Project description

ILO EAST is a four-year project, funded by the Government of the Netherlands and executed by ILO, that aims (a) at improving employability and capacity for entrepreneurship among young women and men through improved access to high-quality and relevant educational and training opportunities, and (b) at contributing to the elimination of child labour. The geographical coverage includes Papua, West Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, South Sulawesi, and NAD provinces.

Project strategy

The project is organised along five integrated themes, each with separate but related strategies.

• The first integrated theme of the project is focused on children of junior high school age (roughly 13 to 15 years of age) and their home communities. It promotes access of children to junior high school through activities to prevent and retrieve drop-outs and working children; extra-curricular activities to develop life skills (personal, social and pre-vocational); and activities to develop teachers’ ability to guide and counsel students about continuing their education (in either formal or non-formal settings) and preparing for decent employment. This component will be implemented through educational authorities, teachers’ associations and community organizations/NGOs.
• The second integrated theme of the project is focused on out-of-school youth (aged 15 to 29 years) attending non-formal training programs. It promotes the development of decent employment for youth through support for the provision of core life and work skills (linked to labour market demand); entrepreneurship skills; and employment guidance and counselling. This component will be implemented through non-formal training providers, both governmental and non-governmental.
• The third integrated theme of the project is focused on youth (usually aged 15 to 18 years) attending upper secondary schools. It promotes preparation for decent employment through development of entrepreneurship skills as well as support for career guidance and counselling. This component will be implemented through educational authorities and NGOs.
• The fourth integrated theme of the project is focused on youth (normally aged 18 years and above) attending three Training and Vocational Education Centres (BLKs) in Jayapura, Sorong and Banda Aceh. It will focus on capacity building for Vocational Education and Training Centre management; increased linkages with the private sector; implementation of competency-based standards; and limited provision of equipment. It will also support linkages with other BLKs in targeted provinces for knowledge management purposes.
• The fifth integrated theme consists of research, advocacy and policy level activities focused on documenting the links between the elimination of child labour and support to decent work for youth; bringing the concerns of young entrepreneurs to the attention of provincial and national level policymakers; and promoting the mainstreaming of good practices and lessons learnt from all the project components.

The project has a strong gender component, by actively supporting gender equality in terms of access to education and employment as well as challenging the gender division of labour. The project will be coordinated at national and provincial level by tripartite steering committees and related working groups.

Key partners

• Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration at national and local levels
• Ministry of National Education at national and local levels
• National Development Planning Board
• Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo)
• Trade unions
• Other Government institutions at national and local levels
• NGOs dealing with youth employment and child labour
• Universities and other institutes of higher education
• Research institutions