Ethiopian youth organizations equipped to tackle unemployment with ILO's Youth-to-Youth Fund

ILO News (Addis Ababa) - The International Labour Organization (ILO) in partnership with Edukans Foundation Ethiopia capacitated country’s ten leading youth-led organizations to implement innovative youth employment projects through a training workshop held between 6-9 August 2024 in Addis Ababa.

These organizations selected through a rigorous assessment process to receive ILO Youth-to-Youth Fund (Y2YF) will promote youth entrepreneurship benefitting over 1,000 young persons with decent jobs and livelihood. ILO Y2YF is part of the Government of the Netherlands supported Partnership for improving forcibly displaced persons and host communities (PROSPECTS) programme.

© Zelalem Alemenew Desta

© Zelalem Alemenew Desta

Addressing the opening session of the training, Stephen Opio, Chief Technical Advisor, ILO PROSPECTS in Ethiopia, emphasized on the importance of partnering with and leveraging shared resources between youth-led organizations to influence labour market opportunities for the young persons.

“The skills acquired through this training will enable youth-led organizations to manage the ILO Y2YF with efficiency and to review and align implementation of interventions for the benefit of the forcibly displaced young people and hosts. Our focus is to promote self-reliance for all through decent work opportunities and self-employment,” said Opio.

To ensure timely and particularized implementation of Y2YF supported activities, the training included guidance on project management, financial and grant management, and communication. This training sessions were based on findings from an Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA) that revealed critical areas for development among the youth-led organizations.

© Zelalem Alemenew Desta

© Zelalem Alemenew Desta

Reflecting how the training program is designed, Marta Tsehay Sewasew, National Programme Officer for ILO PROSPECTS in Ethiopia reflected, “The Edukans and experts of the ILO facilitated the assessment and supported youth-led organizations to evaluate themselves from different capacity dimensions required to develop and implement a development project.”
Marta pointed out, “The training, informed by an organizational capacity assessment, equips these organizations with the essential skills to effectively manage their projects and mitigate potential risks, ensuring that they achieve their goals and make a lasting impact on the lives of young people."

© Zelalem Alemenew Desta

© Zelalem Alemenew Desta

Fantahun Tarekegn, Vocational Education Program Manager at Edukans Ethiopia shared, "In today's rapidly evolving world, equipping young people with essential skills is paramount. By investing in their development, we empower them to innovate, create sustainable livelihoods, and contribute meaningfully to their communities. Through the Youth-to-Youth Fund, we are fostering an environment where youth-led organizations can thrive and drive positive change."

Endurance Youth Association (EYA) Program Director Eyob Girma, one of the participants, praised the training, “This training is instrumental in enhancing my organization's project management capabilities. I found the practical approach and real-life case studies particularly valuable.”

Eyob expressed gratitude for the support received from the Youth-to-Youth Fund, which has enabled EYA to effectively implement its project aimed at fostering collaboration between refugee youth and host communities.

The 10 youth-led organisations are Alliance for Integrated Development and Relief Organization (AIDRO), Endurance Youth Association (EYA), Jigjiga City Kefita Youth Coalition, HANSOOR Youth Organization, Naadiga Curis (youth Empowerment Organization), Rejoice Africa, Live for generation (L4G), National Young Women's Charity Organization (NYWCO), STEMpower Inc and Safe Light Initiative.

About ILO Youth-to-Youth fund

The Youth-to-Youth Fund initiative is part of PROSPECTS Opportunity Fund on Advancing Young People’s Engagement and Meaningful Participation. The objective of the initiative is to empower and meaningfully engage young people in forced displacement contexts so that they develop their skills and confidence to lead socio-economic and cultural activities, start an enterprise, address protection concerns, volunteer in their communities, advocate on issues that are important to them, and provide input to programming, including PROSPECTS.