The NBU-Youth Empowerment Centre aims to contribute to improving inclusive employability by promoting employability and entrepreneurship for vulnerable and motivated young people to help them become independent and resilient.

It is the aim of SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana that the young people selected to be part of this project will make positive life choices and have an improved income to better support themselves and their families after their active and full participation.

The project seeks to address the issue of unemployment in the Ashanti Region by providing young people with essential soft and hard skills, thereby positioning them for entrepreneurship or assisting them in securing employment opportunities.

The Project targets 400 young people within the region, with 200 already involved in SOS Children’s Villages Family Strengthening and Alternative Care programmes. The project started in October 2022 and will wrap up in October 2024.

The project target group are divided into three main categories: Alpha (young people with little or no education), Beta (Senior High School Graduates or drop outs) and Gamma (Tertiary level graduates) to allow for effective delivery of trainings.

122 young people have completed six months of Core Life, Entrepreneurship or Employability training and received coaching. 50 young people are undergoing hard skills training in fashion and design, cake and pastries, hairdressing and make-up as well as shoemaking.

15 young people are employed while 27 have started their own businesses. 24 out of the 27 have been supported with industrial sewing machines, knitting machines, a baking oven and a shoe making set.

Providing Relevant Skills for Young People

Some of these young people are currently operating from their homes while a few with shops have expanded their businesses. They were supported to register their businesses with the Registrar General’s Department.

65 young individuals have received support through the Family Strengthening Project in the Ejisu Municipality and are undergoing training to shape their personal lives and their entrepreneurial skills.

The hub organizes business networking events to complement training and coaching activities. These events provide platforms for social interaction, mentorship opportunities, establishment of enduring connections, and a forum to engage in discussions related to their careers. So far, six events were held with a cumulative attendance of approximately 450 young people.

YouthCan! Covers these areas of work

Orientation: Volunteers/ employees act as mentors for guidance and job orientation; for example, by providing soft skills training.

Access: Volunteers render information and orientation about application and recruitment procedures, and train participants in critical skills, i.e.: CV-writing, computer skills, language development, interview training, goal setting, emotional intelligence, and career planning.

Professional and technical training: Vocational training, tertiary education, career development. Training on ICT skills or language skills, guidance on virtual calls, and messages exchange.

Exposure: Expose young people to professional work environments, i.e.: Internships, apprenticeships, job shadowing and other opportunities that facilitate the practical experience.

Platforms and information: Job fairs, job and business networks and access to other relevant stakeholders

Entrepreneurship training: Entrepreneurship and seed funding are options to be explored.

Motivation: Share your employees personal and work experience through webinars, video recording on a day in your job, etc. Inspire young people to join the job force.

Readiness: Volunteers support SOS young people in preparing for an interview, review and advise on their CVs and motivation letters, share templates, recreate a job interview, or train on emotional intelligence and career planning.

Intelligent volunteering: Share your skills in a certain domain that relates to your job: administration, accounting, logistics, secretariat, etc.

Roberta Aryeetey is the Coordinator for the NBU-YEC Project

Transparency

Endowment fund

NBU-YEC

Providing Relevant Skills for Young People

YouthCan! Covers these areas of work