Innovative youth livelihood approaches

Pact’s livelihoods area of expertise is known for several of our most prominent programming pieces – our work with WORTH, for instance, the longest-running livelihood initiative at Pact, spanning more than 25 years. Lesser known, however, are the innovative approaches that we take when working with youth populations. Our youth work is where Pact is able to take truly innovative technical approaches in order to create programming that focuses on impacting youth livelihoods, who have very different needs from many other target participants. Some of our new innovations in youth programming that are being implemented this year focus around entrepreneurship, vocational training, and skill-building initiatives. For this International Youth Day on August 12, we are taking a closer look at some of these initiatives and the impacts they have had on youth around the world.

Youth entrepreneurship

In Türkiye, Pact works with a local grassroots partner to reach minority diaspora youth through economic empowerment. Programming aims to increase youth access to skills trainings and business networks. This partner (whose name has not been included due to security concerns) operates a youth cultural center that serves as a place for youth to meet and connect with others in their community, and to explore possibilities for their future while continuing to honor their culture and traditions. To help the partner reach their outcome goals, Pact has worked with them to establish an Entrepreneurship Training tool. This tool, built entirely from scratch based on the results of a Baseline Needs and Market Assessment conducted with youth in-country, is appropriate for university-level educated youth who are looking to understand pathways to success with entrepreneurship, as well as make connections within local business networks. The training consists of eight modules, each intended to span 6-8 hours, and which are designed to be flexible; most notable is the final module, which incorporates real-world applications, inviting local business people to hear youth give pitches on entrepreneurship ideas that they have worked on throughout the training, then give their feedback on the presentations. One participant, a 26-year-old woman, noted of the final module that, “This experience went beyond a simulation; it was an immersive foray into the real world of investment pitching. The direct interaction fostered a dynamic dialogue and allowed for inquiries and constructive feedback. It also offered me an invaluable opportunity to absorb firsthand accounts of industry experiences.” 

The local partner successfully implemented a first round of this Entrepreneurship Training in 2023. The results exceeded expectations; 72% of training participants had an increased score for their knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) understanding of entrepreneurship. For the second round of funding in 2024, the training will be refined to youth needs via human-centered design sessions, which will determine how well the training encapsulated youth needs identified in the Needs and Markets Assessment, and will adjust modules as necessary. Another exciting development in phase two will be the provision of financial support to youth who complete the entrepreneurship modules; post-training, youth will be eligible to form groups and submit entrepreneurship proposals that will be scored by the local partner and Pact. Four groups will be selected to receive $5,000 each to build a foundation for entrepreneurship, based on the lessons learned during the training. 

Vocational training for youth

Pact has been working to reduce the prevalence of child labor in mining communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically with the recognition that while many programs focus on providing aid for younger children, there are much fewer options and less assistance available for older adolescents, especially those 15-17 years old, who are no longer seen as ‘children’ by their communities. Under funding from partners like the Responsible Business Alliance, Pact has been able to provide vocational education training to adolescent miners in artisanal and small-scale mining communities. Programming also provides technical support to graduated apprentices of the programming, ensuring that they have increased resilience beyond initial programming. Training youth in alternate livelihoods to mining ensures that they are able to explore these as economically viable options, and decreases the economic dependency they had on the mines as their only option for income.

Successes are clear not just through programming, but through specific interviews. Under phase three of the RBA-funded program, Pact conducted interviews of several youth who had been enrolled in the vocational training. One of these youth, Alain Koji Mutunda, was accompanying his mother to mining sites at age 7; by 13, he was working in the mines himself, undergoing strenuous and dangerous work for a weekly income of 100,000 FC (US$50), which was given directly to his parents. In 2022, Alain was selected for an apprenticeship with motorcycles through the program; once he graduated, his mentor kept him on as an assistant in the workshop. Alain now makes 50,000 FC (US$24) weekly, which he uses to pay for his basic expenses and contribute to his sibling’s school fees.

Skill-building initiatives

Formed in 2021, the TAWOMA (Tanzania Women Miners Association) Youth program recognized the need for youth to be able to take initiative with self-employment opportunities in the mining sector. The program currently consists of 40 members who work under the guidance of TAWOMA; youth who join are typically graduate students from Tanzania. The overall aim of this program is to train youth in all areas of the mineral value chains, equipping them with the skills, network and ability to leverage opportunities in the mining sector to create improved socio-economic development opportunities for themselves. Courses that will be developed and taught will be ‘Gems Value Addition’ and ‘Production and Markets’. 

This project aims to bring in unique features such as peer-to-peer recruiting, which encourages youth to invite their peers by offering incentives, and which has the positive affect of growing networks of youth who are aware of and participating in the project. TAWOMA Youth also employs a multi-faceted training approach to ensure youth are learning skills in a comprehensive and engaging way; instructors not only provide detailed trainings to youth with dynamic aspects such as creative problem-solving and collaborative peer learning, but they also ensure hands-on training for youth, allowing them to first observe and then replicate skills in areas like sorting and cutting gemstones. Involving Tanzanian youth in their country’s mining sector will create new opportunities for youth to engage economically in a sector they know well, while also laying the foundation for youth to engage in and understand their local creative and trade economies.

These are just some of the initiatives Pact is implementing with youth and the impacts they have had on youth around the world. To stay up to date on these projects and more, sign up for Pact’s newsletter.