50% skilled youth have already been engaged with self and wage employment
To prevent the youth from becoming the next generation of poor, the SHOUHARDO III program supports poor and extreme poor youth (aged 16 to 25) by developing their employability skills. The key objective of this activity is to connect them with better and secure employment. Alongside job-specific skills, the youth are also provided with basic life skills training that covers topics such as negotiation skills, financial planning and management, decision making, problem-solving, and business-related communications. The positive results of the life skills training were felt during the COVID-19 lockdown, as the youth participants showed some level of coping ability by shifting their focus through combining their job-specific and soft skills for timely and demand-based work, such as producing masks, electrical house wiring, and tube well repairs
Vocational, job-specific skills development training is provided using four approaches, and participants are placed on the approach that best suits their needs –
- Institutional Training: at the district and sub-district level
- Local Training: with local-level resource
- Apprenticeship: with a local level entrepreneur
- Local Constructing Society or Local WASH service provider
“As we were good at tailoring, it was not difficult for us to learn making masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. We ensured quality masks at a reasonable price and thus received a demand from different government and non-government offices. We are planning to expand our production soon”
– Rowsan Ara, youth participant from Jamalpur Baniachang
SHOUHARDO III provided training on more than 30 trades including, mobile servicing, electrical house wiring, welding, plumbing and pipefitting, carpentry, power loom operation, Handloom, computer operation, hair, and makeup, handicraft, vaccination, motorcycle mechanics, driving, and hotel management.
Moving towards its sustainable interventions, the program is also mobilizing youth participants as Local Service Providers (LSPs) in their areas to support the communities in repairing tube wells, arsenic testing, and e-business agents.
“Many of my coworkers have lost their jobs amidst the pandemic but I still have my job. This is only because I have formal technical training and I am highly skilled at my work”
– Asanuzzaman, Jamalpur