Tansania: Nuorten voimaannuttaminen  

Kolmivuotinen (2010-2012) hanke parantaa vähäosaisten, 16-35 - vuotiaiden nuorten työllistymismahdollisuuksia Dar es Salaamissa ja Kilimanjaron alueella. Hankkeella on kaksi osaa: työllistämiskoulutus tarjoaa työnhakuvalmennusta ja työharjoittelumahdollisuuksia yliopisto-opiskelijoille ja vastavalmistuneille, yrittäjyyskoulutuksessa annetaan tukea ja neuvoja yrityksen perustamiseen ammattikouluttamattomille nuorille. Nuoret saavat koulutusta myös tieto- ja viestintäteknologian käytöstä.

Hankkeessa kehitetään nuorten nettiportaali Vijanaz.com, joka tarjoaa ilmaisia digitaalisia oppimateriaaleja ja tuo yhteen työnantajia ja työnhakijoita. Suomen lasten ja nuorten säätiö toteuttaa hanketta yhdessä paikallisen kumppanijärjestönsä Tanzania Youth Alliancen (TAYOA)  kanssa. Hanke saa Suomen ulkoasiainministeriön myöntämää hanketukea. 

Lataa projektisuunnitelma (pdf)

Tanzania: Youth ICT Empowerment

The Youth ICT Empowerment Project (Vijanatz.com) is designed to improve the employability of disadvantaged African youth in Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. The project has two key components; the training component focuses on computer-based employability training and internships for unemployed graduates and university students as well as entrepreneurial training and assistance in youth enterprise development for youth who lack higher education. The training includes life skills, ICT, and job search techniques training followed by internships or business development. Another project component entails the development of an internet portal for youth which offers free digital educational material (Online Educational Radio) and a job mediation service for youth and employers.

 The project is implemented jointly by the Finnish Children and Youth Foundation (FCYF) and its local partner organization in Tanzania, Tanzania Youth Alliance (TAYOA). The project is supported by the funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland to the development cooperation projects of NGOs.

Objectives

The project's objectives are to place graduates and unemployed youth in good jobs, internships, and in community service positions in order to help them start a professional career or grow their own businesses.

The long-term objective of this project is to advance youth employment in Tanzania through a functioning youth employability programme in cooperation with private and public stakeholders in the country. In addition, this project aims to enhance the disadvantaged youth's access to education and to support economic growth in key sectors in Tanzania by supplying skilled, young people to the job market.

Target group/beneficiaries

Direct beneficiaries of the project are disadvantaged youth ages 16-35. These include unemployed high school graduates, current students at training colleges and universities, and unemployed school drop-outs from the poorer urban centres and outlying rural areas around Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. Over a three-year period, the project will plan to reach approximately 900 direct beneficiaries. The project will also reach roughly 6,000 indirect beneficiaries, consisting primarily of users of Online Educational Radio and job mediation services in the vijanatz.com web portal. Additional indirect beneficiaries include the Tanzanian small, medium and large businesses that will be able to increase their productivity by gaining skilled and motivated employees.

Implementation/Results

As part of the project TAYOA establishes ICT learning centres and multimedia laboratory in Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. The learning centres' operations and the web portal will build on the collaboration between existing and new relationships with private, public, and non-profit sector actors/employers, chambers of commerce, the National Agency for Youth Employment, and others. Apart from the trainings, the centres host the production of digital learning materials (included in certain profession-specific entrepreneurial training components like media production and graphic design).

The training component step by step:

• After a thorough recruitment process, youth participants will be selected based on their need, level of motivation, and qualifications, as determined through the application and interview process.
• Based on their interest and motivation, selected youth will participate in either the employability training programme or the entrepreneurship programme.
• Participants in the employability training programme will receive training in life skills, ICT, and job search techniques as well as assistance in finding internship placements in local businesses, state and local government offices, and organizations.
• Participants will receive 40 hours of training and 30 hours of individual follow-up and coaching. Following completion of training, the beneficiaries are counseled and mentored and then placed in a volunteer -programme and observed by a volunteers supervisor over a period of 8 to 15 weeks. Following completion of the programme, participants will be assisted with placement in formal jobs, internships, or self-employment. As part of the employability programme,
• TAYOA will also host an annual "VIJANATZ.COM- YOUTH JOBS CONFERENCE" to raise awareness on the problem of youth unemployment and to advocate for policy changes, to promote the strengthening of ICT programmes, to build linkages with private sector and to encourage them to increase their corporate social responsibility through providing opportunities for internships, and to facilitate the development of a job-mediation database.
• Participants in the entrepreneurship programme will benefit from a "learning-by-doing" approach in which they will be assisted in developing and managing entrepreneurial projects. Participants will receive 64 hours of training and 40 hours of ongoing coaching and mentoring.
• The programme offers participants training, support, and tools necessary to transform their ideas into individual or group projects.
• The expected outcomes of Vijanatz.com include development of new micro or small enterprises and placement of youth in internships and jobs with small enterprises.
• About 10% of participants in (roughly 40 youth per year) will be selected to benefit from the additional incubation and business support services at the learning centres. Graduates of the Youth ICT Empowerment Project (Vijanatz.com) will receive assistance with business start-up and/or with placement in internships or jobs with small enterprises in Tanzania.
• Development of an internet portal for youth where digital educational material (Online Educational Radio) can be downloaded free of charge. This material will be made easily accessible through low-cost mobile devices with the help of NOKIA Educational Delivery application. The digital educational material is envisaged to tremendously increase the disadvantaged youth's possibilities to complete their secondary education. 

Download project plan (pdf)