Africare and Africa’s Youth Key sources: Youth in Development USAID (2013) Enhancing youth employability. What, how and why-ILO (2013) Africa at work: Job Creation and Inclusive Growth-Mckinsey (2012) Youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa-World Bank (2014) The role of sports as a development tool-USAID Sport as a development tool for peace-United Nations

Africare and Africa’s Youth Background-the problem Challenges and opportunities Summary of relevant learning in the space Africare history with youth Mapping to key donor approaches and learnings Africare approach discussion

The Problem Africa’s Youth Bulge – 40% of the population is under 15, 50% is under 25 and 70 % is under 30. Although youth constitute about 37 percent of Africa’s labor force, they account for about 60 percent of total unemployment in Africa. If these youth can be fully employed in productive activities, they represent a dividend to society. If they cannot find employment, this youth bulge becomes a demographic bomb. -World Bank

Challenges Macroeconomic conditions, political stability, access to finance Lack of technical skills, soft skills Low investments in education (vocational training and refocusing on tertiary education) Demand for jobs exceeds supply

Opportunities The worlds goods and services cannot be produced without working age labor Agriculture is projected to create 8 million jobs by 2020, manufacturing-same but may double, retail and hospitaility-9 million Construction, transport and communication are the next tier

Summary of key learnings Educational attainment shapes employment opportunities

Summary of key learnings Skills for the world of work are: –Basic/foundation –Vocational/technical –Professional/Personal –Core work skills Learning to learn Communication Teamwork Problem Solving

Formal education/Secondary school is an important channel for skills acquisition Alternative delivery modalities are needed for out of school youth Sports and recreational activities are a skill development platform Technology, ICT and social media are viable tactics for skills development programs in youth Raising the productivity of small holder farmers is important Research in the agricultural sector indicates that “farmers with primary schooling tend to have higher profits than those without.”

Africare work with youth Few standalone youth empowerment projects. Usually mixed in with larger health projects in health, Agriculture, WASH etc. Two youth and sports projects in the past (Nigeria and Burkina) Currently have 5 total standalone youth projects in Nigeria, Tanzania and Senegal (2-sports,1-girl peer network, 1-livelihoods and 1-agriculture) Mostly private sector funded Programs all aimed at skills building and/or improving educational outcomes. Sweet spot?

USAID Youth Approach

USAIDAfricare Objective `1 and 2 Strengthen youth programming, participation and partnership Integration ? Objective 1 How? SupportAfricare’s health, Agriculture and wash programming supported by youth skills building programming Objective 1 How? ProtectAfricare’s health, Agriculture and wash programming supported by youth skills building programming Objective 1 How? PrepareAfricare’s youth skills building programming supported by health, Agriculture and wash interventions. Objective 1 How? EngageAfricare’s youth skills building programming supported by health, Agriculture and wash interventions.

Objective 2-Integration Africare should provide support and protection services to youth in our standalone youth skills building projects while preparing and engaging them Africare’s support and protection programs should have skills building components

What does all this mean? Skill building plays an important role in making African youth more employable for large growth sectors There is opportunity to augment weak in school and out of school education systems (at all levels) in Africa to prepare youth for future in formal and informal sectors Africare has opportunity for integrated value add programming across sectors How do we go beyond employment to engagement and real productivity?

Building Youth Capacity Lenses through which to view the youth development policy discussion: i.Opportunity: By providing youth with basic skills and access to secondary and tertiary education ii.Capability: Making youth capable of making informed decisions which could be achieved through access to better information. iii.Second chance opportunities: Giving at-risk youth who have dropped out of school an opportunity to acquire basic knowledge and competencies of the labor market (UNESCO 2012)

Importance of Holistic Education that Extends Beyond the Classroom One of the major drivers of youth unemployment is a lack of both technical skills as well as core skills. A.Technical Skills = Coursework related B.Core Skills = Teamwork, Communication, Problem-Solving, Creativity “…general education should be supplemented by additional training to bring youth’s skills closer to those required by the labor market.” 2013 World Development Report

Value of a Holistic Education Technica l Skills Core Skills Youth Employability

Education Benefits Apply Across Sectors Education benefits are not limited to just blue- collar jobs. Research in the agricultural sector indicates that “farmers with primary schooling tend to have higher profits than those without.” Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa Education allows individuals to better adapt to environments undergoing rapid technological change.

Support for Africare’s Approach Intervention StrategyOrganizations with that incorporate these into their Youth Development Programs Teaching Life skillsUSAID, International Youth Foundation, AusAid, African Development Bank, Gender Balance Utilizing Existing Structures Sports as a Convener Local NGOs Academic Empowerment