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SERVE launches ‘Skills for Youth Resilience Programme (SYRP 2021 -2024)’
The SYRP is in partnership with Young Africa in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
SERVE has launched a new programme to tackle the unemployment crisis faced by the marginalised young people in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. This programme aims to build their economic and emotional resilience.
“The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.” – Proverb
This proverb captures the tenacity of the young people with whom we work through Young Africa. Young Africa runs skill training centres throughout Southern Africa, empowering thousands of young people to become employable and entrepreneurs.
Since 2007, SERVE has been sending volunteers to Young Africa. Our previous SERVE Development Programme (SDP) ran from 2018 to September 2021. Through the SDP, young people had access to develop their technical, entrepreneurial and life skills training.
The programme also focused on capacity building for the staff of Young Africa.
Due to the positive impact of the SDP, and as a response to the growing youth unemployment crisis, SERVE has established the Skills for Youth Resilience Programme (SYRP 2021 -2024) in Zimbabwe and Mozambique in collaboration with Young Africa.
The primary goal of SYRP is to provide holistic Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for 5000 marginalised young people age 18 to 35yrs that is both affordable and effective. Another important highlight of this programme is the establishment of an Entrepreneurship Hub to nurture aspiring entrepreneurs and assist them in achieving economic independence.
This project will be supported by Irish Aid’s Civil Society Fund, support from public donations to SERVE, other donor groups in Ireland, and Young Africa’s donor network.
WHAT WILL THE SKILLS FOR YOUTH RESILIENCE PROGRAMME DO?
- Invest in training infrastructure and equipment to improve the standard of training and align it with industry demands;
- Improve access for the most vulnerable youth through a Scholarship Programme;
- Support entrepreneurship through the establishment of a Youth Entrepreneurship Hub at YA Zimbabwe and provide business start-up kits to graduates in Zimbabwe and Mozambique;
- Support core HR needs at Young Africa especially in the area of Life Skills;
- Align the training curriculum with the ‘Greening TVET Agenda’;
- Support extensive capacity building across the Young Africa network;
- Link the SERVE International Volunteer Programme with the SYRP when international travel restrictions are lifted.
WHAT WILL THE SKILLS FOR YOUTH RESILIENCE PROGRAMME ACHIEVE?
- Improved access to TVET;
- Improved levels of employment;
- Establishment of successful micro-enterprises;
- Increased income levels;
- Increased savings levels;
- Improved emotional wellbeing and core skills;
- Improved training capacity levels of staff at Young Africa;
- Bridge the Global North-Global South divide through SERVE’s International Volunteering Programme
Support from generous donors like you helps to sustain our programme for the economic welfare of the youth and to help aspiring entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe and Mozambique
Meet Elaine, a graduate of YA Zimbabwe’s beauty therapy course, who is running her own business in Harare.
Before enrolment, Elaine struggled to juggle her responsibilities as a single mother and caregiver for her mother.
However, through the Skills for Youth Resilience Programme funded by SERVE, she gained the skills she needed to turn her life around.
She is financially stable and through the life skills and sexual health education she has embraced the importance of family planning and HIV prevention. With a renewed sense of empowerment and knowledge, she is focused on expanding her business and creating a bright future for herself and her family.
