Policy and Sectoral Review for Youth Transition from Poverty to Formal TEVET and Employment

Save the Children with financial support from Save the Children Italy has been implementing a 12 months TEVET project in Mzimba district. The main purpose of the project was to create a pathway for youth (females/ males) aged 15-24 from ultra-poor families in Mzimba1 district in Malawi, to access formal TEVET, enhance their employability, and increase income opportunities. It aimed at addressing the intersecting challenges that restrict young peoples’ access to these opportunities. These included high levels of poverty and school dropout, limited supply of quality TEVET opportunities, low levels of professional and vocational skills, and gender inequalities. The expected outcomes of the project were:

• Outcome 1 – Improve access to formal TEVET training opportunities for Youth (females/males) 15 – 24 years old from ultra-poor families
• Outcome 2 – Enhance self-employment opportunities for Youth (females/males) 15-24 years old graduated from the TEVET program.
• Outcome 3 – Increase decent job or apprenticeship opportunities for Youth (females/males) 15-24 years old graduated from the program

The project had three pathways working with 2 cohorts from Pathways for Successful Transition (PAST) Project youths. PAST is an MK1,583,871,307.36 project funded by IFAD through Financial Access for Rural Markets Smallholders and Enterprises (FARMSE) of the government of Malawi targeting ultra-poor households in Mzimba enlisted within the existing regular social cash transfer programs and with potential to undertake productive activities.

One of the key activities in the project was to undertake a policy and sectoral analysis on existing youth focused policies from strategic sectors such as agriculture, tourism, energy and green economy2 in order to identify gaps, opportunities, challenges and entry opportunities that support Youth entrepreneurship. Special focus was on these sectors in creating green job opportunities that offer the best market potential.

The overall objective of the assignment was to conduct policy and sectoral analysis of opportunities, stakeholders including private sectors, on existing youth focused policies and programs within the strategic sectors of agriculture, renewable energy and tourism sector as well as other non-traditional trades in order to identify gaps, opportunities, challenges and entry points that can support the successful transition of young people into decent livelihoods opportunities.