Creating success for more than 16,000 young people
This August, the Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) project in Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania will be completed. It has created employment for more than 16,000 young people and has been deemed a success by an independent evaluator. On this page, we take a moment to reflect on the project and its methodology.
Push – Match - Pull
Market demand has always been the basis of the OYE approach.
The SNV OYE Push - Match - Pull approach
After the selection, the participants join a short theoretical training course, where they learn basic life and business skills. After the initial training, participants get matched with an employment opportunity where they learn the practical skills they need to be successful. After the training concludes, the young women and men start their career and we continue to coach them deep into their employment to keep their motivation high and support them with problems they are facing. While we train and coach successful young people, we also work with authorities to establish inclusive policies, such as youth-friendly grant schemes or including youth-led business in government building projects. We also establish youth saving and lending associations (YSLAs) where participants learn to manage their income, save money, pool their profit and provide loans to members. Now, more than 250 YSLA have been established with OYE project support.
The proof is in the pudding
Behind every number there is a story
How the project has changed young people’s lives can be told best by themselves. Click on the images below to meet a few of the 16,000 young people who gained meaningful employment with the OYE project.
What happened to?
Revisiting some of the champions we met before to find out whether the changes in their lives have lasted.
Margreth - still dreams of opening her own solar shop
Learn more about the SNV OYE approach by watching these videos below:
Farming in Sneakers
Success starts with me
Haki leather - Elizabeth started her own leather workshop
4U - Leather: Joseph and Shaban were able to start a successful leather workshop
Donald and Kurwa started a company to install solar home systems - bringing renewable energy to rural Tanzania.
The SNV OYE project in Mozambiqu, Rwanda and Tanzania has come to and end, but the the Push – Match – Pull approach has proven its effectiveness and it is now in several SNV youth employment projects, such as Value Chain Development and Youth Employment (OYEM), Livelihoods Improvement for Women and Youth (LIWAY) and Tanzania Youth Economic Empowerment Activity (YEE).