Providers and Youth, which aims to assist vocational training programs in becoming more market-driven. The report summarizes the main findings of the field test in Northern Uganda in terms of the toolkit’s utility, as well as providing more specific recommendations for vocational training providers based on findings from the market assessment.

The report notes that the toolkit is successful in enabling vocational training providers to analyze local market conditions, identifying potential collaborations with the private sector, and creating flexibility for use throughout all phases of training efforts. Key recommendations include that the toolkit be improved to better identify new skills for income generation, and that it be supplemented with an abridged version for programs with time or resource constraints.

This report highlights how service providers can be more effective in delivering market-led programs to young people. The information comes from a set of in-depth interviews and focus groups with 142 youth alumni (youth who have exited Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Training Programs). The report intends to fill a research gap by compiling information and insights about employment, enterprise and training programs from the perspective of the youth alumni themselves.

The report is written to prioritize the voices of young people in Jordan and Rwanda, and offers much to consider for the development community. If programs are to start working effectively for youth, then listening to what they want, what they want to change, what they like and dislike will ensure that trainings are more effective and better prepare youth for the marketplace.

Download the full report using the link below.

The Africa Commission, which first convened in April of 2008, spent the past year focusing on youth, employment and economic growth to develop new and creative strategies with the aim of revitalizing and strengthening cooperative international development. On May 6th the Commission released its final report of recommendations and initiatives.

The report describes the need for 5 specific initiatives in reaching African goals of economic development and youth strengthening:

• Benchmarking African Competitiveness
• Access to Investment Finance for Small and Medium Enterprises
• Unleashing African Entrepreneurship
• Access to Sustainable Energy
• Promoting Post-Primary Education and Research

IREX and IYF (International Youth Foundation) are pleased to invite you to the inaugural event for the Society for International Development's (SID) Youth in Development Work Group. A panel discussion addressing pressing questions in youth programming will kick off SID's newest working group, co-chaired by IREX and IYF. The panel will include key stakeholders from across the youth programming community, including youth, practitioners and government representatives.

Who should attend : practitioners, researchers and others with experience and/or interest in youth development programming.

What to bring: please bring your lunch and thoughts on the following questions:

1. Leadership: What individuals have the greatest impact on the outcomes of youth programs?
2. Culture and Tradition: What cultural/traditional influences are key influences in shaping youth programs?
3. Institutions: What institutions have the greatest impact on the outcomes of youth programs?
4. Political and Economic Environment: What political and/or economic factors are key influences in shaping youth programs?

Please RSVP by June 4th and direct any questions to Sulaiman Bah at sbah@irex.org. Please pass this invitation along to any interested colleagues.

Key stakeholders from 50 countries came together in Washington, DC, September 15-16, 2008, for Making Cents International’s 2nd Global Youth Enterprise Conference. During two days of meetings, the new and growing international community working on youth enterprise, employment and livelihoods development shared their experiences on what holds potential, what is really working and how to measure success.

This publication covers the two major themes from the September conference: Market-Driven Approaches and Effective Methodologies and Practices for Monitoring, Evaluating, and Conducting Impact Assessments, and it also presents a chapter on Youth-Inclusive Financial Services. This chapter was developed with leaders from the youth-inclusive financial services sector who shared their expertise at the conference and in an in-depth training course, Youth-Inclusive Financial Services: Emerging Good Practices.

The competitive grant scheme supports youth employment projects in the Mano River Union (MRU) (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone). It serves to identify and support small scale, innovative projects with potential to provide employment opportunities for young people (ages 15 to 30) while allowing youth organizations to actively participate in development. Youth organizations have first hand experience of the needs of young people but need of financial and/or technical support to reach their goals. Therefore grants of USD 2,000 to 50,000 will be awarded through an open, transparent, and competitive selection process.

Furthermore, the scheme serves as a laboratory to test innovative projects, in order to gain insight and extract lessons learned to be shared with the broader development community for possible replication and up-scaling.

Projects should contribute to youth employment in any of the following areas:

• Community projects and services
• Transition from school to work
• Vocational training for young people
• Youth entrepreneurship
• Economic empowerment of young women

As sustainability is an important aspect of the scheme preference will be given to partnerships with other stakeholders such as private enterprises, business associations, foundations, or government agencies.

This report is the key output of the 2007 Global Youth Microenterprise Conference.

The specific objectives of the publication are to:

1. highlight the importance of youth economic initiatives;
2. provide insight into promising practices on youth livelihood development, which encompasses
   employment preparation as well as enterprise creation and development;

3. demonstrate the wide spectrum of stakeholders, sectors and approaches involved;
4. contribute to consensus building on the need for standardized indicators and improved monitoring and evaluation;
5. begin to identify opportunities for scaling up and replication of successful approaches;
6. extract some of the challenges members of all sectors are facing on this issue; and
7. raise awareness on the need to invest in youth livelihood opportunities as part of socio-economic development efforts. Ultimately, this publication aims to support efforts to increase the number of youth in the workforce, particularly through self-employment, and the ability of youth livelihood programming to achieve greater impact and sustainability.

The Umsobomvu Youth Fund is a government agency tasked with supporting the growth and development of youth in South Africa, including improved livelihoods through employment and self-employment. UYF commissioned this paper on best practices, drawing on lessons from leading organizations in Africa, to accelerate the learning process and facilitate informed decisions by UYF staff on the best way to move the organization’s microfinance initiative forward.

This paper divides the discussion of best practices into three parts:

• Microenterprise Lending Methodologies,
• Management Sustainability, and
• Financial Sustainability,

and presents case studies of successful microfinance institutions.

YouthInvest will build on the experience MEDA has gained in youth and microfinance since 2002.

The goals of the project are:

• To support microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing savings and credit products to strengthen the capacity of youth-run enterprises in Egypt and Morocco
• To assess and improve safety conditions in the workplace
• To support improved education and training opportunities for youth to ensure improved long-term prospects and to contribute to a higher quality workforce.

MFIs will be the primary points of contact with youth clients, delivering financial and non-financial services to young entrepreneurs and enterprises employing youth. MFI staff will be trained in these interventions, and will in turn deliver them to working youth and business owners as appropriate.

Workforce readiness training will be delivered by specialist youth-serving organisations; MFIs could
potentially provide linkage support to trained youth, by connecting them to high-growth clients. Within five years, YouthInvest will directly touch the lives of over 50,000 young people - connecting them with innovative financial products and services that will build their economic prosperity, improve their working lives, enhance their workplace safety, and lead to a better quality of life for their families and themselves.

Jennifer Denomy, Project Manager
jdenomy@meda.org

September 2008 to 2013

YouthInvest will build on the experience MEDA has gained in youth and microfinance since 2002.

The goals of the project are:

• To support microfinance institutions (MFIs) in developing savings and credit products to strengthen the capacity of youth-run enterprises in Egypt and Morocco
• To assess and improve safety conditions in the workplace
• To support improved education and training opportunities for youth to ensure improved long-term prospects and to contribute to a higher quality workforce.

MFIs will be the primary points of contact with youth clients, delivering financial and non-financial services to young entrepreneurs and enterprises employing youth. MFI staff will be trained in these interventions, and will in turn deliver them to working youth and business owners as appropriate.

Workforce readiness training will be delivered by specialist youth-serving organisations; MFIs could
potentially provide linkage support to trained youth, by connecting them to high-growth clients. Within five years, YouthInvest will directly touch the lives of over 50,000 young people - connecting them with innovative financial products and services that will build their economic prosperity, improve their working lives, enhance their workplace safety, and lead to a better quality of life for their families and themselves.

Jennifer Denomy, Project Manager
jdenomy@meda.org

September 2008 to 2013