Bwaise Youth Employment Centre was accredited a Responsible Agency by Public Opinions International on 15th November 2016 in recognition and appreciation of its contributions towards Social-economic Transformation of Uganda as well as its contribution towards realisation of Uganda Vision 2040 and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Uganda through supporting youth in Bwaise as well as organising Bwaise Youth into development oriented groups.
Bwaise Youth Employment Centre provides disadvantaged Ugandan youth aged 16-25 years living in Kampala’s poorest slum areas with appropriate tools for employment and give them skills for professional development, developing a supportive network, finding suitable role models.
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Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?
Bwaise is the poorest slum area in Kampala capital city with a population of 90,000 people, 82% are surviving on less than $2 USD a day. over 1,000 young girls are engaged in the sex trade. Literacy is low, with more than 50% of residents having not attended primary school. About 65% of the population are young people between 15 and 25 years. Poverty, lack of prospects, substandard education makes slum youth involved in criminal activities.
Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!
Bwaise Youth Employment Centre enrolls 600-800 youth every year on a 3 months hands-on vocational skills training in – Computer Graphics art and Design, Hair Dressing Beauty and Cosmetology, Catering and Food services, Electrical Installation, Tailoring and Fashion Design, Photography and Video Editing, Art and Local Craft among others. As part of the program, the youth are equipped with entrepreneurial skills, financial literacy, soft and hard skills for career and professional development (“How to make it in the Contemporary Business World”). At the end of the trainings, The youth take one month internships to get exposed to the working environments.
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Please allow me to share a story by Mugisha one of our beneficiaries that he posted on facebook, “Hallo am mugisha haffiizu am a pionner at bwaise youth employment center i waz studying electronics my father had died but i still had a belief that i can be a winner. This came in the period when i had finished my s.4 My grand mum who lives in bwaise is the one who showed me the way to byec but becoz byec i have managed 2 get skills in repaire n maintainance,i contribute some money on my skul fees n now i went bac 2 skul n am in s.5.Not only that since i waz a principle judge i got the leadership skills n now am the elected head prefect in my skul,indeed thank u BYEC 4 shaping me long live byec,long live afcad,long live the U.S embassy.”
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
• In November 2013, a total of 630 youth were selected to take part in the program (441 female -189 male = 630), 424 Muslims, and Christians, 206 aged 16 – 25 years • From January 2014 the project has enrolled 630 young people, 565 have successfully completed the training 290 (192 female and 96 male) in the 1st and 275 (195 female and 80 male) in the 2nd cohort. Am glad to communicate that 557 (397 female and 160) male youth completed the program. 311 youth have found employment as a result of our project. 20% of them have started up their own local business and 96 from the second intake are still enrolled on their internships. By December 2014, we will have empowered 1000 youth
Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?
By 2020, we want to establish 5 vocational skills building centres. Each of the youth centres will empower 1000 youth every year totaling to 5000. In 3 years over 1300 independent businesses created by the graduates and 2800 youth employed by other businesses. This project will reach over 16,400 indirect beneficiaries. Each of the 1300 businesses created will employ a minimum 3 people totaling to 3900 other youth. The 2800 locally employed youth will improve their livelihoods and that of 8400 households since each beneficiary has an average of 3 dependents including their own children
SUSTAINABILITY
FUNDING RECEIVED
The Establishment of Bwaise Youth Employement Centre (BYEC) was supported by the US Mission in Uganda with a one-year grant of $ 87,000 USD
The Barclays bank Uganda has donated training materials and has agreed to provide start up kits to over 350 youth.
Work Aid Uk has agreed to donate training equipments including sewing and knitting machines
Y-Save, Barclays bank Uganda and Finca Micro finance have facilitated financial literacy trainings
Challenges: What challenges might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?
Some youth fail to accomplish the trainings because of personal or family challenges or maybe they found a job or they migrated to another area. Some training equipments are expensive like the Photography and Video Editing (Video and Digital cameras,) Materials used in practical examinations were not budgeted for Internship places are had to find for all the youth The number was so big, we had to create three sessions in a day (Morning, afternoon, evening) and this was so constraining for one trainer Maintenance of damaged equipments was often because of they were used by the big number of students. Over 1300 youth had applied but we could not enroll of them at the same time because the space was not enough.
How does your idea help young people create bright futures and improve opportunities for meaningful and long-term careers?
Bwaise Youth Employment Centre enrolls 600-800 youth year on a 3 months hands-on vocational skills training in – Computer Graphics art and Design, Hair Dressing Beauty and Cosmetology, Catering and Food services, Electrical Installation, Tailoring and Fashion Design, Photography and Video Editing, Art and Local Craft among others.
As part of the program, the youth are equipped with entrepreneurial skills, financial literacy, soft and hard skills at the job for career and professional development. The youth take on one month internships at the end of the trainings to get exposed to the working environments. The best youth are provided start-up materials or cash to set up and sustain their own businesses as a means to get out of poverty.
We also connect our trainees to the Banks and government to provide start up funds and materials to help them start their own businesses
In addition, the project provides IT training to the youth on how to strategically use ICT (including Internet, social media, Web 2.0 and mobile technology) to market, expand and sustain their business ventures.
Target Age Group(s): What age group(s) do(es) your solution target through it’s programming?
13-17, 18-35.
Intervention Focus: Identify which of the following best explain key parts of your solution
Professional Development, Entrepreneurship, Training/Skill Development, Mentorship, Financing.
Do you have separate programs or initiatives that target the following types of populations?
Marginalized/Minority, Boys/Men, Girls/Women.
Impact – Reach: How many people did your project directly engage in programmatic activities in the last year?
501 to 1,000
Number of People Directly Employed by Your Organization
10-100
Number of Volunteers
10-100
Does your project utilize any of the innovative design principles below? Select a theme below that most applies to your work. If none of them do, no problem, you can skip this question.
Put Young People in Charge: provide the experiences and skills needed to be resilient, creative, and take action
Is your project targeted at solving any of the following key barriers? Select a theme below that most applies to your work. If none of them do, no problem, you can skip this question.
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