Supporting youth livelihoods

5 April 2012

Y Care International has been supporting the YMCAs of Sierra Leone and Liberia since January 2009 to provide 4,000 disadvantaged young people with access to vocational training. The project will also enable young people to get involved in decision-making policies relating to jobs creation for young people.

Sierra Leone and Liberia face very similar challenges. Historically, both countries have recently emerged from brutal and interlinked civil wars in which youth unemployment and marginalisation was a key driver. Both countries have very large youth populations (55% of the total population). In Sierra Leone, over 70% of young people are either unemployed or underemployed, while in Liberia it is estimated that 85% of the labour force is unemployed. 76% of Liberians and 70% of Sierra Leoneans live on less than $1 per day. 

How we are helping
This project is providing vocational training and support for 1,800 young people in both countries, focusing on those who have been most affected by the conflicts. Civic education, advocacy and peer education training is also being conducted for 2,700 young people, including young people in secondary schools and unemployed young people.

Youth advocates will regularly meet with representatives of local authorities and civil society organisations to discuss the issue of youth employment. In addition, youth advocacy groups are coordinating weekly radio broadcasts on youth issues and a national poster campaign to raise awareness of the issue within the wider community. 

What we hope to achieve
• 1,800 vulnerable young people (at least 40% female) will be provided with vocational, life skills and business management training to enable them to gain employment or set up a small business
• 2,700 young people will be provided with training in civic education and advocacy, increasing awareness of their rights and responsibilities, as well as their ability to engage with local decision makers
• 42 civil society organisations will be trained in youth participation, organisational development and advocacy, leading to an improvement in the quality of youth programming and increased responsiveness to young people’s needs
• 56 trained youth advocates will participate in international exchange visits between Sierra Leone and Liberia to share learning and carry out joint activities.