A holistic approach to economic empowerment of young women and men case studies from the Empower Youth for Work projects in Ethiopia and Bangladesh

Summary:

Many programmes aim to improve socio-economic empowerment of youth through extensive training programmes. However, the environment around youth is often a barrier for youth to reach their full potential during- and after training programmes. Therefore, the Empower Youth for Work (EYW) programme uses a holistic approach to socio-economic empowerment, involving community and potential employers in their approach. Furthermore, the approach of EYW is youth-led, meaning that youth develop their own creative ways to convey their messages. This presentation shows how evidence from impact evaluation support the youth in connecting the dots between individual socio-empowerment and ecological factors surrounding them. We will show from the cases from Bangladesh and Ethiopia how the EYW programme combines rigorous research with youth-led creative influencing with positive results, in particular for young women.

Background/Objectives

The 'demographic dividend' delivers promise for development, but is also criticized for its instrumental approach rather than focusing on equality and rights. This talk draws on evidence from the Empower Youth for Work (EYW) project in Bangladesh and Ethiopia to show how we approach youth employment differently; taking into account the surrounding social system. A rigorous impact evaluation strengthened by qualitative in-depth research shows how a holistic approach to youth employment pays off, especially for young women. We will show how linking ecological factors of youth employment holistically helps to improve their communication strategy, to boost young women's economic empowerment.

Description Of Intervention And/or Methods/Design

Empower Youth for Work (EYW) focuses on enabling young women and men to seek and obtain socioeconomic empowerment. To realize these goals, the programme applies a holistic approach through working on agency, capacity & skills, linking young people's economic opportunities, access to finance and the creation of an enabling environment by influencing social norms and policies that restrict young people's opportunities. The EYW programme is driven by evidence. We employ rigorous quantitative impact evaluation measuring results at the individual and community level. Through regular surveys we explore the programme's contribution to change in economic empowerment by focusing on the relationship between programme participation and increased skills, as well as any association between skill acquisition and gaining decent jobs and/or sustainable (self)employment. In addition, we explore the association of external factors in communities with agency and socioeconomic development. These relationships and other outcomes and impacts are further investigated using qualitative methods.

Results/Lessons Learned

Results from Ethiopia demonstrate a positive contribution on youth employment and income, but women lag behind. This may be explained by negative social norms concerning female employment. Threats of GBV and little access to SRHR services are also barriers to economic empowerment. Further qualitative research on the functioning of youth groups showed that women are challenged by the burden of household chores and their economic activities. In Bangladesh we see the holistic focus in programming paying off. The results show an improvement of youth socio-economic empowerment, and for female youth this change can be attributed to EYW activities. The results show a clear link between EYW activities and the enabling environment, especially for women. EYW activities are proven to contribute to less social restrictions, especially for women. This is an important success, as the baseline values showed that social restrictions are much harsher on women than on men.

Discussion/Implications For The Field

Although the relation between socioeconomic empowerment and environmental factors is difficult to prove, EYW teams in Ethiopia and Bangladesh find enough indications to continue working in this area. They use the findings to inform the scope and content of their communication strategies to ensure that community dialogues are sensitive to young women's needs. Youth play an important role in this, as drivers of change to mobilize their peers and raise their voice towards employers and government. They interact with their peers, community, local leaders and potential employers through creative forms of communication, transforming research results into youth-led communicable messages.

Abstract submitted by:

Saskia Van Veen - Oxfam Novib

Gwendolyn Parami - Oxfam Novib

Tosiba Kashem - Oxfam

Biruhalem Kassa - Oxfam