YEP to address economic root causes of youth irregular immigration

Gambia Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) addresses the economic root causes of irregular migration by supporting youth employment and entrepreneurship.

The project takes a market-led approach to improving the skills and employability of potential and returning migrants according to demands of the job market and simultaneously creating employment opportunities along Gambian value chains. 

YEP focuses on vocational training and support for micro and small-sized enterprises and creates new jobs in selected sectors through value addition and internationalization.

In 2015, the European Commission launched an “Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa”, consisting of EUR1.8 billion from the EU budget and the European Development Fund (EDF), to be complemented by contributions from EU Member States and other donors.

Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) also takes a market-led approach and sets out to strengthen existing youth development systems, structures and services to create employment opportunities. It aimed at scaling up skills among youth in the workforce in response to market demands.

The project offers possibilities for youths interested in moving into the commercial agriculture, service business or tourism sectors.

Existing technical and vocational skills programmes are strengthened to better match the needs of businesses.

YEP builds partnerships between training institutions and industry associations and assist in the development of their programmes.  The effectiveness of learning is increased by adopting accessible and flexible learning models and tools.

The project encourages entrepreneurship among youth through business skills training and support programmes.  It targeted business support services; help to improve performance and growth of youth-owned businesses.

The project builds the capacities of MSMEs in different food-related sectors such as food processing, hotels and restaurants to comply with quality and food safety requirements.

YEP supports development of sectors such as IT, handicraft & fashion and tourism to offer better opportunities to youth leaving the rural areas in search of nonagricultural jobs.

Source-YEP