The overall objective of USAID/Nicaragua’s sustainable tourism activity is to assist Nicaragua in expanding the economic benefits of tourism to the less advantaged through the growth of small businesses, the protection of the country’s environment and natural resources, and improvement in the quality of public education and outreach. One of the activities principal goals is to increase MSME business growth in an environmentally sustainable manner through market-driven ecotourism development/linkage programs, cluster activities, and environmental protection in order to reduce poverty for the less advantaged.

The International Rescue Committee and Fundacion Paraguaya invite you to engage in a participatory learning event, the School-based Businesses workshop, to be held on Thursday September 10th, 2009 at the International Rescue Committee offices in Washington DC.

International Rescue Committee, Conference Room,
1730 M Street, NW – Suite 505, Washington DC
Thursday September 10th, 2009

The goal of the School-based Businesses workshop is to empower practitioners through learning and exchange to design programs that incorporate enterprise development initiatives that respond to market opportunities and are appropriate and feasible in educational programs. The objective of this workshop is to identify, promote and disseminate replicable approaches for market-based education provision and to consider the effectiveness of these strategies.

The IRC and the Fundacion Paraguaya are accepting proposals to present at this workshop until Monday, August 17th. For more information about presenting or attending this workshop, download the announcement attached below.

For many youth in Africa, the educational systems in African nations are not adequate preparation for the workplace, as the curriculum is mostly theoretical. There is often a mismatch of skills, with most educational institutions still offering courses that are no longer relevant to the current job market, given current economic trends. This raises the following questions:

• How is the skills gap defined more specifically, a prerequisite for designing and implementing adequate solutions?
• How would private sector employment evolve if the match between skills and private sector needs were better synchronized?
• What is the responsibility of the private sector in promoting youth employment?

This study, done in Ghana and Senegal, seeks to address these questions. It finds that the markets for entry-level labor in both countries have great potential, but need to address issues of attrition (turnover rates), literacy efforts, gender disparities, IT and leadership skills, and so-called “soft skills” (especially professional maturity). The report contains extensive detail for each market. Download the full report below.

This discussion paper presents an analytical review of the design and implementation of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) schemes, particularly in Latin America; juxtaposing it with those schemes in India that have similar characteristics. The objective is to promote informed discussion among various stakeholders on the desirability and feasibility of introducing multi-sectoral CCT schemes for alleviating human poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in India. In India, food security issues coupled with the global financial crisis have made achieving the MDGs particularly complicated.

The paper focuses on many indicators at the heart of CYES efforts, including income inequality, primary and secondary education, and child labor, which often accompanies lowered household productivity.

The Public Affairs section of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara invites Turkish non-governmental, non-profit organizations to submit funding proposals for a nationwide youth innovation and entrepreneurship program in Turkey. The goal of this program is to nurture creativity among Turkish high school students while allowing them to acquire entrepreneurship skills and to create formal and informal ties between Turkish and American youth engaged in business education. Proposal components may include but are not limited to

• distribution of educational materials,
• series of trainings,
• web-based education,
• information fairs,
• media events and
• exchange programs.

Requested funding for the program will last for 18 months and may not exceed $200,000. Applicants are encouraged to seek co-funding from non-U.S. Government sources. Strong preference will be given to partnership projects (coalition of two or preferably more Turkish NGOs).

Project HOPE’s orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program, implemented in Mozambique and Namibia, uses a low literacy “Parenting Map” comprised of measurable child-specific indicators across all domains of critical needs for OVC. This map is designed to be used at the household level by project staff and volunteers as a road map for showing a quick but comprehensive snapshot of each child’s well-being, which identifies service needs and provides immediate feedback to caregivers.

The parenting map form comprises 30 separate indicators grouped into 6 domains of service:

• health
• nutrition
• shelter/care
• education
• protection
• psycho-social

Each indicator represents a commonly desired measurable outcome for children (e.g. attending school). Each indicator is scored by the caregiver as either being completed (scored as a 3), not completed (scored as a 1), or unsure of status (scored as a 2). A map is completed on each child in the household and is designed to be left with the caregiver.

Click on the link below to download the Parenting Map, as well as a summary of the data collected between July and October 2008. The comparative results from Namibia are presented, showing the Map’s effectiveness for assessing program impact, targeting most at-risk subgroups, and guiding responses to OVC priorities, and in achieving improvements in child well-being.

This report by Save the Children emphasizes the role of cash transfers in lowering child mortality. It argues that well-designed cash transfer programs can help tackle many of the determinants of child mortality, most immediately by increasing access to healthcare and reducing malnutrition.The report draws on evidence across a number of countries to demonstrate that cash transfers have helped poor people to access food and healthcare, and to enhance the status of women (itself one of the most significant determinants of child survival). It further argues that cash transfers also have important positive economic benefits, helping to create livelihood opportunities, increase labor productivity and earnings, stimulate local markets, and cushion families from the worst effects of crises.

This Report, prepared by the World Bank, examines five pivotal phases of life that can help unleash the development of young people’s potential with the right government policies: learning, working, staying healthy, forming families, and exercising citizenship. Within each of these transitions, governments need not only to increase investments directly but also to cultivate an environment for young people and their families to invest in themselves. The Report identifies three policy directions for helping youth develop themselves and contribute to society: expanding opportunities, enhancing capabilities, and providing second chances.

Download the full report in English, using the link below. Overviews are available in multiple other languages. These overviews can be found here.

Working with local and institutional actors, the Project will promote the participation of the private sector, local governments, Congress, civilian police, government institutions, community and youth leaders and other actors in the implementation and oversight of key prevention policy reforms and youth-oriented prevention programs. The emphasis of this project is to strengthen community and public sector institutions by ensuring the replication of successful initiatives and the development and implementation of new ones. With this effort, USAID seeks to promote coordinated action and broad participation in crime prevention, while developing effective and comprehensive community-based strategies involving the private sector.
Over a period of five years, the Project aims to achieve the following results:

• Reduce the incidence of crime through crime prevention activities;
• Prevent and reduce the risk of youth entering into or continuing in a life of crime by improving and expanding services provided to at-risk youth;
• Promote collaborative interventions among young people, parents, community institutions, and business leaders coming together to address and meet the needs of at-risk youth;
• Strengthen and consolidate the Youth Alliance Association and other local institutions;
• Improve and expand the existing job placement network through private sector alliances, such that it remains useful and self-sustaining;
• Provide market-driven skills enhancement to youth in neighborhoods with high crime incidence and gang activity;
• Spur municipal economic development and security infrastructure development through a community action fund;
• Assist key national-level institutions and local governments to improve crime prevention services;
• Expand community-based policing; and
• Implement Mérida crime prevention-related activities for a three-year period.

Please visit link below for contact information and more details

The RTP (Rural Technology Program) will make grants available for technology development, applied research, and/or training, with a focus on rural communities, to aid in the development of a workforce for bioenergy, pulp and paper manufacturing, or agriculture-based renewable energy.

The RTP addresses the following goals:

• To increase the number of students encouraged to pursue and complete a 2-year postsecondary degree, or a certificate of completion, within an occupational focus of this grant program;
• To assist rural communities by helping students achieve their career goals to develop a viable workforce for bioenergy, pulp and paper manufacturing, or agriculture-based renewable energy.

This is a United States Department of Agriculture grant for domestic programs implemented by educational and training organizations in the United States. See link below for details.