‘To empower youth, you first have to get to know them’

How can you successfully empower young people in the Global South to integrate into the local labor market? We share three important lessons.

Girma Tsige is the director of The Well in Action (TWA), a development programme that works with the vulnerable and underprivileged communities in Ethiopia to ensure a sustainable future. By working in remote areas, with innovations and a flat management system, Girma has made a strong impact in the communities they engage in.

One of their primary focus areas is youth employment and job creation. By working directly with local businesses and listening to what skills they require from the youth, The Well in Action is trying to close the skills gaps that many youths are facing today. The skills taught at the university level or other educational institutions often do not match the skills and knowledge required by businesses to successfully hire employees.

Here are the lessons he has learned along the way to successfully supporting young people to integrate into the labour market.

Get to know the youth

If you want to reach young people with your project or organization, you should first take time to learn about who they are, what is important to them, what they value and how they spend their lives. This includes their personal life, such as family, parental, and other support structures. Are the youths’ facing challenges like illiteracy, (gender) stereotypes or other vulnerable factors on their way to entering the employment market? What is happening in the country itself that affects them, for example, the issue of migration. By taking time to learn why it is their choice to migrate and what could be done so they are more willing to stay in their home country. By getting to know the group you want to reach, you are better equipped to tailor the project to their specific needs to best empower them.

Select the youths

Once you have learned about what affects the young generation, it is time to determine which of them best fits your purpose. Not all youths have the same needs and challenges, therefore you must narrow down which groups your organization can serve. Keep in mind topics like gender, disability, safeguarding and equality etc. Next consider their motivation as well as other aspects such as education level or access to determine which group of young people your project can best reach and impact. The time you invest in deciding and focusing on what and who you want to empower has a significant impact on the number of dropouts.

Start at the business level

One of the most important lessons Girma has learned is to start inwards. If you want to start a vocational training or education project aimed at preparing young people for employment, you first determine what they need to learn. This includes soft skills, like communication, time management and teamwork. If you start by talking to the businesses and companies within the sector you have the opportunity to learn what other applications or career starters were missing in skills.

Girma’s experience has shown that the internships provided by the university in factories and businesses are sometimes lacking efforts on both sides, as the youths are not prepared, and the firms cannot devote the extra time. This gap can be filled by reporting your findings back to the universities to facilitate exchange. By working together towards improving the chances of youth employment and listening actively, trust is being built with the businesses.

If enough trust is built, agreements can be made that if youths are provided with the right training, businesses are required to take over several students after their internships. One of the next steps can be to also include national and international stakeholders into the conversation to create an even more sustainable job creation environment.