usaid’s building the potential of youth annual report ...pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pa00mfpx.pdf ·...

USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth

Annual Report

October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016

Submission Date: October 30, 2016

Agreement Number: AID-663-A-15-00006

Activity Start Date and End Date: January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019

AOR: Tahir Gero

Submitted by: Olaf Erz, Chief of Party

Save the Children Federation, Inc.

899 North Capitol Street, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Tel: 202-640-6600

Email: [email protected]

AID-663-A-15-00006 Year II Annual Report

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ..................................................... 4

1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW/SUMMARY .................................................................... 7

1.1 Program Description ................................................................................................................................. 8

1.2 List of Regions and Woredas ................................................................................................................ 10

2. ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS ................................................... 12

2.1 Progress Narrative ........................................................................................................................................... 12

2.2 Implementation Status .................................................................................................................................... 19

Key Achievements ................................................................................................................................................................ 19

Program Expansion and Start-up Activities ................................................................................................................... 19

Intermediate Result 1: Rigorous evidence base developed to inform USAID and its development partners,

including youth, GOE, and NGOs on appropriate, effective and sustainable market driven youth

workforce development interventions ............................................................................................................................. 20

Intermediate Result 2: Improved youth access to market relevant skills and experiences to support the

transition to safe and viable employment ...................................................................................................................... 41

Intermediate Result 3: Coordinated delivery among local institutions of quality market driven services

connecting underserved youth especially women to employment and income opportunities .......................... 56

2. 3 Implementation challenges ............................................................................................................................ 66

3. INTEGRATION OF CROSSCUTTING ISSUES and USAID FORWARD

PRIORITIES ............................................................................................................... 68

3. 1 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment ............................................................................................ 68

3. 2 Youth Development (YDV) .......................................................................................................................... 70

3.3 Sustainability Mechanisms ............................................................................................................................... 71

3.4 Local Capacity Development ........................................................................................................................ 73


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4. STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION AND INVOLVEMENT ........................... 74

5. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES ........................................ 75

6. LESSONS LEARNED ........................................................................................... 75

7. SUCCESS STORIES ............................................................................................. 79

8. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT YEAR ...................................................... 83

9. ANNEXES .............................................................................................................. 85


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

BDS Business Development Services

BYOB Be Your Own Boss

CTC Community Training Center

DECSI Dedebit Credit and saving institution

EDC Education Development Center

ETB Ethiopian Birr

FC Facilitator for Change

FGD Focus Group Discussion

FTC Farmer Training Center

GOE Government of Ethiopia

GO Government Organizations

HUNDEE HUNDEE-Oromo Grassroots Development Initiative

ICT Information Communication Technology

IGA Income Generating Activities

IR Intermediate Result

KII Key Informant Interview

LMA Labor Market Assessment

M4CD Mobile for Career Development

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MEAL Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning


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MoWCYA Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs

MoWIE Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy

MoYS Ministry of Youth and Sport

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

NGO Non-Governmental Organizations

OLA Out-of-School Literacy Assessment

PADet Professional Alliance for Development in Ethiopia

PAT POTENTIAL Addis Team

PDP Personal Development Plan

POTENTIAL USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth

PYD Positive Youth Development

REST Relief Society of Tigray

SNNPR Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region

TOT Training of Trainers

TTIs Technical Training Institutes

TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training

TVEDO Technical, Vocational Enterprise Development Office

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USD United States Dollar

VCI Value Chain Identification

V/YSLA Village Youth Saving and Loan Association


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WBL Work-Based Learning

WO Woreda Officers

WRN! WorkReadyNow!

YES Youth Economic Strengthening

YDV Youth Development

YF Youth Facilitator

YiA Youth in Action


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1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW/SUMMARY

Activity Name: USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth

Activity Start Date and End Date: January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019

Name of Prime Implementing

Partner:

Save the Children

899 North Capitol St NE

Washington, DC 20002

Telephone: 202-640-6600

[email protected]

Agreement Number: AID-663-A-15-00006

Name of Sub-awardees:

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC),

HUNDEE-Oromo Grassroots Development

Initiative (HUNDEE),

Professional Alliance for Development in Ethiopia

(PADet),

Relief Society of Tigray (REST)

Facilitator for Change Ethiopia (FC)

Major Counterpart

Organizations

Geographic Coverage

(cities and or regions)

Afar, Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Somali, and

Tigray

Reporting Period: October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016


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1.1 Program Description

Launched in 2015, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s)

Building the Potential of Youth Activity (POTENTIAL) is implemented by Save the Children

Federation, Inc. (SC) and its partners: Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC),

HUNDEE-Oromo Grassroots Development Initiative (HUNDEE), Professional Alliance for

Development in Ethiopia (PADet), Relief Society of Tigray (REST) and Facilitator for

Change Ethiopia (FC).

The goal of the activity is to assist unemployed and underemployed youth ages 15-29 to

attain skills, knowledge, and social capital that lead to increased income and economic self-

sufficiency, with a particular focus on girls and young women.

This will be addressed by increasing youths’ access to skill-building and employment

promotion services through:

1) targeted assessments to align training with market relevant skill needs;

2) tailored technical and life skills training to create viable livelihoods prospects; and

3) work-based learning.

The activity’s proposed strategies and approaches respond to unemployed and

underemployed youths’ capacity needs, leverage existing youth development activities, and

contribute to improving the quality and accountability of local training and business service

providers by ensuring existing entities work in concert.

The program is designed to assist USAID Ethiopia meet its development objective:

“Unemployed and underemployed Ethiopian youth ages 15-29 in rural areas and

towns attain the skills, knowledge, and social capital that lead to increased income

and long-term economic self-sufficiency will be achieved by improving access for

Ethiopians to basic education, TVET, and practical work experiences and bringing

together local stakeholders such as TVET institutions, private sector, youth, and

government.”

To reach the program goal, the following Intermediate Results will be achieved:


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IR1: Rigorous evidence base developed to inform USAID and its development

partners, including youth, Government of Ethiopia (GOE), and non-governmental

organizations (NGOs), on appropriate, effective, and sustainable market driven youth

workforce development intervention

IR2: Improved youth access to market relevant skills and experiences to support the

transition to safe and viable employment; and

IR3: Coordinated delivery, among local institutions, of quality market driven services

connecting underserved youth, especially women, to employment and income

opportunities.

By the end of 2019, this activity will build the economic self-sufficiency of 34,537 youth

across 30 woredas of Afar, Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Somali, and Tigray region.


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1.2 List of Regions and Woredas

Table 1: USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth Operational Regions and Woredas,

by year

No. Region POTENTIAL Woredas Year 1 Year 2 To be

operational

in Year 3

1 Amhara Debub Achefer X

2 Amhara Semin Achefer X

3 Amhara Bahir-Dar Ketma Zuria X

4 Amhara Dangela X

5 Amhara Jawi X

6 Amhara Dera X

7 Oromia Ada’a X

8 Oromia Liben Chukala X

9 Oromia Limu-Bilbilo X

10 Oromia Kofele X

11 Oromia Sinana X

12 Oromia Agarfa X

13 Oromia Welmera X

14 Oromia Yabello X

15 Oromia Dire X


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No. Region POTENTIAL Woredas Year 1 Year 2 To be

operational

in Year 3

16 SNNPR Endegegn X

17 SNNPR Mirab-Azernet X

18 SNNPR Loma

X

19 SNNPR Yem Special Woreda X

20 SNNPR Hawassa Zuria X

21 Tigray Raya Alamata X

22 Tigray Ofla X

23 Tigray Endemehoni X

24 Somali Jigjiga X

25 Somali Babile X

26 Somali Gode X

27 Somali Kelafo X

28 Afar Chifra X

29 Afar Dubti X

30 Afar Asayita X

Total 8 11 11


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2. ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS

2.1 Progress Narrative

By the end of USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth’s

second year, a total of 7,332 (43.4%F) youth participated

in the activity’s work readiness and skills capacity building

package. Participants received soft skills training, follow-

up support including coaching, mentoring, work based

learning opportunities, linkage with microfinance

institutions, and hard skills training from other service

providers such as training institutes, community leaders,

governmental and non- governmental organizations.

More than two thousand youth (2,304) are engaged in

different employment opportunities since participating in

the program’s trainings. While most youth are involved

in self-employment opportunities, some were able to find

wage employment opportunities in their areas, and

others found better employment opportunities in terms

of work safety and income.

For the young people that have followed self-employment opportunities, their source of

start-up capital is from individual savings, family support and microfinance institutions. In all

six regions, microfinance institutions have provided more than one billion birr for youth as

startup loans. In the Tigray region, a total of 417 self-employed youth have invested a sum

of USD 180,738. One of the program’s partners, the Dedebit Credit and Saving Institutions

(DECSI) 1 is providing access to credit and saving services for beneficiary youth. DECSI is

applying a government incentive whereby the recipient has to first save 20% of the total

1 Dedebit Credit and Savings Institution SC (DECSI) is a microfinance institution operating in Tigray Region. It has over 460,000 customers and as such DECSI is regarded as one of the four largest MFIs in Africa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedebit_Credit_and_Saving_Institution_SC)

Project Highlights to Date:

7,332 (43.4%F) youth trained

2,304 employed through self

and wage employment

Operating in 19 woredas

22 TVET instructors trained

in POTENTIAL curriculum

310 volunteer mentors

30 youth economic

strengthening (YES) services

centers established

LMA conducted in 15

woredas

19 woreda officers trained in

POTENTIAL methodology


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loan amount, then the finance institution will provide credit for the remaining 80%.

Beneficiary youth have secured a total of $ 139,169 (77% of the total investment) from

DECSI with a repayment period of two to three years. The remaining $ 41,570 has come

from their own savings and family sources. From the total investment, the share of females’

investment is 34%.

Photo 1: WRN! graduate who started his own shop, Yabelo, Oromia

This year the program expanded into two additional regions, Afar and SNNPR, and eleven

new woredas. The program is now operating in 19 woredas: two in Afar, three in SNNPR,

four in Amhara, five in Oromia, three in Somali, and two in Tigray (see Table 1: USAID’s

Building the Potential of Youth Operational Regions and Woredas, by year).

Woreda-level rapid assessments were performed in the eleven additional woredas in order

to identify economic growth sectors, provide analysis of viable employment and self-

employment and the prospective earning from these activities, and the skill and resource

requirements to access these from a youth point of view. The assessments aimed to

identify: (1) key challenges for youth in accessing employment opportunities in rural areas;

(2) available employment opportunities; (3) skills and knowledge gaps of youth; and (4)

available youth service providers. The data collection methodologies included individual

interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews at woreda town and

kebele town level.

In total more than 1,000 (44%F) youth participated in the surveys. The assessment reports

were finalized and reviewed. The findings of the assessments informed the program’s


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intervention design and support mechanisms. The analysis of available training options and

their relevance to the program were also completed and the regional adaptation of

additional training curricula was conducted.

In addition, labor market assessments and value chain identification were conducted in 18

woredas with the objectives to (a) assess the labor market situation for wage/salary

employment and self-employment; (b) assess youth skill levels in relation to the labor

market requirements; (c) assess the capacity of training institutions to provide quality

knowledge and skills according to market demands; (d) identify potential value chains for

youth self-employment; (e) build the capacity of program staff members in labor market

assessments and value chains identification procedures and techniques; and (f) indicate

intervention areas for labor market development.

At the beginning of the year, the program adapted modules from the Youth in Action (YIA)

training curriculum 2 and Aflateen3 as a need for supplementary life skills training was

identified, and also adapted EDC’s Work Ready Plus for young people with lower literacy

levels. EDC led the adaptation of the work based learning implementation guidelines, based

on the Ethiopian TVET cooperative learning strategy and with input from invited experts.

Following the development of the guidelines, an induction workshop was conducted for 55

woreda officers and youth facilitators. To date, 66 youth beneficiaries from Oromia (43),

Amhara (14), and SNNPR (1) have had the opportunity to see and obtain practical

experience using the work based learning opportunities based on their individual interest

and personal development plans.

The mentoring skills training manual and implementation guideline were developed and 310

volunteer mentors from 17 out of 19 woredas were trained accordingly. Within the Afar

region it was not possible to find the expected number of volunteer mentors within the

2 Youth in Action links education and livelihood support for youth ages 14-18 years. The program supports young people who are out of school by providing them with education, skill-building and entrepreneurial opportunities in the agricultural sector. The training gives insight for beneficiary youth about their personalities, communities and the resources available around them. 3 Aflateen is designed as a journey for youth under 18 years old to reflect on their lives, learn to explore issues and problems in society, acquire life skills that help them become engaged citizens, and enact enterprises and projects with other young people for their communities.


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given time frame, however the two woredas mentors will receive the training in the coming

quarter. Most of the recruited volunteer mentors are successful business owners,

community leaders and employees of organizations within the implementation areas. Each

mentor is expected to support 4-6 youth who have interests in line with mentors’ areas of

career or livelihood pathway.

The program is now working with 11 TVETs (Technical Vocational Education Training

Centers) in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and Afar regions. As an entry point, 22 TVET

instructors (5F) were trained on Work Ready Now (WRN!4) and thereafter the

instructors’ trained more than 500 TVET students just before their graduation. In addition,

technical training institutes (TTI) conducted marketable skills training based on the findings

of the program’s labor market assessment (LMA) and value chain identification (VCI), as

well as the personal development plans of the young people. During the year, 277 (47%F)

socially and economically vulnerable youths received between 15 days to 3 months of

technical skills training.

During the year, thirty youth economic strengthening (YES) services centers were

established mainly within existing youth centers in Amhara, Tigray, Afar and Somali regions,

and began providing services to the youth. Services include work readiness and other skills

training with follow up support such as group and individual coaching, career guidance, job

information and opportunities, business ideas, connection with other youth service

providers, job placement and work based learning opportunities, as well as sport and

leisure activities. These demand-driven services ensure that youth have a place where they

can get advice and support from peers and dedicated staff members so that they can

effectively compete in today’s workforce. Each center has engaged one facilitator per

center to be available for the youth; the program funds facilitators’ salaries for the first nine

months, after which youth focused agencies and service providers, such as the Bureau of

4 Work Ready Now! (WRN!) is a product of EDC based on 10 years of designing and implementing work readiness and livelihoods development projects for youth, primarily ages 15–30, in developing and middle-income countries.


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Youth and Sport (BoYS)5, youth associations, training institutions and woreda

administration offices, have committed to funding their salaries.

The usage of ICT6 applications was identified as an important method for informing youth

and creating awareness on youth transitions into labor markets. 19 woredas assessments

were conducted with 1,900 (50%F) youth to identify radio stations and the uptake of ICT

applications by youth. The results indicated that the majority of respondents prefer local

community radio stations as their main source of information and listen to the radio during

their leisure time. Currently three regional stations are broadcasting the program’s youth

focused radio show, which discusses topics including personal savings, goal setting, youth

and migration, using livelihood opportunities, and other relevant issues using experience

sharing, interviews and case studies.

The program team has continued to work with different public and private sector

stakeholders to organize services and mobilize resources for youth beneficiaries, leading to

increased access to credit and other resources such as land, materials and working spaces,

as well as employment opportunities in order for youth to pursue their employment goals.

Since the inception of this program, one hundred and four (104) partnerships have been

identified and 45 partnership agreement signed (see Annex 1 POTENTIAL PPPP Tracker).

These partnerships include both public and private sector actors within sectors including

agriculture, education, finance, and health, with a focus of training provision, input and

output market linkages, provision on practical learning or on job trainings, as well as paid

jobs. Through private sector partnerships, a number of youth were trained and thereafter

been employed by the same or other companies.

During the assessments, private sector companies within the intervention woredas were

identified and opportunities gauged. Partnership agreements were drafted based on the

identified and agreed opportunities. These collaborations include but are not limited to

5 Bureau of Youth and Sport (BoYS ) is a government agency, that provide services such as facilitating loans for youth, linkages with employers and small and medium enterprise development agency, and enforcing polices for youth inclusion with the woreda administration office. 6 ICT (information and communications technology) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, as well as the various services and applications associated with them.


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capacity building, employment opportunities, advisory services (experience), being role

models, or provision of gift in kind or cash, loan and saving services, depending on the type

of the organization.

During the last quarter of the year, an outcome survey was conducted in two regions

(SNNPR and Tigray). More than 600 youth that completed different program activities

prior to June 30 2016 were randomly selected for this survey. The data was collected using

individual survey and focus group discussions. The report on the outcome surveys will be

submitted in a separate report.

In the coming three years, the program will be working in a total of 30 woredas in six

regions. More emphasis will be given to strengthening and maintaining public, private,

people partnerships (PPP) creation and cooperation and preparing the young workforce for

the emerging industrial development activities in most of the program’s operation areas.


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Table 2: Indicator Performance Tracking Table

Standard Indicators Total

Target

Combined

Year 1-2

Targets

Combined

Year 1-2

Actuals

APA to

ERP

(%)

Year 3-5

Targets

Number of persons receiving

new employment or better

employment (including self-

employment) as a result of

participation in USG funded

workforce development

projects

13,520 1,248 2,304 180 % 12272

Number of youth completing

POTENTIAL program

components

34,537 8,100 7,332 90.4% 26,437

Person hours of training

completed in workforce

development supported by

POTENTIAL program

4,973,328 820,800 526,145 64% 4,447,183

Number of Woreda

assessment reports that

include target beneficiary

profiles and identify

employment needs and

market opportunities

30 19 15 79% 11

Number of public-private

partnerships formed as a

result of POTENTIAL

assistance

70 16 45 281% 54

Number of days of USG

funded technical assistance in

workforce development

provided to counterparts or

stakeholders

TBD 0 5 TBD


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Number of POTENTIAL TTI

partners with improved

capacity to deliver training

30 11 19

2.2 Implementation Status

Key Achievements

In all six regions 7,332 (44%f) youth have benefited from the various curricula considering

basic skills requirements for youth who wish to improve existing small scale business, or

for others to pursue wage- or self- employment. As a result of the program’s different

interventions and through stakeholders’ support, a total of 2,304 (50%F) program

beneficiaries are now engaged in employment. An array of regional government institutions,

private sector actors, microfinance institutions, families and other stakeholders have

contributed their resources for assisting the youth to succeed in different employment

opportunities such as land, small shops, materials and cash (in the form of loans and gifts).

Further 2,304 underemployed youth reported to have obtained better employment within

the reporting year; in particular youth started additional small scale businesses, improved

their business practices – e.g. improving their customer service and gaining more

customers or improving production within their existing business; changing to higher paid

jobs or starting decent jobs that give them more satisfaction.

Program Expansion and Start-up Activities

During the first quarter of the second year, the program expanded to two additional

regions, Afar and SNNPR, as well as to six additional woredas in existing regions (3 in

Oromia, 2 in Amhara and 1 in Somali regions).

Regional launch workshops were held in the new regions, starting in SNNPR in December

2015. Key stakeholders including as representative from government offices, USAID,

TVETs and the private sector attended the event and the regional administration offices

and other government sector offices expressed their commitment to collaborate with the

program to meet its objectives. In his opening speech, Aklilu Tukela, Bureau of Finance and

Economic Development representative from SNNPR said, “As the number of unemployed


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youth is rising, the government is implementing different programs to reduce rural to urban

migration and capacitate the youth with different skills to make them productive in their

localities. To this regard, USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth is complementing

government policies.”

The program was launched in Afar in January 2016. Representatives from the regional

administration offices, Bureau of Finance and Economy, TVET agency, Afar Microfinance

Institution and Youth and Sport Bureau and others expressed their commitment to

collaborate in order to meet the program’s objectives. In the opening speech, Hassen Ali,

Bureau of Finance and Economic Development representative said, “To work on youth

means to work on the future,’’ and this will contribute to the development and economic

empowerment of the region. He also underlined the great contribution that Save the

Children has made in the region so far and highly welcomed program to alleviate the

prevailing youth unemployment problem in the region.

After the launch workshop, the regional agreement was signed between Save the Children

and several regional government bureaus, namely the Bureau of Finance and Economy, Afar

Microfinance institute, the Bureau of Youth and Sport, and TVET agency in order to be

officially recognized.

Intermediate Result 1: Rigorous evidence base developed to inform USAID and

its development partners, including youth, GOE, and NGOs on appropriate,

effective and sustainable market driven youth workforce development

interventions

Rapid Assessments of Socio-economic and Demographic Profiles of Youth

During the year the program was launched in additional eleven woredas across five regions

and in particular in three woredas in the SNNPR and Oromia regions, two woredas in the

Amhara, Afar, and one woreda in the Somali region. The woreda level rapid assessment

was conducted in each new woreda to identify: (1) key challenges for youth in accessing

employment opportunities in rural areas; (2) available employment opportunities; (3) skills

and knowledge gaps of youth; and (4) available youth service providers.


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The assessments were conducted using similar methodologies including an individual youth

survey, key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). In addition to

the targeted youth, business owners, community leaders and potential employers also

participated. Each woreda team developed a report that mainly focused on 1) the relevance

of existing technical skills training, 2) employment opportunities, 3) available financial

services, 4) capacity of government and private training centers and youth service providers

to respond to labor supply and demand findings, and 5) identifying partnership

opportunities. The individual survey addressed availability of personal productive assets,

literacy level, skills and knowledge, market opportunities and youth aspirations to link the

various program components. Final reports from the seven woredas assessments were

prepared and shared by regional implementing partners with Save the Children and its

partners for designing interventions and strategies.

During the assessment, a mobile application was deployed that was developed by the

technology firm AhadooTec7 based on the functional design that was prepared by Save the

Children team. The team coordinated, analyzed the compiled quantitative and qualitative

data of the assessments with the aim to build a rigorous evidence base to inform the

program.

The five teams interacted with individuals, organizations, governmental agencies and

business owners. New collaborations were established that provided input for shaping the

scope of work for the program’s future. More than 24 regional program staff members

(youth facilitators and youth volunteers) participated in data collection and focus group

discussion facilitation. During the assessment, 693 youth (43%F) participated in the

individual surveys. The young people were selected based on their availability. 84 focus

group discussions were conducted, the group size varied from 15-24 members. A

purposive sampling was conducted to select 194 participants from private, government and

non-governmental organizations for key informant interviews to identify opportunities,

challenges, previous experiences and possible interventions to enhance the program

7 AhadooTec provides state-of-the-art technology design, development, and consulting. They work with corporate, NGO, and government clients from building database infrastructure, to creating content management systems, to developing desktop, tablet, and mobile applications.


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implementation. The participants of this survey were selected using a cluster approach and

a non-probability survey method. These assessments were vital for tools and methods

adaptation process as local youth conditions and local livelihood opportunities were

considered.

From the total number of survey respondents, 59% were unemployed and 41% were

employed (39% self and 2% wage). Of the unemployed youths, 56% said they were

underemployed. 8

Summary of rapid assessment findings

Table 3: Youth Marital and Employment Status

8 Underemployment is defined as part-time workers seeking full-time work, seasonal workers seeking a year round position, day laborers seeking a regular

position, workers being paid significantly less than average for position, and workers employed in positions well beneath their qualifications.


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Table 4: Youth Educational Levels

Young people aspire to be economically self-sufficient in the coming five to ten years by

owning business firms, agro processing and manufacturing industries. Livestock fattening,

dairy cow and poultry development, irrigation schemes; wood manufacturing, metal and

garage workshops, cement products; hair dressing, driving, cafeteria, bar, cosmetic shops,

and mobile maintenance are the main sectors currently preferred by youth. Almost all

groups highlighted the lack of startup capital, special skills, land, and market linkages as

challenges for engagement.

The major strengths of the youth were that: they easily grasp skills, easily adapt new

technologies and are energetic. Some youth are involved in micro and small-scale

businesses, though the majority of the interviewees work in agriculture and daily work.

Government policy and the networking services provided by government sectors combined

with the availability of fertile land and underground water in some areas can potentially

assist the youth to achieve their goals.

The data indicated that there is an attitude problem on the part of the graduate youth. A

significant proportion of youth graduates available in the area were less motivated,

underestimated the available job opportunities around them, aspired for out migration and

for short paths to become rich. They lack creativity and innovative practices; are highly

dependent on government jobs; and look for higher income beyond the skills and

competencies they have. Others didn’t use their time wisely and show symptoms of

addiction to drinks and chat.

Lack of the required skills, working capital, arable land, market shade and good governance

constrain youth from engaging in livelihood opportunities. There is a need from the youth


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to acquire quality skills that enable them for self or wage employment, diversifying their

means of income, introduce modern agricultural practices, secure alternative sources of

water for irrigation, establish wood and metal manufacturing firms, expand service

providing centers and serve the communities.

Training colleges and Farmer Training Centers are available in the program’s woredas.

While they provide short and long term trainings, their capacities need to be upgraded,

training manuals need to be customized based on training needs, and the development of

additional manuals may be needed.

The sector offices and associations who are working on youth are working to empower

youth socially and economically to ultimately lead them to economic self-sufficiency. The

sector offices and associations support mainly TVET and college graduates by providing

short term trainings, link them with small and micro enterprise office and micro finance

institutions, provide them working land and technical support among other things.

However, the capacities of the sector offices and associations are very limited to address all

graduates, school dropouts, and illiterate youth.

In general, lack of the required attributes on the part of the youth and shortage of arable

land and working capital, lack of credit access, working land, good governance, and the

required skills are the bottlenecks of youth economic strengthening programs in the

woredas.

Out of School Literacy Assessments

The Out-of-School Youth Literacy Assessment (OLA) tool was developed by EDC to

measure the literacy skills of youth. The tool builds on reading research and best practices

in evidence-based adult literacy instruction and assessment, and incorporates real-life

reading items that measure skills that learners may already have without formal literacy

instruction.

Within the program, the OLA tool was adapted and pilot tests were completed in the

Ankober woreda (Amhara region) and Wolmera woreda (Oromia region) by December

2015. EDC and Save the Children staff members participated in this pilot. Twenty youth

were randomly selected to participate in the pilot. Unfortunately, almost all participants

were secondary school students, which perhaps skewed the results. However, the first


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administration of the pilot was very informative and resulted in further adjustments of the

tool such as real-life reading questions and the spelling of some of the words in the word

recognition portion. The OLA tool was further refined and translated into the five regional

languages and integrated into the rapid assessment. The OLA tool is being deployed to

determine whether youth should participate in WRN! (for literate youth) or Work Ready

Plus (WR+) (for less literate youth) in order to make sure that the young people can follow

and engage at all times with the training and can apply the newly acquired knowledge and

skills thereafter. EDC’s WR+ is tailored to youth that have some reading skills and it omits

some activities that requires detailed writing and reading elements.

Further it will only be administered to youth whose level of primary education is until

Grade 8 or below. The rationale for this is that there is a national level exam in Grade 8

that students need pass to continue to secondary education, which indicates a level of

confidence in their basic literacy.

Labor market assessment and value chain identification survey

The labor market assessments were conducted in 18 woredas within the six regions. A

local consultancy firm in cooperation with 60 staff members from within the regions and

from the Addis Ababa team conducted these assessments with the objective to:

i. Assess the labor market situation - for wage/salary employment and self-

employment;

ii. Assess youth skill levels in relation to the labor market requirements;

iii. Assess the capacity of training institutions to provide quality knowledge and skills

according to market demands;

iv. Identify potential value chains for youth self-employment;

v. Build the capacity of program staff members in labor market assessments and value

chains identification procedures and techniques; and

vi. Indicate intervention areas for labor market development.


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In line with the program objectives the following five tools were developed and adapted to

regional contexts:

Employers’ survey questionnaire;

Youth focus group discussion guide;

Value chains identification checklist;

Key informant interview guide; and

Checklist for secondary information collection.

Prior to each assessment the team was oriented on the concepts of labor markets and

value chains in general and the application of the tools in particular. Thereafter the team

members were organized in 10 groups, and assigned to different target groups to collect

information using the agreed tools and approaches for the targets groups.

After the data were entered into the data analysis software, the findings of each group

were presented and reviewed by each team for validation and additional inputs. Similarly all

trained program staffs were conducting similar assessments in their respective woredas.

Key common findings to date were:

Existing Opportunities; Most of the program implementation woredas are small towns and

rural Kebeles. Both pastoralist and agrarian areas of the program find the following common

opportunities:

• Availability of land and other inputs for agricultural activities

• Most of the woredas are small towns with great potential of growth and with opportunities to engage in petty trade and other micro and medium businesses

• Emerging private sector investment also creates job opportunity for many young people

Existing employment opportunities; during the assessment period more than 700 open

employment opportunities in all woredas were identified. Further, employers were

predicting additional 350 job openings in the coming six-month. Nonetheless, it was

discovered that only 30% were looking for female employees.


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Further follow-up during with these companies are planned in the coming year in order to

link the young people into apprenticeship and eventual wage employment, as most of the

companies expressed their willingness to accept, as a first step, young people on

apprenticeships. Thereafter the companies may consider of hiring some of the trainees

after evaluating the young people’s employability and having vacancies within their

businesses. Some of the technical skills the businesses provide on job trainings are

mechanical, electrical, metal/wood work, production quality control, micro-biological,

chemical & physical tests, catering and hotel management, saving and credit management,

fattening and dairy farm management.

Existing work based learning opportunities: 71-100% of the private and public sector

organizations in each woreda were willing to accept and train youth by providing work

based learning opportunities of about 1-6 months and 40-80% of the organizations agreed

to offer employment opportunities for trainees.

Skills required by order of importance: as part of the survey, organizations were asked to rank

their skill demand and requirements to hire employees. The skills required by the order of

importance presented as follows;

Technical skills required by the work;

Interpersonal skills and basic literacy;

Local language;

Basic business skills;

Computer skills.

Employers’ payment situation: as part of the survey, employers were asked the rate of their

daily payment for their employees. The finding shows the minimum payment per day is 17

ETB ($0.80), and maximum was 416 ETB ($19). Employers included small cafes up to large

factories. The average payment rate of most employees ranked between 26 -110 ETB ($1.2

– 5.2) per day. Unfortunately the survey did not distinguish the pay scales within the

different sectors, thus this will be considered in further assessment and strategies.


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As contact with the various employers has been established, regional teams will conduct

further follow-up in order to identify opportunities for apprenticeship and wage

employment.

Number of Women employees: the rate of women’s employment was low; 20% in pastoralist

areas and between 21 -33% in agrarian areas.

Employers Recruitment Challenges: employers mentioned a number of challenges to find good

employees - they were asked to rate their challenges and occurrence:

Limited availability of skilled personal (hard and soft skills)

Lack of commitment for work

Lack of required work ethics

Request for higher payments

Challenges for self-employment: the following five (5) common challenges were identified

through youth focus group discussions in most program implementation areas:

Limited self-reliance attitude and weak motivation to initiate business;

Limited awareness of self-employment opportunities;

Lack of business management skills, financial management;

Limited saving culture; and

Lack of technical and soft skills to run business.

Identified value chain areas; the major value chain areas that were identified through focus

group discussions were: fattening, vegetable productions, poultry, dairy production, bee

keeping, and others agricultural activities. In addition a few off-farm activities and services

were reported as optional value chain opportunities such as petty trade, small shops,

restaurants, retailing, and transport services.

Value Chain Opportunities; the following existing opportunities were mentioned as an input

for the identified value chain areas:

Availability of inputs in the local supply system for all the value chains identified;


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Existence of fertile land suitable that if planted as required can produce large

amount for production;

Availability of high livestock population and nearby livestock market

Access road, availability of human power, training institutes, mobile phone etc

Limited market linkage, limited start-up capital, lack of market information, poor saving

culture, lack of commitment, gender bias and week institutional coordination for services

mentioned as a challenge for the existing value chain opportunities.

Proposed VC development strategy: The value chains were selected by the youth groups’

discussions without exhaustive information collection and analysis. Additional information

collected from other actors and the government sector offices were also not exhaustive.

Therefore, to ensure economic and technical feasibility of the value chains, detail analysis is

required in the future. However, once the value chains are accepted and recommended for

development, Save the Children and stakeholders will assist in designing the development

strategies and implementation activities. Value chain development strategies are required to

enhance competitiveness of the value chains in the market and can be based on one or

more of the following four areas:

Improving efficiency or reducing cost of production and supply of a certain product,

Improving quality of the already existing product,

Adding value to the existing products through processing, and

Introducing new product to the market.

To apply all of the strategies; there is a need to promote the value chains with the private

businesses in mutual understanding and commitment for win-win business. The role of the

private sector is indispensable for the value chains development as they play important

roles in inputs supply, imparting their business know-how, providing services and linking the

business with market outlets. Therefore, Save the Children and stakeholders will assist to

find all the support services and solutions for the constraints from the market instead of

trying to replace the market actors. Market based solutions avoid market distortions on

one hand and ensures sustainability of the businesses on the other.


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Recommendations from labor market assessments and value chains identification The following general recommendations are based on the main findings of the labor market

assessment and value chains identification that need to be considered in order to improve

the access to labor market development and the update of the value chains.

1. Design and implement different skill training provision and awareness creation

strategies and activities, as youth are limited in their knowledge and skills and

awareness about labor market opportunities. Therefore, enhancing youth skill level

both in technical aspects and soft skills is paramount. This could be done through

arranging on job training with capable and selected business organizations, organize

experience sharing with successful youth business groups both at woreda- and

regional level, and further facilitate young people so that they have access to

appropriate TVETs with the aim to equip them with practically tradable skills, and

arrange mentor programs for them.

2. Promote youth attitude of self-reliance: The youth self-confidence and self-esteem

to determine their destiny is weak. Therefore, to bring change and alleviate the

problem of addiction and helplessness, the following actions could be taken: Support

in shaping the youth attitude positively towards hard working behavior starting from

their family all through their education system,organize consistent and constructive

awareness creation projects on positive self-concept and self-reliance attitudes; use

role models for creation of practical understanding of the young people on how to

liberate themselves and determine their destinies, andPromote saving culture to

help them generate adequate resources to start their own businesses, and assist

them only on practical needs that they can’t fulfill by their own efforts.

3. Encourage agriculture as a business: Young people know agriculture as a traditional

sector which is mainly performed by uneducated, unskilled and people who do not

have alternative options. Exploring its attractive business opportunities and raising

their awareness on the opportunities could change the situation: Show clearly its

profitability and successes including in the modern businesses of supermarkets and

export markets,support FTCs to develop or adjust their training curriculums in

line with promoting agriculture as a business; facilitate access of landless young

people to FTC trainings so that they could clearly understand the importance and


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skills required to benefit from the sector even without necessarily owning land;

encourage private companies to supply appropriate inputs and avail for the actors in

the sector, and encourage developments of different agribusiness value chains so

that the actors could make joint efforts for mutual benefits.

4. Improve opportunity for self-employment: according to the LMA assessment and

the value chains identification exercises, opportunities and facilities for young people

in self-employment are full of constraints. Scarcity of land, lack of finance for startup

capital and limited skills and experience in business management and limited social

capital coupled with weak attitude of the young people for self-employment, their

motivation is weak. Therefore, addressing these constraints: Provide coaching and

mentoring services on business opportunities identification and development,assist

in business plan development and translation into actions,connect with financial

institutions and facilitate access to their services through different methods

including provision of startup guarantee fund, and facilitate business to business

(B2B) linkages to stimulate mutual support systems among the business actors.

5. Give special attention and undertake different activities to empower women: The

level of women participation in employment and self-employment schemes are

observed to be minimal in comparison to their male counter parts and in

proportion to their number in the society. The community perceives that women

are better employed due to their backbreaking household chores but non-income

bearing activities need to be improved. Otherwise, they will remain always at back

and will not be able to decide on their destinies. To improve this situation, among

different alternative measures, the following activities could be important: raise

community awareness on gender equality in general and specifically the important

roles women can play in being employed and/or self-employed,design special

women specific skill training projects and businesses that can uplift them from their

existing situation, mentor young girls in and out of schools on developing their

attitude of self- reliance and self-esteem, andMaximize on the already established

sense of equality of male and female among the employers.

6. Support harmonization of skill training curriculums with labor market demand

conditions: TVETs, FTCs and youth centers are providing specific skill training


32

services. The possibility to access tradable skill in this centers is rather limited and

to alleviate the problem, the following activities could be performed: support

curriculum development and fulfilment of training facilities of existing TVETs, FTCs

and the youth center to enable them provide practical trainings in their fields,

facilitate the possibility to access TVETs in larger towns for the woreda youth.

7. Harness emerging technologies for improvement of the labor market development:

Mobile technology is one of the emerging technologies for information exchange,

training provision and other different services. Similarly, technologies in relation to

provision of solar energy services are widely expanding and they are appropriate for

rural settings. These could be opportunities to tap and use for the youth labor

market development. The following activities could assist in this regard: explore in

detail possible services could be developed out of the technologies, train young

people in mobile and solar technologies and service provision for users, and

facilitate access to suppliers of the technologies and their dealers.

8. Promote business group approach for the youth, as the group approach is an

underdeveloped business approach at woreda level. It is believed that it is difficult to

work together for profit as individuals have different abilities and work behaviors

that may cause conflicts in the process of participating in the work and sharing the

benefits. However, with their limited resources and experiences, young people will

face more challenges as an individual to succeed in their own business. They can

overcome the issue if they are able to synergize their resources and efforts. To

promote group business approach, the following activities are required to be

performed: create awareness on the challenges of individual approach and

importance of working together, assist them to develop work procedures for

working together and benefit sharing according to their participation, provide youth

with facilities and work materials, if possible, to start their business, andcoach and

mentor them in the process of group development and business operation and

management.

9. Coordinate the program efforts with other stakeholders: different organizations,

governmental and non-governmental, are working on youth development.

Resources are also distributed among those organizations. If their efforts could be

coordinated and the resources are pulled together, significant contributions could


33

be made in developing youth. In line with this, Save the Children can do the

following: initiate a platform of stakeholders to discuss on youth issues, prepare

working procedures for coordination of efforts and pulling resources for the

common goal, andassist in setting up of a platform for regular meeting to discuss

and find solutions for challenges and propose new initiatives for youth development.

The summarized recommendations are vital ingredients for reaching the program’s

activities. The program packages have been designed to be in line with the labor market

requirements. As such training, coaching and mentoring services on wage- and self-

employment will continue to support the identification, development and uptake of labor

market opportunities while strengthening the partnerships with the stakeholders at all

levels.

Value and use of initial assessments

The initial assessments undertaken at the beginning of the program, the findings from which

are summarized above, have formed a foundation for the program’s approach and activities.

The rapid and labor market assessments and value chain identification exercise have

provided an overview of young people’s demographic, social and economic contexts, and

potential livelihoods pathways.

The findings from these assessments have been used to identify the most suitable training

locations and methods, and have informed the adaptation of the training and follow up

support content and methodologies and so that youth will be engaged from the first day on.

The adaptation of manuals for illiterate youth, the WBL manual development and mentors

engagement guideline development are key examples of the program’s integration of

assessment findings into its approach.

Based on assessment findings and field observations, almost 98% of young people’s current

livelihoods engagements depend on the agriculture sector in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and

Tigray regions, yet without sufficient long-term perspective. As such diversification to non-

farm activities are required. Rural non-farm activities represent opportunities for tapping

the youth’s entrepreneurial capabilities, which for the most part have been underutilized,

but have the ability to reduce rural unemployment, create opportunities for the landless to

earn an income, help raise economic growth in rural areas and enhance rural people’s


34

access to basic services and amenities such as water, electricity, household consumer

goods, agricultural inputs etc. In addition, in Africa where agricultural productivity has been

stagnating, farms that have experienced yield growth did so due to a cash injection derived

from non-farm activities9.

For example in the assessment of the Mierab Azernet woreda of SNNPR it was discovered

that private investments are limited in the woreda in all the sectors. Although the woreda

authorities are saying that the government priority is promotion of manufacturing industry,

according to the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II), there is no concrete

program identified in the short-term. Given the limited availability of land for production of

agriculture and other commodities, comparative advantage of the woreda to attract large-

scale investments in the field of agriculture seems to be limited. Because of that, in the

short-term, the local authorities think to promote medium and small scale investments and

micro-enterprises for those who want to engage in bamboo crafts, wood and metal works,

solar energy and equipment supplies, poultry farm, fattening and dairy development.

While developing their personal development plans, many youth struggled with choosing

their future career paths, as they had never considered it in this way before. To support

youth in their decision-making and planning, youth facilitators were able to use the findings

from the assessments and provide examples of potential livelihoods opportunities within

their local areas. Considering the assessment findings and linkages with other stakeholders,

the youth facilitators and Woreda officers were able to provide sound coaching and

linkages for employment opportunities.

As such the youth facilitators and woreda officers had the opportunity to meet with

stakeholders such as local government representatives, business owners and community

members. While engaging with the stakeholders the youth facilitators got a greater insight

into the educational and career opportunities and cultures within the woredas.

9 Ellis, F. 2004. Occupational Diversification in Developing Countries and Implications for Agricultural Policy,

Programme of Advisory and Support Services to DFID (PASS) Project No. WB0207:

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/25/9/36562879.pdf.


35

Radio stations and ICT applications assessment

USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth identified the significance of using ICT, in particular

radio, to reach target beneficiaries and their communities. It was crucial to conduct

assessments to identify local radio stations that are mostly heard by the local community

and relevant ICT applications. Regional staff performed assessments during June and July

2016. All regions conducted the assessments and the most heard radio stations and the

most commonly used ICT applications (Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp) in intervention

areas were identified. The results of the radio station assessment was used to create

partnerships with the most famous local radio stations and to air a weekly radio show

based on the feedback of respondents and the objectives of POTENTIAL. The results of

the ICT application assessments provided the framework for application designers to

create a platform that is used to share relevant information for beneficiaries of the YES

services.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Throughout the year, the program’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) team has developed

monitoring tools and led data collection to track participants and gather data for the major

indicators. The following tools have been developed and applied, and the Kobo tools

system10 is used to collect data on beneficiary youth, their employment and their

participation in the program’s different trainings:

I. Youth Intake Profile Data Collection Tool

This tool is used to collect basic data on youth enrolled in the program activities in order

to collect baseline data relevant to program performance indicators such as;

10 KoBoToolbox is a suite of tools for field data collection for use in challenging environments. Understanding the population’s needs is often neglected for lack of quick means to gather and analyze this crucial information. KoBoToolbox, developed by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, is an open source suite of tools for data collection and analysis.


36

- Number of persons receiving new employment or better employment (including

self-employment) as a result of participation in USG funded workforce development

programs;

- Percent of internships/ apprenticeships transitioning into employment;

- Number of youth beneficiaries with increased income;

- Number of youth beneficiaries with increased productive assets;

- Percent of youth with improved development assets as per social capital dimensions

in the youth livelihood framework.

In the reporting period 7,332 youth profiles were collected from the six regions, and an overview of findings on selected variables is presented in the tables below: Table 5: Youth Employment and Educational Status


37

II. Youth Registration Data Collection Tool

The tool is designed in electronic and hard copy version, to be used by regional offices and

as a reference for the Save the Children office. The hard copy version is collected

immediately when the youth is engaged in the first program activity and encoded in the

system within a weeks’ time. This form is used to register youth/beneficiaries joining

specific activity/service as group or individual on a daily basis. The main indicators from

which baseline information is generated include:

- Number of youth and their demographic data

- Number of youth completing POTENTIAL program components

- Number of youth who utilized coaching to search for employment

III. Activity Attendance Data Collection Tool

Data is collected to follow up the participation in the activity that is implemented on a daily

basis, on those who are present or absent. The daily hours are also registered for each

participant. This data is mainly collected in hard copy and filled at Woreda level. The main

indicator from which baseline information is generated is: Person hours of training completed

in workforce development supported by the program.

IV. Employment/Job Placement Data Collection Tool

This tool is used to track the employment status of youth beneficiaries. It captures

information about the youth who are employed, placed in apprenticeship/internship or self-

employed or those youth with improved/better employment. Employment status for all

beneficiary youth has to be recorded throughout the quarter and status of employment has

to be checked. The main indicators from which baseline information will be generated

include: Number of persons receiving new employment or better employment (including self-

employment) as a result of participation in USG funded workforce development programs.

V. Rapid Assessment Tools

The assessment tool generated a significant amount of data that was collected and analyzed

at the woreda, regional and national level at the beginning of the program, and will also be

conducted for new woredas. The assessment included the following three data collection

tools:


38

1. Individual youth survey tool (tablet application - all indicators disaggregated by

gender): This tool records youth literacy level, employment status and type of work,

youth perception regarding different types of job and family employment status.

2. Youth Focus Group Discussion tool: This tool helps to identify current and

possible social and economic engagement within their communities

3. Key Informant Interview: This generates information about employment

opportunities and labor market environment.

Rapid analysis notes for FGD and KII are summarized by regional staff using the templates

provided and documented in hard and electronic copy to be shared or downloaded to the

Save the Children central data system, while the individual youth survey is automatically

uploaded to a server and retrieved by all M&E staff members.

Capacity Building and Technical Support The Addis and regional M&E staff members conducted visits regional staffs to provide

technical support for data collection in hard- and soft copy and to validate the compiled

data. An M&E capacity building workshop was also conducted in May 2016, in Addis Ababa

with the participation of 20 regional and country office staff members to:

Conduct a review of results, indicators and targets;

Develop common understanding on monitoring data collection methodology,

instruments and use of tablet applications to capture and store monitoring data;

Review performance of monitoring activities at operational areas;

Improve overall clarity, data quality issues, roles and responsibilities on M & E

At the end of the workshop the participants had a better understanding of the indicators

and sub-indicators, and how they will be measured.

Performance Evaluation A performance evaluation at baseline, midline, and endline will be conducted to determine

the extent to which implementing partners met program objectives and targets as well as to

assess the effectiveness of the program design.


39

In September 2016, the mid-term evaluation began with a performance data quality

assessment, review of M&E tools, and implementation of M&E activities. The evaluation team

was introduced to Save the Children and EDC staff members as well as implementing

partners and conducted field level visits. A workshop with all partners was conducted to

validate the findings of the initial data quality assessment and review of M&E tools and

activities, to discuss the relevance of indicators, and to agree on the way forward.

During the workshop the data systems review was presented in which it is stated that the

regional coordinators, M&E staff and Youth facilitators are all aware of the current

indicators and that they are familiar with the M&E plan and performance indicators. The

online survey tool, Kobo Toolbox, has been deployed to all regions; nonetheless most

regions are challenged by irregular Internet connection so that the youth facilitators are

forced to compile the data in hard copy format and then uploading the data onto the tablet

or in the computer when connectivity is available. The data is mostly output data, although

outcome level changes in employment among youth participants are also being monitored.

Moreover the following recommendations have been raised; with the youth cohort study,

and recently piloted methods there is an opportunity to asses the best way to collect data

on employment, income and productive assets. Further the M&E plan should reflect the

current program and data collection activities including adding or dropping indicators

(social capital dimensions, literacy and numeracy, improved capacity of TTI to develop

training) from the M&E plan so that it better reflects program implementation and also

revising out-year targets for some indicators. This means that the program should review

and update the M&E plan and develop a corresponding data collection and analysis plan,

considering the evaluation work in the pipeline and the results framework and targets. The

M&E team should continue promoting the culture of data quality by providing regular

training and materials on USAID performance monitoring and data quality requirements for

regional teams. A working group or M&E retreat was suggested and has been taken into

consideration.

Outcome survey During the last quarter of the year, an outcome survey was conducted in SNNPR and

Tigray. More than 600 youth that completed different program activities prior to June 30

2016 were randomly selected for this survey. The data was collected using individual survey


40

and focus group discussions. The report on the outcome surveys will be submitted in a

separate report, and an overview of the findings from Tigray is below:

Regional Program Review Workshops Quarterly woreda-level and annual regional review meetings were conducted with program

stakeholders, including staff from Save the Children, EDC and regional implementing

partners to monitor the performance of the program, review and adapt the program’s

framework (content, delivery and coordination), share experiences, challenges and lessons,

and plan for upcoming activities.

Photo 2: Annual review workshop in Addis Ababa


41

Workshops sessions included presentations, brainstorming and plenary, and the topics

covered included:

• Presentation and discussion of the detailed implementation plan (DIP) against the

planned budget and achievements under each IR;

• Labor market assessment and value chain identification activities in the targeted

woredas;

• The process of youth selection and future support of the youth, livelihood

opportunities and experiences;

• Gender and child safeguarding issues in program implementation;

• Training modules adaptation and implementation process;

• Data collection and management; and

• YES-Hub services’ establishment and management.

Intermediate Result 2: Improved youth access to market relevant skills and

experiences to support the transition to safe and viable employment

Overview of training and support pathways In an effort to improve employment and boost rural and pastoral livelihoods, the program

is providing pathways for youth growth and job mobility by combining market relevant

training with real market opportunities. The strategic livelihood approach developed

responds to unemployed and underemployed youths’ capacity and continuous support

needs. The program prepares unemployed and underemployed low-income youth to start a

business or enter wage employment through skill development in work readiness and

business skill training.

POTENTIAL's curriculum toolkit includes the following five modular and integrated

employability interventions:

1. Positive Youth Development: an “asset-based” approach, focusing on one’s self,

family and community;


42

2. Aftateen: social and financial education for the younger youth cohort;

3. Work Ready Now! (WRN!): basic ‘soft’ employability skills, knowledge and behaviors

needed in order to be successful;

4. Work Based Learning (WBL): real workplace experience by observing or working

on products or services

5. Be Your Own Boss (BYOB): basic skills for youth who wish to improve an existing

income generating activity or pursue self- employment

During trainings, youth develop personal development plans, and those who plan on

starting or improving their own business also develop a Marketing Plan and Business plan.

Youth Facilitators then coach youth on following their plans, where and how to find

additional support and resources, and provide ongoing encouragement. Follow-up support

is also provided through the training of ‘Volunteer Mentors’ from the community to

mentor and support youth who have completed WRN! and are seeking to earn an income

either through their own businesses or who are employed in local workplaces.

Selecting a pathway The training pathway youth follow is determined both by age and interest. Recognizing the

differences between our target group, the program targets youth in two age cohorts, 15-18

years old and 19-29 years old, and youth are also able to choose whether they wish to

focus on wage employment or self-employment.

The following diagram shows the training components and follow-up and support activities

for youth between the ages of 15-18 that includes Positive Youth Development, Aflateen,

Work Ready Now and Work based learning (self-employment pathways is not a focus for

this age group).


43

The diagram below shows the training components and follow-up and support activities for

youth between the ages of 19-29. All youth participate in the Positive Youth Development

and WRN! trainings, then depending on their interests proceed to WBL opportunities,

further skills training, or for those with an interest in self-employment, BYOB.


44

In a nutshell the career guidance that is being offered to the young people assesses their

abilities, explore education and labor market opportunities, so that they can make

appropriate career decisions. The assessments support youth to identify career

opportunities that matches with their talents and competencies, as well as opportunities in

their local market. The activities during and after the training assist youth in finding

themselves, exploring their interests, values and skills, their likes and dislikes, and how they

should consider their cultural, social and economic settings. The diagram below shows the

trajectory towards decent employment:

This year the program’s five training modules and four follow up support guidelines were

developed and implemented in 19 woredas. 7,332 (43.4%F) youth have participated in the

program through a combination of five training packages: Work Ready Now (WRN!), Be

Your Own Boss (BYOB), WRN! plus, Aflateen, and Personal Youth Development. These

trainings were delivered in all six regions by 38 permanent youth facilitators and 19 woreda

officers. Additionally, 36 volunteers and 22 TVET instructors supported the program to

reach more youth at site level and at TVET entities. After each training youth received

follow-up support like coaching, mentoring, work based learning opportunities and linkages

with other youth service providers. Participants were taking one or more training packages

based on their personal development plan (developed during WRN!), literacy level,

interest, need, and age level.


45

Adaptation of training modules

Four training modules were adapted this year in order to better meet the needs of youth,

and to provide further training for youth to develop the necessary skills and receive

additional support to start or grow income generating activities.

EDC’s Work Ready Plus was adapted for young people with lower literacy levels, and

EDC’s “Be Your Own Boss” (BYOB) curricula was further adapted by including additional,

relevant components from WRN!.

Positive Youth Development modules from the Youth in Action program were adapted to

improve youth’s personal understanding and to improve their self-esteem to develop their

future career pathways. This module has been previously adapted and tested in Ethiopian

context, and had proven outcomes from rural and semi-rural parts of the Amhara region.

To address the special needs of youth between the age 15 -18, the Aflateen curriculum was

also adapted to strengthen the program’s approaches to personal goal interest

identification, knowledge of personal rights and responsibilities, starting an enterprise and

financial literacy.

Development and adaptation of follow up support guidelines and implementation status

Work Based learning guideline Work Based Learning (WBL) is one of the pathways from the WRN! training and is

primarily for WRN! graduates who decided to enter wage employment, yet it can be also

considered for young people who want to start a business and want to learn about

production and business processes. WBL provides short-term placements with employers,

and additional skills training for youth who require this before placement. For example in

Tigray and Amhara, youth with low skill levels who were eager to pursue wage

employment were first referred to TVETs to participate in and receive relevant technical

skills training.

19 woreda officers have been trained in WBL to date. the process of WBL involves

identification of interested youth; discussing their preferred work place, educational

background and interest, identifying institutions/organization that will offer the identified

type of WBL; discussing with the identified organization/institution how WBL will be


46

realized in their entities; and defining roles of the organization and implementing partners.

Youth are expected to be responsible and committed to their placement and sign a MOU

for reliability and formal relationship. 66 youth (66F) have participated in different WBL

opportunities and are learning practical skills in Amhara, Afar, Oromia and SNNPR regions.

In the beginning of Year 3 we will evaluate the outcomes from WBL in order to learn for

future WBL activities.

Coaching and Follow Up Support USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth adapted the coaching manual from a previous

USAID-funded EDC program in Guyana. The adaptation of and training on the manual was

led by EDC, with close follow up and support of Save the Children program staff members.

In total, 53 youth facilitators and woreda officers participated in the trainings that were

held in Hawassa (SNNPR) and Bahirdar (Amhara region) in March 2016.

Developing Mentoring Guide and Training Manual USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth is recruiting volunteer mentors who are willing to

work with woreda officers (WOs) and youth facilitators to prepare young people for self

or wage employment as well as for productive citizenship. Volunteer mentors are business

people, career professionals or role models from local communities who have relevant

experience and are interested in supporting and promoting youth.

The goal of mentoring is to provide guidance and support to an aspiring mentee. It is a

collaborative relationship where both mentor and mentee can learn from each other and

devise a strategic plan for reaching desired goals. It takes trust to work together and tackle

the challenges that most aspiring young people face, including overcoming fears, building

confidence, and taking risks. The program therefore provides comprehensive training on

skills such as active listening and effective communication, which are critical for successful

mentoring and relationship-building.

EDC developed an integrated Mentor’s Guide and Training Manual (see Annex 2) to train

Volunteer Mentors who will mentor and support youth who have completed WRN! and

are seeking to earn an income either through their own businesses or being employed in

local workplaces. This guide and training manual is written to train and assist volunteers to

comprehend the program, the situation of young people, the concept of positive youth

development, their role as mentors, and the support available to them. It also includes


47

information and skills that can assist the mentors for their meetings with their mentees,

developing communication skills and relationship building, understanding effective

approaches for building trust and collaborative relationships.

To date, mentoring training has been provided by EDC to 310 participants in 15 target

woredas. Following the training, mentors signed agreements to support 4-6 youth for the

next six months.

Photo 3: Mentors training in Wolmera, Oromia

Start-up Business Ideas Handbook Youth that are looking for self-employment opportunities are often unaware of the

requirements that are needed to start a business. They face challenges in identifying and

analyzing the most suitable business idea, the human, financial and social capital needed to

develop their own business ideas. To address this, the program has adapted the idea of a

start-up business idea handbook from Uganda11. Currently EDC, in collaboration with Save

the Children has developed the first 30 startup business ideas that provide information

about material, human, financial and technical requirements relevant for the target woredas.

The business handbook contains preferred business ideas of rural and semi-rural youth,

11 “Business Handbook for Uganda - Get up it’s time” was published in 2004 based on the collaboration between the Uganda Industrial Research Institute, the Jugend Sozialwerk Nordhausen e.V. and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The book presents 149 ideas for founding independent businesses, a glossary of business terms used and an introduction on how to start and operate a healthy business.


48

identified through personal observations, research and review of secondary information.

Further ideas will be developed based on labor market assessment findings.

Table 6: Sample of business ideas for handbook

The business descriptions include all the necessary tools, cost of the tools, preferable

geographic areas, skills required, available support and opportunities, estimated running

cost, and current technology and process. The handbook is serving the youth, youth

facilitators, the implementing partners and other stakeholders as the menu for the selection

of startup businesses and facilitates the engagement of youth in self-employment activities.


49

Figure 1: Extract from USAID's Building the Potential of Youth's Business Idea

Handbook

21st Century Youth Employment Guide In order to succeed in the 21st century global economy young people need the right set of

skills that will allow them to thrive in the labor market and to break the cycle of poverty. In

addition, skills training needs to build their resiliency to fluctuations in the labor market and

allow them to upgrade their knowledge and skills as necessary. Sustainable livelihood means

STARTUP BUSI- NESS IDEAS

HANDBOOK

Startup Business Ideas Catalogue for Ethiopia

Startup Business Ideas

Crops Production

Opportunities Ethiopia has suitable growing conditions for cereal production and with a population of about 100 million offers huge market and increasing consum-

Description of the business One potential business opportunity is planting, growing and harvesting cereal crops such as tef, wheat, barley, maize, sorghum and millet. to sell to consumers and processors. Due to agro-ecological diversity that ranges from tropical to temperate conditions these major food crops are produced in almost all regions of the country but with large variations in terms of volume. Preferable work place and size Northern, northwestern and central highlands of Ethiopia are

suitable for mixed cereal farming while maize and sorghum can grow in eastern highland areas.

Wheat and barley are predominantly grown in Arsi and Bale highlands. Coffee, maize and horticultural crops farming is more suitable in southern and southwestern highlands.

Lowland areas of Ethiopia can grow short maturing maize, sorghum, wheat and tef varieties along with some oil seeds and lowland pulses.

Cereal production requires at least a quarter hectare of farm land preferably owned by the business operator. Alternative- ly, it could be accessed via allocation of communal land, rental or entering share cropping partnership. Equipment and tools The equipment can be available from local market, rural technology promotion centers or local TVET colleges A pair of oxen (Renting is an option) Animal-drawn wooden beam fitted with steel plough Hand tools such as forks and hoeszer boxSeed and fertilizer

box Sickles Winnowing forks, shovels and baskets Maize Sheller (for maize only) Inputs and potential sources The inputs can be provided by Woreda Agriculture Office,

the seed enterprise or available in the local market. Improved cereal seeds Fertilizers Herbicides and pesticides

Productive cereal cultivation requires good preparatory tillage, seedbed preparation, sowing/planting, weeding, harvesting and storage. It also requires proper use of improved seeds, fertilizer, pesticides as well as modern agricultural practices such as row seeding/ planting, row crop spacing and in-the-row plant spacing. Human resource & skills Ideally one or more people can run the business depending on the farm size and at least one person should have the knowledge of cereal crop cultivation. It requires more labor force during seeding, weeding, harvesting and threshing. Target market and customers The target market for cereal crops are both urban and rural dwellers. The main customers include household consumers, food processing companies, breweries, flour producers, grain millers and grain traders. Potential linkages and support providers Woreda Agriculture Office Woreda Youth and Sports Office Agricultural extension workers Ethiopian Seed Enterprise Microfinance Institutions Woreda Cooperative Office Breweries and flour producers Food processing companies Regional Agricultural Research Institutes Higher Learning Intuitions

er demand. Thus, engaging in the production of cereal crops is both sustainable and profitable business. Key challenges The impact of climate change and Vicious droughts Scarcity of farm land in densely populated central and northern highland areas. Shortage of improved seed varieties Indicative startup capital per a quarter of hectare (example of tef) a) Equipment Total cost (in birr) Land rent 1500 Wooden beam with plough 100 Yoke 100 Hoes (2 in number) Seed and fertilizer box Sickles Forks Shovels Baskets

Total b) Operating expenses Total cost (in birr) Rental of oxen (6X150) 900 Improved seed (10kg) Fertilizer (urea =50kg) 550 Fertilizer (dap =50kg) 550 Herbicides one time use 300

“This business handout is developed by SCI technical partner Education Development Center, and adapted or use in Ethiopia jointly by SCI and EDC along with SCI’s implementing partners”

CEREAL CROPS PRODUCTIO

Crops Production


50

that the livelihoods pathway allows for continuous learning and growth within the labor

market.

The program’s 21st Century Youth Employment guide is designed to assist regional

managers, woreda officers, youth facilitators and volunteers as they plan for and implement

the program’s youth livelihoods interventions. This guide provides an overview of key tools

and livelihoods approaches while the appendices provide a comprehensive toolkit of all

program curricula and training materials. The guidance and tools provided in this guide have

been contextualized and are designed so that they can be applied in all six regions and 30

woredas.

The guide is comprised of five key sections that are designed to provide an overview of the

program’s conceptual framework, theory of change and implementation methodology. In

addition the guide clearly outlines the youth employment pathways and the enabling

environment that ensures sustainability of interventions. It is important to note that the

program livelihoods activities allow for movement between the livelihoods pathways.

Should the young person opt to switch from self-employment pathway to wage

employment, the mentoring and career guidance component can help support a young

person across these transitions.

Training Delivery Status

Work Ready Now! Training WRN! training was delivered to 6,326 (44%F) youth; among them more than 600 (48%F)

were TVET graduate students in the Amhara and Tigray region. The remaining were out of

school youth from 19 woredas within the six regions. The training has 4 major components

that can assist participants to improve their skills in the area of

(1) Personal Development,

(2) Interpersonal Communication,

(3) Work habits and Conduct, and


51

(4) Leadership.

According to a TVET student in Dera who participated in the WRN! training, it prepared

them to look for work and improve their communication skills, and they recommended

that the training be provided to all TVET students, and for secondary students as well as

the training “prepared them not only for work but for life.” According to another student,

Hayelom who is 23 years old, “One of the things helped me the most from the training is the

community mapping exercise; I’m going to start farming as a result of resources that I realized

during this session”.

The youth facilitators were trained in experiential and active learning methodologies

including role-play, individual and group activities, game and other participatory methods to

ensure active engagement throughout the training. In connection to each training topic, the

facilitators use local proverbs while addressing restrictive or harmful traditional practices,

poor working culture, dependency, while also inspiring the youth participants to enter the

labor market with the right attitude. Most of the activities are conducted in mixed groups,

with participants of both genders, while maintaining cultural sensitivity. The feedback

received from the trainees indicate that the training has contributed to improved lifestyles,

improved interpersonal communication skills, group sprit and teamwork, and enhanced

their readiness for the world of work.

During the year, training venues included Kebele Farmer Training Centers (FTCs), primary-

and secondary schools, kebele administrative offices, and youth centers; training venues

Photo 4: Work Ready Now! participants


52

were provided as a cost share contribution ($3-20 a day) by the woreda and kebele

administrative offices, a sign of their buy-in to the program’s objectives. All trainees

completed their training safely and nothing was reported related to any discomfort or

violation of rights.

The training closing ceremonies were organized by the graduates and facilitators and

conducted with the presence of woreda and kebele administrators, microfinance

institutions, representatives of youth and sport offices, the private sector and other

relevant stakeholders. Participants presented their newly acquired knowledge and skills in

role-plays, drama, poem and presentations. Following their presentations, the

representatives of different organizations discussed the type of support they can contribute

to assist these young people to achieve their career goals.

In addition, the newly adapted WRN plus module was provided to 53 (60%f) youth in the

Afar region. This module was customized for young people who cannot read and write.

The WRN plus participants were able to easily understand the concepts without taking

notes or reading the flip charts while they participated in the training. This adapted module

allowed less literate youth to participate freely and acquire the key lessons from WRN!.

Be Your Own Boss training (BYOB) 38 youth facilitators from each woreda participated in the TOT training of BYOB

conducted in February 2016. BYOB training was then delivered to 1,530 youth who had

successfully completed the WRN! training in the last year and had the intention of starting

group- and/or individual businesses. The training was delivered for five consecutive days.

The training assisted participants to know their income, expenditure and profit, separate

business and personal expenses and assets, record keeping and practical exercises on

customer (need) base product and service delivery. Further the training addressed issues

such as; how to sell the product/commodity for customers, how to manage their business

and finance, identify new business ideas and improve their existing business and prepare a

business plan.

Aflateen Training Delivery The Aflateen curriculum is designed for youth between the ages of 15-18 to enhance their

insight into financial, human and social resource management. To date, 72 (61%f) youth

participated in this training. The training assisted the participants to think about their


53

future, creating financial and activity plans, knowing their right and responsibilities, knowing

their community and their role within their communities. After this training, participants

join the WRN! training and receive the program’s follow-up support.

This training has not yet been implemented in all regions as the translation of the manuals

into 5 local languages was still underway, but will commence in all woredas in Year 3.

Positive Youth Development The Positive Youth Development modules, adapted from the Youth in Action program, is a

soft skills training component that is provided for beneficiary youth age 15-29 years. The

training develops young people’s insight on their personalities, communities and the

resources available around them, and addresses learning for life, taking action and

mentorship. Beneficiary youth practically assess the economic, social and cultural context of

their community that is foundational to understand themselves and their communities. It

gives them the chance to participate in the social and economic activities and address

underlying issues within their communities.

38 youth facilitators from 19 woredas participated in the positive youth development

training of trainers (ToT). As a the result, with full arrangement of training materials and

technical support from woreda and regional offices, the volunteers trained 1,651 (44%f)

youths in all woredas. These youth will join WRN! and receive the program’s other follow

up supports.

Follow-up support

Village/Youth Saving and Loan association (V/YSLA) The soft skill trainings provided by the program is a strong component in terms of changing

the attitude of the youth towards work. However, start-up capital is one of the main

challenges mentioned by the youth who wish to engage in business. To overcome this issue

and to promote a savings culture among the young people, V/YSLAs were introduced. The

V/YSLA approach is that members meet regularly and deposit the agreed savings in the

presence of all members and also use the meeting to discuss economic- and social matters.

This proven methodology fit well in the rural context that the program is working within,

and also is appropriate for low-income groups due to its flexibility in approach. Should

youth wish to access loans, the program has been linking youth to MFI/OMOs.V/YSLAs are


54

also used as an entry point for other interventions such as coaching, as the facilitators can

coach and support the members during their regular V/YSLA saving day. In total, 13

V/YSLAs were established with 302 members (177 female and 125 male). In total, the

program aims to establish 50 youth groups will be in all woredas, and to leverage the model

for other livelihood activities.

Mobile for Career Development The integration of ICT into program activities was started this year and will be addressed

largely in the coming years. ICT can assist young people to develop their skills, knowledge,

and social capital. The application of ICT in the rural development sector has been rather

slow. The main reasons for this are: (1) poor ICT infrastructure, (2) poor ICT awareness,

and (3) lack of local language used in ICT applications. Although radio, TV and recently

mobile phones are accessible in rural areas, in the case of radio and TV, these are only

information providers where the audiences can only listen or watch, but interaction and

feedback are limited. However mobile phones can facilitate access and information sharing

between social networks, and can be leveraged for educational, health,

professional/livelihoods purposes.

The program is exploring the development of a comprehensive information system M4CD

(Mobile for Career Development) that can be accessed via phone, tablet or computer with

the objective to provide local relevant and accessible career advice and guidance support

system to young people embarking on their career path. The program identified local

relevant information such as addresses of private companies and technical vocational

training institutions, and business ideas that will be disseminated using existing ICT tools

that are utilized by most youth. While the resources of M4CD (online, offline, online web

application) are available to all young people no matter what their socio-economic

circumstances, the main purpose is to support Woreda & Kebele Training and Coaching

facilitator/tutors/mentors working with young people and further youth centers, TVETs,

Farmer Training Centers (FTCs), communities, etc.

The M4CD platform will have the following core functions: 1) Information and knowledge

packages, 2) Training manuals, 3) Practical guides, 4) Publications, audio, and video, 5)

Market data, 6) Labor market data incl. employment opportunities for self and wage

employment, and 7) Event calendar.


55

Radio program guideline development and distribution Based on findings from the radio and ICT usage survey, the radio guidelines that include the

overall objective of the radio show and approaches were developed and distributed to all

six regions and for all regional managers and partner radio stations. The radio show will be

broadcasted in six regions and five languages. Following the signing of the agreement

between implementing partners and radio stations the first show was broadcasted in

August 2016 in the Amhara regional state by the Amhara regional state mass

communication agency.

Currently the show is on air on a weekly basis in Tigray, Amhara and SNNPR regions and

recording has started in the Afar region and will be launched soon. Amharic radio shows

are being produced by the Save the Children youth communication coordinator on a

weekly basis in order to showcase the content to be included in the regional radio shows,

and how to attract listeners. In the coming year the show will start in the Oromia, Somali

and Afar regions with the support of selected local radio stations. To date, eight episodes

of the show were broadcasted and listeners have given constructive feedbacks on how they

perceive the radio show and which topics they would like more information on.

The content of each episode is listed below:

1 The story of Asneka Bayih from Amhara region, a role model who attempts to change her life using the training offered; international youth entrepreneurs are highlighted in this episode.

2 Features Kemer Seid from SNNPR, an exemplary youth who is trying to change her life using the lessons she learned from POTENTIAL’s trainings. The episode also discusses the importance of saving.

3 The story of Shambel Getahun from Tigray region, who is striving to change his life by working hard and applying the lessons from POTENTIAL. This episode features information on YES service for youth.

4 Features an inspiring girl who is struggling to change her life

5 The story of Abubeker Mudesir from SNNPR, whose motivation to start his own business inspires his community, and highlights creativity.

6 Features the challenging experiences of an international successful businessman and famous singer who become successful after working hard for decades.


56

7 Presents the story of a 60-year-old grandmother from Oromia who supports her family using her backyard for growing vegetables. Also introduces a component about the power of vision.

8 Discusses the power of vision part two and additional component about being genuine and considerate of others in a daily job

Intermediate Result 3: Coordinated delivery among local institutions of quality

market driven services connecting underserved youth especially women to

employment and income opportunities

YES service establishment

During the program’s second year, 30 YES services were identified and began to provide

services in all implementation regions. Services include work readiness and other skills

training with follow up support on business development support, connection with

employment and other youth service providers such as microfinance, Ministry of land

authority, and ongoing technical support during and after participation through coaching

and mentoring. All services are hosted within youth centers provided by the Bureau of

Youth and Sport office, kebele and woreda offices and TVET colleges. In exchange for

hosting YES services, the various partners benefited from access capacity support and

equipment, including learning materials and knowledge and skills transfer, and computers

and photocopy machines, . YES facilitators manage the YES service; their key role is to

establish and coordinate access to services through the network of youth service providers

(local partners, private sector) and match youth with relevant opportunities based on their

personal development plans, and coach and advise them on their career pathway.

Photo 5: YES service in Gode, Somali region


57

Table 7: YES services established per region

Amhara Afar Somalia SNNPR Tigray Oromia

Ambesame,

Dera

Detebahri in

Dubti

Gode,

Woreda

Lera, Merab

azernet

Mehane,

Maychew

Dire, Mega

city

Hamusit, Dera Farm1 kebele,

Dubti

Jijiga, Haroris

Kebele

Saja, Yem Meswaeti,

Maychew

Yabello, Dida

Kebele

Bahirdar Zuria Megenta,

Dubti

Jijiga, Amadle

kebele

Fofa, Yem Waja-

Tumuga

Keble, Raya

Alemata

Wolemera,

Menagesha

Dure betie,

Semien Achefer

Berga in

Ayssaita

woreda

Jijiga,

Hadhow

kebele

Donkula,

Endegene

Gergelie,

Raya

Alemata

Wolemera,

Goro kereisa

Lalibela,

Debube

Achefer

01 kebele in

Ayssaita

woreda

Lera, Merab

Azernet

Ada, Udie

Liben, Debube

Achefer

02 Kebele in

TVET, Ayssaita

Yesmala,

Debube

Achefer

Table 8: IT material and furniture distributed per region

List of IT Materials Afar Amhara Oromia SNNPR Somalia Tigray

Desktop 7 7 5 4 5 4

Monitor 28 28 20 16 20 16

Thin Client 28 28 20 16 20 16

Switch port 7 7 5 4 5 4


58

Adapter (Extension cable) 4 3 9 2 3

All in one copy, scanner and

printer) with Cartridge

6 7 5 4 4 4

Cartridge 6 7 5 4 4 3

Network Cable w/

connector

28 28 20 16 20 16

Laptop 2

YES services capacity building workshop To improve access to quality career coaching and work-based learning services, and

business development support, two capacity building trainings (three days each) were

provided for youth facilitators, woreda officers, YES facilitators and regional managers. The

first workshop was held in February 2016 with the main objective to capture the lessons

learned by partners to enhance the YES concept and prepare partners to consolidate the

pilot YES services and scale up. Moreover, core concepts of sustainability and marketing

were shared with participants. This assisted participants to explore different available

opportunities to sustain the YES service and be able to provide continuous and ongoing

support and mentoring service to youth, including developing and following up on personal

development plans based on relevant opportunities. Beside this, the workshop facilitated

the participants to share best practice experience that can be replicable to all regions.

The second capacity building workshop was held in June 2016 for Woreda Officers, YES

facilitators and Regional Managers. The workshop focused on YES services and product

development and provide feasible income generating activities to sustain the YES services

after the program’s end.

Additional on job training were provided for YES facilitators and woreda officers in Somalia,

Tigray and Amhara regions in order to equip the YES facilitator and woreda officers with

skills that will assist them to provide business development support for youth. Need


59

analysis tools were also shared with the YES facilitators to be used to continuously identify

products or services that can be offered at YES services to meet communities’ needs.

As part of skill development for youth, YES services are also aiming to set up book banks

to provide youth with the opportunity to improve their literacy and numeracy skills. In this

year Save the Children distributed reading materials developed through its basic education

quality improvement department for all established services.

Linkage with Government stakeholders and Microfinance Institutions

The success of the program depends on the participation of all stakeholders working

together to improve youth’s livelihoods. Engaging community leaders, government

stakeholders, and the private sector is critical for sustainable service delivery. The

ownership and engagement of stakeholders in target woredas is promoted and their

involvement in supporting youths is developed, and the program has developed strong

linkages with service providers and government stakeholders.

Government partners (woreda and kebele steering committees) are playing key roles in

identifying under/unemployed youths and providing follow-up during training. The following

are among the government offices working with the program with strong linkages:

- TVEDO: for supporting youths on IGA, BDS, and provide working places.

- Agriculture office: for technical trainings in and supporting youths engaged in

Agriculture.

- Youths and Sport Office: for community mobilization, YES Hub establishment

- Women and Children Affair Offices: gender integration and awareness creation

- TVET: Providing Technical Trainings, and WRN training.

Woreda agricultural offices found in most program implementation areas are willing to

provide technical trainings to support youth engaged in agricultural activities. On the last

day of the WRN! training, woreda sector offices like the Trade and Industry Office, MFIs,

Small and Micro Enterprise Office, Youth and Sport Office and others were invited and

they committed support and discussed how they will work with youth.


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Another partnership includes one with the Ministry of Water Irrigation and Energy

(MoWIE), for a pilot to train young people on water pump maintenance so that they can be

employed by water projects through the regional water bureaus within the Afar region. If

successful, MoWIE is interested in expanding other regions as well.

The Ethiopian Water Technology Institute has trained the first target cohort of 32 youth in

the theoretical and practical aspects of water pump installation, switch board and generator

maintenance, as well as core skills for employability. Further WRN! training was also

provided. The Humanitarian department of Save the Children contributed more than USD

20,000 for the training courses.

In SNNPR, four MOUs were signed with the Mierab Azarnet woreda’s administration

office; one for WBL and the other three for establishing the YES services within the youth

centers that are under the auspices of the woreda Youth and Sport offices. The regional

team is also in discussions with TVET and industrial colleges to engage youth for hard skills

training using the block grants. Similarly, discussions are ongoing with the woreda sector

office for WBL and with different private sector stakeholders including wood and metal

workshops, and cafeteria owners for job shadowing.

Public and Government MFI’s have also supported the program beneficiaries by providing

loans. For example in the Tigray region the “Dedebit Credit and Saving Institutions

(DECSI)”, a government microfinance institution, is providing access to credit and saving

services for beneficiary youth. DECSI is applying a government incentive by which the

credit recipient should have 20% of the total loan amount and the finance institution will

provide a credit for the remaining 80%. For the beneficiaries in the Tigray region a total of

$ 39,169 (77% of the total investment) has been obtained from DECSI. The remaining $

1,570 has come from young people’s savings or from family contributions. From the total

investment the share of females’ investment is 34%. For all six regions, microfinance

institutes have provided more than one billion birr for youth as startup loans.

Partnerships with the private sector

During the year, the program signed agreements with private sector companies in Oromia,

SNNPR and Tigray (see Annex 1 POTENTIAL PPPP Tracker) to collaborate and support

youth by offering skill building/experience/job shadowing (WBL) and employment


61

opportunities. By participating in the program and working in partnership, enterprises

become part of an extensive network of youth service providers, with automatic access to

the network’s knowledge and expertise that may lead to business growth. The involvement

in the program will also potentially motivate and inspire the businesses’ staff. Additionally,

the program will assist staff members to acquire soft skills from which the business as a

whole will benefit. Businesses have the opportunity to influence and increase the relevance

of technical and vocational training to their needs for capable personnel on the work floor.

Their participation in the program also means that they will have the chance to hire well-

trained employees from their localities in the near future.

Linkage with Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) Institutes

During the last year POTENTIAL worked with 11 TVETs selected from the Oromia,

Amhara, Tigray and Afar regions. As an entry point, 22 (5F) TVET instructors were

selected and trained on WRN! in April 2016 in Mekele Town, Tigray Region. Out of the 11

TVETs, six of them signed the agreement to train graduating class students in work

readiness trainings. More than five hundred students were trained from two TVETs in

Tigray and Amhara region.

Technical trainings delivered by TVET through block grants The purpose of POTENTIAL’s block grants is to enhance the capacity of training institutes

and to develop and offer short-term tailor-made and market-oriented skills training. They

are intended to support the most vulnerable youth to fill the skill gaps based on their

personal development plans and assessment results.

TVETs in Amhara, Tigray and SNNPR regions prepared proposals which addressed the

following: (1) previous experience of the TVET, (2) roles of the TVET, (3) type of skills

training, (4) resource and material needed, and (5) cost share plan. Thereafter MOUs were

signed between both parties based on the approved proposal while considering the target

youth’s personal development plans, and the market needs that were identified during the

labor market and value chain identification assessments.


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Table 9: Number of youth that have completed technical trainings, by sector

No Type of training Male Female Total

1 Fattening & chicken

production 88 68 156

2 Hair Dressing/women’s beauty 0 14 14

3 Tailoring 7 0 7

4 Vegetable production 38 30 68

5 Sanitary and hygiene 0 8 8

6 Male beauty salon 2 0 2

7 Mobile maintenance 3 0 3

8 Dairy management 12 9 12

Total 148 129 277

Practical skills and knowledge sharing training in animal and fruit and vegetable management include:

How to prepare feed and feeding practices; Field practice on livestock feed preparation; Livestock health care and production; Livestock shelter management; Field practice on livestock health care; Livestock record keeping; Livestock management practice; Introducing animal health equipment and safety rules; Preparation of fruit and vegetable farm; Identification and preparation of irrigation materials; Identification and list of fruits and vegetables; Protection of fruits and vegetables from pests and diseases; Pre harvesting and product collecting practices; Fruit and vegetable multiplication; Post harvesting technology; and Field practice on farms managed by investors.


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Local radio stations capacity building training

USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth activity identified radio as a means to reach the

community in its intervention areas.

The prepared guideline and sample weekly shows are significant supports for regional radio

stations journalists who will produce the show in different languages yet it was important

to provide them more exposure and training to enhance their understanding about the

activity.

From six regional radio stations 15 journalists participated in a one-day event held in

September 2016. Additional one day training was provided to learn more about the

program, the objectives, the target and other relevant information.

Photo 6: Urea treatment practice

Photo 7: ‘Be yourself’ weekly radio show production crew

capacity building training


64

The training session addressed the following:

The objective of the program;

Why it is important to use radio as a medium to reach targets;

Regional radio stations experience with youth radio shows;

Do’s and Don’ts in youth radio shows;

The guideline of the youth radio show; and

How to enhance the quality of the show to make it more appealing to listeners

National Stakeholders’ Conference

The partners and stakeholders conference held in September 2016 was an opportunity for

all participants to share their achievements and challenges to a wider audience and to

receive constructive feedback from participants from different backgrounds and

organizations. Regional and woreda discussion platforms were facilitated for partners to

share experiences and learning before the conference, yet those platforms were limited in

terms of participants and the depth of experience sharing opportunities.

The conference was organized under the theme of “Building youth workforce for economic

development”. The conference was attended by over 165 regional and national government

sector partners, community members, national and international nongovernmental

organizations, business and invited guests and media (see Annex 3). Higher officials from

USAID, Ministry of Youth and Sport, and Save the Children made the opening speeches on

the issues of youth development and its importance for the overall country economic

development.

Photo 8: National Stakeholder’s Conference, remarks

from Olaf Erz, Chief of Party


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During her remarks, Mrs. Ramona El Hamzaoui, Deputy Mission Director of USAID in

Ethiopia stressed on the challenges of youth under employment and unemployment and

how the challenge is commonly shared throughout the world

‘….with the exception of magnitude difference, youth unemployment and under employment is a great concern for both the developed and the developing world. The unemployment and underemployment challenges are not factors for a tentative period – however, the negative impact could be multiplied in various aspects such as for the future of the youth as an individual, and for slow economic growth of a nation that has also an impact on the peace and stability of regions.’

Save the Children in Ethiopia Country Director John Graham mentioned how it is crucial

to support the youth and how the collaboration among partners and stakeholders could

really positively affect the youth. John Graham appreciated the effort that has been exerted

to support the youth in different regions collaborating with partners and stakeholders and

pointed out how it is important to address youth issues in the future.

Ato Mulugeta Hailu, from the Ministry of Youth and Sport made a significant point about

how the Government of Ethiopia is addressing the issues of youth and measures taken to

achieve its objectives.

‘….the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, has taken measures that enable the youth to be citizens with professional competence, skill and ethics so that they can actively, efficiently and widely participate in the benefit from the country’s ongoing activities that are aimed at attaining a democratic system and accelerated development.’

Key results of the conference included:

Invited stakeholders shared their experience and their inputs were considered

A technical working group of key program stakeholders was established

Constructive feedback was received regarding the coming three years’ plan.


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2. 3 Implementation challenges

Delays in reaching target numbers

In the first three quarters of Year 2, the program experienced challenges in catching up the

total targets of year 1 and 2. This was due to a variety of issues; most notably the

competing demands such as woreda assessments and TOTs while having a limited number

of youth facilitators as recruitment was still underway. This led the program to consider

hiring additional youth facilitators; however towards the end of Year 2 the program

achieved 90% of its target and it was decided that it was no longer necessary to hire

additional facilitators. With this experience in mind, once all youth facilitators are trained,

and the regional teams continue to leverage ‘multipliers’ such as volunteer youth

facilitators, YES services and TTIs the program will be able to achieve all training targets in

Year 3.

Participation of young women

Particularly in Afar, Oromia, and Somali regions, gender bias among program beneficiary

selection committees and community leaders was a major challenge to ensuring the

participation of young women this year. Some communities gave priority to male youth,

and in some cases married women under the age of 29 were not considered as youth. To

overcome this challenge different strategies were deployed. For example in Afar, when a

kebele selection committee did not recruit 50% female participants, trainings are put on

hold until the committee selected the additional female participants. In Year 3, it is planned

to conduct gender sensitization workshops for community leaders, recruiting committees

and field staff to improve awareness and recognition of the individual and community-level

benefits for increased female participation.

Linking youth to employment

Some of the activities like private sector linkage and providing employment opportunities

to the youth were not adequately addressed as expected. In most cases the focus of most

implementing partners was on the training rather than on the whole package of youth

support. After awareness creation and on-site support by the Addis team, the regional

partners gave more attention on identifying employment opportunities. In the coming year


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the Addis team will focus more on supporting regional partners in identifying linkages with

the private sectors to create sustainable employment opportunity for the young people.

Unavailability of TTIs and expertise in some woredas

In certain woredas, such as Dire, Babile and Endegegn, it was not possible to deliver short-

term, tailored hard-skills training to youth due to the unavailability of TTIs. To address this

adequately the regional teams made arrangements for the youth to travel to nearby cities

to attend trainings, however this incurred additional expenses. The program is therefore

exploring the possibility of bringing instructors to youth centers.

Reaching youth in remote kebeles

In the first two years of the program, the selection of remote and less populous target

woredas and kebeles by woreda administrations was a challenge for the implementation

and achieving the agreed targets accordingly. Reaching these remote kebeles was further

exacerbated by the limited number of vehicles and delays in the registration of the program

motorcycles. The program has since procured additional motorcycles that will be

distributed to the six regions in Year 3. Moreover the regional team of SNNPR negotiated

the change of two target woredas with the local government to less remote woredas with

higher youth unemployment rates yet also with more youth and employment opportunities.

Delays in regional agreements with government stakeholders

The start within the Afar region was delayed as coordinating the demands of five different

regional government sector offices hindered coming to a consensus on the roles and

responsibilities of the different stakeholders. The partners were questioning different issues

related to the program implementation. The agreement was finally signed with the five

different government offices, after long discussions to create a common understanding

among the parties.


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3. INTEGRATION OF CROSSCUTTING ISSUES AND USAID FORWARD PRIORITIES

3. 1 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth gives equal consideration for both young men and women. Attention was given to the participation and safety of both male and female during and after trainings. Using different strategies, the proportion of young women out of the total number of youth reached is 43%, and 50.4% of youth linked to employment opportunities are female.

In order to continue to improve young women’s access and participation in the activity, in year 3 the Addis team will continue to encourage the regional teams to consider gender roles and obstacles, for example to facilitate the provision of child care during trainings by cooperating with local woreda and kebele administrators.

While implementing partners often do not have equal recruitment of women in their programs, either as facilitators or beneficiaries, Save the Children’s recruitment policy which mandates that 50% of beneficiaries and volunteers have to be female, has changed their practices and assisted to reach more young women.

SNNPR has achieved 55% participation of young women, which can be attributed to the International Women’s Day event and continuous follow-up.

Gender sensitization with regional partners and communities:

The regional partners received ongoing technical support, including on ensuring gender

balance in selecting beneficiaries for the training and making the approach gender sensitive

as well. A guideline on how to make trainings gender sensitive was developed and shared

with partners with the objective to provide some direction to increase young women’s

participation and access to training locations, and included instruction on methods for

Photo 9: Gender integration training in Bishoftu


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creating open and conducive environments for all Checklists for WRN! training has been

shared with all partners to make the training accessible to beneficiaries in accommodating

socio-cultural barriers of young women. Success stories have also shown a clear and

communicable positive gender perspective and challenge gender stereotypes in the life of

young women and men.

With time youth facilitators have become well aware of gender perspective as an integral

part of the training process. This has been observed through their reports and field visit

observation by PAT and EDC teams. In Tigray, Amhara, SNNPR and Afar regions, there

has been great success in balancing young females and males’ participation in trainings. In

the Somali region, due to the low literacy level among many young women and socio-

cultural barriers within the community, the set targets for equal participation were not

met; however after starting the PYD training the level of women’s participation increased.

In the Oromiya region, due to young women’s migration to urban areas, low literacy level

and gender bias in the community negatively influence the recruitment of women

participants. In addition to these findings, on site observation in Wolmera, Adaa and Liben

Chekuala woredas showed that the beneficiary selection committee and team staff

members were not well aware of the gender concerns of the program. Therefore meeting

with the committee members were held to discuss this and to find common ground for the

way forward.

Training manuals were reviewed and exercises on gender vs business, gender and access to

community resources, gender vs sex differences, gender socialization and setting goals and

challenges of women in the workplace were included.

YES services will also be leveraged increase women’s participation, as they can act as safe

spaces for young women to attend peer-led trainings and receive follow up support.

Partners were made aware of considering gender related concerns in selecting locations for

YES services, and to consider locations that were more accessible for women in remote

areas. YES services can also serve as a forum for the community to gather and discuss

challenges to achieving gender equality and celebrate gender-related events, and in the

future it is planned to use YES services to engage men in challenging gender biases.

Regarding provision of hard skill trainings through TVETs, follow-up has been going on with

regions to ensure women’s participation as well as encouraging young women to


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participate in non-traditional fields. Many young women were engaged in activities that

were considered as traditionally women’s work in the Ethiopian society; thus further

attention is needed to focus on changing the young women’s mindset through mentoring

and coaching services so that they are aware that women can be engaged in activities that

are considered as traditionally men’s work, which often have higher economic value.

Efforts were made in each region to recruit female mentors from communities, and female

mentors have been recruited in each woreda except one woreda in Amhara region, and

there are also female mentors at the kebele level.

Discussions with partners on the challenges and opportunities of increasing young women’s

participation in the trainings have been ongoing. Some of the challenges were low literacy

levels among young women, lack of gender sensitivity among the beneficiary selection

committee, and cultural influence on women’s roles and responsibilities. The program will

continue to raise these issues with communities and youth and engage them on how to

improve young women’s participation.

3. 2 Youth Development (YDV)

USAID’s Building the Potential of Youth is working with 11 selected TVETs to support

students on different work readiness skills and business plan preparation, based on their

personal development plan prepared as part of work readiness skills training. The

government of Ethiopia developed their TVET policy and strategy based on the experiences

of other countries. One of the recent strategies includes the collaboration among different

service providers such as the small and medium enterprise development agency,

microfinance institutes, TVETs, woreda and city administrations. This network is to provide

coordinated and important services to the students in their own school compound or

nearby offices. All TVET students should have access to use this service on individual and

group basis. However despite access to these services, private companies are stating that

young people are lacking the right attitude, reliability and commitment, practical

experience, confidence, and further have negative experiences with former graduates and

therefore are reluctant to engage youth in their businesses.


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The program promotes a similar collaboration to deliver services for out of school and

unemployed youth through the YES services, with the added enhancement of soft skills

development and social capital building. Different organizations and training institutes are

invited to work as a council and service provider using the facilities of YES services. As the

stakeholders are being promoted to become ‘shareholders’ of the YES service there level

of influence and support is more visible and appreciated by the communities. Currently,

program beneficiaries are able to access loans, technical and soft skills trainings and

additional supports such as land, work place and materials to start business and to enter

the labor market through a collaboration between multiple public and private stakeholders.

3.3 Sustainability Mechanisms

In order to insure the sustainability of the program, we are working closely with local

implementing partners, existing private and public sectors, particularly the youth and sport

offices, woreda administration offices and kebele administrations, youth associations and

youth focused organizations, and youth themselves with great transparency. The capacity

building of the implementing partners, local government stakeholders and TTIs is one of

our strategies for reaching relevance and sustainability. By including external stakeholders in

assessments and program review workshops, they are now better able to understand the

situation of youth, to contribute to the program’s objectives, and increase their ownership

of program activities.

Another important aspect of ensuring sustainability is creating linkages and synergy among

local stakeholders through the establishment of YES services within existing youth centers

or similar facilities. These centers are expected to test and develop relevant products and

services for the youth as they are led by local youth with the support of YES council. The

council includes representatives from training institutions, private sectors, relevant

government offices; community members, youth representatives and other youth service

providers.

Currently the stakeholders are providing noticeable support for the program. Some of the activities include:

Training centers provision; Program participant’s identification and recruitment; Participants follow up;


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Linkage to available resources (land, loan, working shelters, wage employment opportunities and material support); and

Provision of office space and facilities for woreda level program staff members.

In the past year more than 12 YES facilitators were recruited, using the government hiring

process as following the program’s initial 9 month support, local governments will take

over YES facilitators’ salaries. Equipment including computers, printers, office furniture and

stationery were purchased and the centers began to deliver coordinated youth-focused

services at the woreda and kebele level. Similarly, the regional partners shared upcoming

plans and reports of the program with the woreda administration office, and other

stakeholders to create synergy with similar activities and programs.

To make the program operations successful and replicable, participants’ expectations of per

diem was addressed by the stakeholders. Selected youth did not expect a sitting allowance

during the training and coaching services. This demonstrates that the program has begun to

break the tradition/expectations of allowances for participation, paving the way for similar

programs. Most programs in these areas usually paid lot of money for participants as a

sitting allowance. Breaking this culture was a challenging task for the implementing partners

and program stakeholders; however selected youth and local stakeholders are now aware

of the importance of the program activities and have agreed to work collaboratively

without any sitting allowance.

The capacity of three local implementing partners, PADet, HUNDEE and REST, are being

built through their engagement in different program activities. Their involvement has

started from the design stage up to the outcome evaluation. In the past year 39 partner

staff members were trained in different youth work force development activities and

facilitation techniques. The capacity building improved their technical capability to deliver

and manage youth livelihood activities. Further, the Save the Children program team for

compliance, award management and finance/operations delivered a three days training on

managing and reporting of USAID funded projects using the USAID project operation

guide. This assisted the partners to understand the various financial and operation policies

and procedures of USAID. Further Save the Children supports the partners in program

management and office operations support based on needs that are identified to ensure


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efficient, accountable, and effective program implementation. For this support a dedicated

pool fund for administrative and systems capacity building is being used.

Community level engagement is another sustainability strategy followed by the program.

During the past year 310 volunteer mentors have been engaged with the program to

provide youth technical, financial and networking guidance and support. 11 TTIs also

received training on different program components to ensure program outreach to

students. In addition woreda and kebele level government offices are being engaged to

support the program and create an environment that enables continuous support of youth

aspirations and promotes training and employment endeavors.

3. 4 Local Capacity Development

The program implementing partners of Amhara, Oromia and Tigray region are local non-

governmental organizations. All of them are participating in detail studies, assessments,

planning and all important capacity building trainings delivered to improve their financial and

program management skills, M&E tool development and system management skills, training

delivery skills, coaching skills and partnership development and maintenance skills.

The program includes training components that build the social capital, working culture,

and motivation of youth that are instrumental for viable job creation. The program also

intends to expand YES services within youth centers for rural youth to assist them to get

information to develop their business ideas and link them to employment opportunities. It

is estimated that there are currently more than 700 youth centers run by the regional

bureau of youth and with the objective that the centers should become financially

independent and owned by youth themselves. This can be done by developing self-

sustaining financial management guidelines for youth centers to generate their own revenue

for running the centers and promoting youth ownership and leadership of youth centers.

In general, the new set-up of youth centers with YES services, the quality of the services

and facilities including the furniture and locations have been received positively and the

youth believe that the centers will assist them in spending their time fruitfully. Strengths

identified were such as the centers provide relevant services and training to the youth at

minimal fee; the centers provide information and create awareness on various issues and

youth can access different services in one place. These developments are contributing to


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building the capacity of local youth development agents in general and for youth in

particular as they have access to information and service packages that they can be used

within and outside of the youth center. Moreover, kebele and woreda level stakeholders

are participating in continuous capacity development through a series of trainings, review

meetings and consultations.

During this year, local capacity development was delivered through WRN! training for 20

(7F) TVET instructors and follow up support and training of 18 locally recruited YES service

facilitators on the content and delivery mechanisms of YES services.

4. STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION AND INVOLVEMENT

In the process of implementation all stakeholders and non-signatory government offices are

actively involved as young people are now a high priority within the agenda of the

government of Ethiopia. To support the government to achieve their goals on youth

development, the program is sharing best practices and shaping the behavior, attitude and

capacity of youth.

At the regional and woreda level, the woreda administration, Youth and Sport affairs office,

Women’s affairs office, Micro and Small Enterprise Development office, Agriculture and

Rural Development office, Planning and Finance office, and Women’s and Youth

associations support the program by endorsing the youth participants at the kebele level,

providing guidance to Kebele sector offices, and providing orientation on the program

activities and objectives to youth beneficiaries. Almost all stakeholders expressed their

interest and participation in terms of provision working shed, land, credit free from

interest, giving training hall, giving office free from rent, sending own expert for follow up

and so on. It is believed that this program cannot be successful without the existing

involvement of different stakeholders.


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5. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

During the year the program recruited a total of 40 staff members and provided induction

and introductory trainings on different aspects of the program. 36 staff members were

recruited for the additional implementation woredas and regional offices. Four additional

staff were hired at the Save the Children head office such as a Business Development

Specialist, communication coordinator and two program support assistants.

Two woreda officers from Endamehoni and Raya Alamata left their positions for better

opportunities. The recruitment process was completed and the new woreda officers were

induced and trained. For the coming year the program will reach all 30 woredas and the

number of staffs regional and country office staffs will increase to 89.

At the end of the year, EDC was officially registered in Ethiopia after fulfilling all the

requirement set by Charities and Societies Agency of Ethiopia (ChSA). EDC has already

begun preparations to assume its in-country logistical and financial responsibilities at the

beginning of Year 3.

6. LESSONS LEARNED

Importance of assessments for contextualization

Assessing the labor market demands and community developments and considering them in

developing and conducting technical and soft skill training are vital for ensuring that young

people can enter the labor market with relevant employability skills.

The various assessments have proven to be crucial to design effective, appropriate and

sustainable livelihood interventions for youth as they identify the challenges and

opportunities at the respective woredas and kebeles, and assist in kick-starting the

relationship with communities and government representatives.

The review and adaptation of the program’s training and support manuals and guidelines,

using findings from the program’s start-up assessments, initial feedback from monitoring

activities, youth and other stakeholders is vital for ensuring activities are relevant and

meeting stakeholders’ needs. For example assessments and monitoring findings resulted in

the provision of the WRN plus training curriculum for illiterate youth.


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The woreda labor market assessments have provided the evidence for suitable value chains

for developing business ideas that are regional/woreda/kebele specific. Additionally, as more

program youth entered the labor market, their experiences have further enriched the

training content.

Improving support to youth and changing youth attitudes

Un- and underemployed youth are bringing their human and physical capital to the

program. Many of them want to start a business as they see this as the only opportunity to

survive and are registered by the MSME agency, yet they lack the support from government

programs and credit services. The program is providing support and linkages to capitalize

on their existing assets while strengthening their access and networks to additional

services.

In Afar, it was discovered that un- and underemployed youth in the Afar region own or

have access to farmland, yet they do not consider the land as an asset as their perception of

agriculture is hard work and only for highlanders who have extensive experience. They only

considered office-based jobs to be decent work. However through our engagement with

them the regional team raised awareness and paid special attention to changing their and

their communities’ perceptions towards agriculture by promoting farming as a lucrative and

a viable pathway to employment for young people.

Typically in Ethiopia training participants receive per diem for attending meetings and

trainings, however this approach is neither affordable nor sustainable, so we have worked

to change the expectations of youth around this issues. The program does consider the

participation costs to youth, so in addition to ensuring trainings are at convenient locations,

times and frequencies for youth, the program also provides a minimal daily amount (32- 40

birr) for refreshments. Interestingly, many youth are saving a portion of this so that they

have some capital for entering into the labor market.

Overall, the quality and acceptance of activities is highly dependent on relationship-building

with different actors and continuous follow up. Follow up, coaching, and support through

regular meetings assisted the young people to stay focused and to look out for

opportunities either in self or wage employment. Group coaching and peer support the


77

young people developed further their soft skills that contributed to their positive

development and improved future orientation.

Stakeholder engagement

Quarterly and monthly knowledge and experience sharing meetings among regional teams

are used to share experiences from the interaction with the young people and other

stakeholders and to identify feasible innovative ideas and to learn from each other. Program

staff members from Addis have also participated in these meetings to learn and share

experiences from other regions. Woreda and kebele level government officials and

community leaders were also part of these meetings so that they can also share their

experiences, challenges, and opportunities and can raise areas where they need support.

This kind of collaboration among woreda and kebele level government officials and the

program team has been invaluable and helped to establish partnerships based on trust and

collaboration.

The program will continue to engage community members and leaders in awareness raising

and implementation activities, as this has accelerated acceptance, ownership and

sustainability. From the beginning, community members have participated in the various

assessments which helped to build their awareness of young people’s needs and challenges,

as well as the program and its relevance. As communities have seen how youth have

changed after their interaction with the program, they have demonstrated greater

acceptance and a willingness to work together in order to assist the youth in achieving their

goals. In addition, community leaders and local government offices representatives have

attended the final day of trainings to listen to youth’s experiences during the training and

the goals they have set. These interactions have allowed youth request support, and

community leaders and representatives have usually offered support such as access to

farmland and credit. This has laid the foundation for enabling partnerships among a range of

stakeholders and to ensure that young people will be supported to enter viable and

sustainable employment opportunities.

Going forward, improved cooperation with the private sector is also important as it

provides first-hand information about their needs and the opportunities they can offer for

young people. The program team will continue to create and link to business networks so

that the youth have access to relevant platforms for employment.


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Relationship-building

During the last year, sound working relationships among regional teams and the Addis team

has been established. For the regional teams in was important to have a focal person within

the team based in Addis Ababa. The focal person developed an in-depth understanding of

the economic, educational and cultural settings of the region and thus could better address

the requirements from the regions on one hand and the introduction of products and

services from the Addis office to the regions on the other hand. The requirement of a focal

person is no longer needed as regional teams have built a sound relationship with the Save

the Children staff members in Addis and thus know whom to address in order to receive

the desired support.

Gender integration

As young women and men encounter different circumstances within society and labor

markets, the program works to ensure a gender sensitive approach in all its activities.

Assessments examine the different interests, constraints, and opportunities by gender.

Likewise, program training materials and tools are gender appropriate and adapted to

cultural settings. The regional teams strive to engage mixed groups, and hold open

discussions among community members about the program’s approach and strategies to

improve young women’s participation. Training locations and delivery consider the daily

duties of rural women. Some youth have already transformed into role models within their

communities and have positively affected other female community members. Work places

also need to be transformed into gender sensitive environments as well so that young

women and men have equal opportunities and are treated with dignity.


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7. SUCCESS STORIES

Mulu Zinabu, age 24, completed grade 12 and recently participated in WRN!. Before the

WRN! training, she had a small shop with initial capital of 500 Birr. After completing the WRN!

training she took 20,000 birr credit from a microfinance institution. She purchased one

refrigerator, different commodities for her shop and six goats, two of which are now ready

to give birth. She was able to save 2,000 birr and has 5,500 birr petty cash for commodity

purchase. She has also a local saving - Ekub of 6,000 Birr. She said “all of the training

components, in particular the business plan preparation, customer handling, financial

management and savings lessons helped me in running my business properly.” She estimates

her capital to be 35,000 Birr. She aspires to upgrade her shop to a wholesaler level. Her

mother, w/ro Kebebush Belay, is very happy about her daughters’ current progress. W/ro

Kebebush said “my daughter expanded her shop and has become a hard worker, confident

and improved her livelihood. She covers all the necessary household expenses.”

Photo 10: Mulu Zinabu with her mother in her shop


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Photo 11: Walelign Wasihun

Walelign Wasihun is a young man living in Arib Gebeya, Dera. He has successfully completed

both WRN! and Be your Own Boss training. WRN! training helped him to see himself.

Walelign had a small business before joining the program. After finishing WRN!, he created

a linkage with Arib gebeya Technical and Vocational Enterprise Development office. As the

result, they gave him a bakery machine, which he used to start his business baking bread and

a cafeteria, where he prepares tea for customers. For the future he plans to buy a tea machine

and refrigerator for making ‘Makiyato’ and ‘sprees’ and selling soft drinks.


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8. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT YEAR

IR1: Rigorous evidence base developed to inform USAID and its development

partners, including youth, Government of Ethiopia (GOE), and non-

governmental organizations (NGOs), on appropriate, effective, and sustainable

market driven youth workforce development interventions.

• During the first quarter of Year 3, Save the Children plans to continue to conduct

evaluations of the local labor market context by conducting a combination of the

program’s rapid socioeconomic and demographic assessment of under/unemployed

youth and the labor market survey to ensure that the program’s activities are

relevant and targeted. The program will also conduct outcome surveys and an

adapted Out-of-School Literacy Assessment (OLA) in each program woreda.

• During the year, the program will promote experience sharing and learning within

and among the program regions by holding quarterly review meetings and learning

tours, and will continue to analyze and document best practices to ensure program

quality and impact.

IR2: Improved youth access to market relevant skills and experiences to

support the transition to safe and viable employment.

• At the beginning of Year 3 the program will recruit and train new facilitators from

the additional 11 woredas for training delivery, and continue to provide WRN!

Youth facilitators will also coach participants on developing and following their

personal development plans (PDPs) and counsel them on taking the next steps to

wage or self-employment. The program will also recruit and train mentors to

provide follow up support to youth as they embark on new employment

opportunities.

• The program will also implement work based learning to provide practical work

experiences and links to employment.

• In order to integrate technology into the delivery of training and support services,

POTENTIAL will use a digital beneficiary tracking system and will also operationalize

an offline/online job platform to link youth to skill development and job availability

information.


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• POTENTIAL aims to establish additional YES service centers in Year 3 to enhance

job skills, search and creation support for target youth. Services include work

readiness and other skills training with follow up support, career guidance,

information on job opportunities and business ideas, linkages with other youth

service providers, as well as sport and leisure activities.

• The program will also work to establish Youth Village Savings and Loan

Associations, which will serve as a platform for reaching multiple youth with

services, while also promoting saving and increasing access to credit.

• During the second quarter, the program will organize gender sensitization

workshops and community mobilization events in each region.

IR3: Coordinated delivery, among local institutions, of quality market driven

services connecting underserved youth, especially women, to employment and

income opportunities.

• During the first half of Year 3 POTENTIAL will assess and select technical training

institutes (TTIs) for the distribution of block grants in order to build capacity and

develop short-term training courses POTENTIAL will also advocate for the Ministry

of Education and TVETS to institutionalize adapted technical skills and work

readiness trainings, and negotiate with TVETs to facilitate access to short-term

training courses for disadvantaged groups.

• Throughout the year POTENTIAL will also strengthen its linkages to other

programs and partners by establishing partnerships with public and private sector

stakeholders, training providers and financial service providers, and linking youth to

relevant local services.

• The program is also planning on hosting job/trade fairs in each region to showcase

both youth and potential employers.


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9. ANNEXES

Annex 1 POTENTIAL PPPP Tracker

Annex 2 POTENTIAL Mentor Guide

Annex 3 National Stakeholders Conference Participant List

usaid’s building the potential of youth annual report ...pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pa00mfpx.pdf ·...

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