Livelihood, Life and Entrepreneurship Skills Training for Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Youth
Background
Malawi has one of the world’s youngest populations with 70% of its population under 35 according to recent UNFPA statistics. As the current generation has children, the youth are expected to remain the majority of the population through the next few generations. Malawian youth often face problems of insufficient education and a job market that can only absorb a small fraction of them. With an estimated 80% of the population living below the poverty line, resulting social and economic exclusion is especially difficult for the poor and those who are otherwise disadvantaged through disabilities, gender preferences, or other marginalization factors. With few perceived options for securing employment, housing, and social services and a variety of psychosocial barriers pushing them toward street hustling and other risky, criminal, or delinquent activities and lifestyle choices, youth need access to information, education, skills, qualifications, access to markets, startup capital and materials, and business management and life skills knowledge to enable them to create their own employment options, sustain their own access to income and needed services, and engage in responsible citizenship toward decision-making and action to enable themselves and others in their communities to broaden access to what will meet their needs over time.
Approach
Our initiative is aligned with the new government initiative pushing the public and private sector to create one million jobs and to support youths with marketable abilities. Its initial phase is socially and economically empowering 300 selected disadvantaged youths from especially poor communities in Mpemba village and the Blantyre townships of Bangwe and Chilomoni to be part of shaping better lives and a better society. The comprehensive package of support includes facilitating development of financial and social integration abilities, training and mentoring of marketable skills, necessary startup materials, and a network for continued support after completion of such training. The youths selected as most in need of this support are determined though coordination with local level stakeholders including chiefs, community social workers, youth groups, schools, and community mobilization NGOs from the target areas and consultation with representatives of the Malawi Technical Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TEVETA); the Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development; and NGOs working on youth related issues and skills development.
The main outputs of this training are youth with clear skills and steps determined to enable them to sustain themselves and contribute to their families with these livelihoods in the short term and to pivot to take advantage of new livelihood opportunities themselves while training and employing others and to contribute to helpful decision-making and responsibility for their own lives and their communities in the long run. The outcomes of decreased youth underemployment and delinquency and increased youth self-esteem and responsibility for their own lives and those of others around them will result in their communities and the overall society benefiting from reduced crime and improved citizenship.
Items Available
Add a section at the bottom (under the bottom two photos) with the heading ‘Items Available’, description ‘Products made as part of this initiative are available. Any proceeds from donations made to purchase these products will be used to help purchase materials for future training purposes. To do so, please click on the ‘donate’ button, donate the suggested amount, and write a message on the ‘contact’ page to let us know what item you would like us to send to you and how we can get it to you.’
Bob will get photos from Peace and the suggested donation amount for each one – then add these with thumbnails and ‘description – US$_’ for each
