Creating Youth Employment Projects in Emerging Sectors

GRADEL(GROUP OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ACTION's)

Message from the Executive DirectorDear Friends

The Group of Local Development Action’s is a group of research and from action on the development was born in 2003. It is given like vocation to use new communication and information technologies for development ,the eradication of poverty, youth employment and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The 4th to 5th of March 2003, OECD, within the framework of its world forum on the economy of the knowledge organized with the United Nations and the World Bank, a forum on the topic "To integrate communication and information technology in the programs of development was the inciting element because ICT play from now on a determining part. It revolutionize our way of thinking, to work, live by reducing the times and the costs of communication, ICT makes possible the diffusion and the exchange of information abundant, relevant, brought up to date and directly useful for the development. Our work consists in supporting initiatives of development having a strong economic and social impact while making available reliable information. Now is the time to strengthen the efforts of GRADEL by pulling together ICT4YOUTH, and GRADEL will work to build capacity of young people, all other partners in the ICT’s will stand up and play their part. Please view this as just a concept note that needs your comments and support.

In solidarity Owalakin B.BELLO

GRADEL

Table of Contents

1. The Twin Opportunities

2. The GRADEL Campaign’s Solution

3. The GRADEL Campaign Fund

4. Sector Solutions

5. GRADEL Background Information

1. The Twin Opportunities

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The Twin Opportunities

Developing countries currently face two sets of pressing problems:

Imagine if we could solve both of these problems at once?

Sector Development Needs Youth Unemployment

• Renewable Energy: 2 billion people lack access to energy/electricity

• Water & Sanitation: 2.5 billion people lack access to clean water and sanitation

• Rural Development: 60% of the developing world still live in rural areas

• Information & Communication Technologies: barely 2% of the world population has internet access

• HIV/Aids: 95% of the estimated 38 million people infected with HIV live in developing countries

• There are currently 1 billion young people between the ages of 15-24

850 million of these are living in developing countries

• Over the next 30 years, this number will increase by another 1.2 billion, mostly in developing countries

• Young people are cognizant of the inequities of the global system, and are susceptible to association with the negative forces in their communities

• It is critical that youth employment opportunities are developed

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Unemployment of youth has far-reaching implications on the labour market and the society at large. Youth unemployment contributes to economic exclusion and poverty and increases the probability of future joblessness. Youth unemployment results in the loss of a valuable contribution to economic activity and growth from one of the most productive elements in society. It obstructs the movement of young people from adolescence to adulthood and in turn is a major cause of crime and drug abuse. High levels of youth unemployment can also lead to alienation from society and distrust of democratic political processes. As a result, social cohesion is undermined.”

International Labour Organization’s World Employment Report 1998/99

2. The GRADEL Campaign’s Solution

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GRADELIntroduction to the GRADEL Campaign

• The GRADEL Campaign was launched in BENIN in the post -NATIONAL FORUM for YOUTH EMPLOYMEN under the patronage of President YAYI BONI in 8th to 10 th Mars 2007 by GRADEL delegates.

• The campaign was launched in response to the enormous global challenge of youth unemployment affecting millions of young people around BENIN the goals to

build the capacity of young people to create sustainable livelihoods

establish an entrepreneurial culture where youth will work towards self employment

• Today, we are planning to establish Networks work with stakeholder groups such as the government, business, academics, NGOs, UN agencies etc. to develop programs, and suggest policies for promoting youth employment

• These GRADEL Networks will be supported by our potential partners.

• Additionally, the GRADEL Campaign works with national and global partners to develop and deploy effective programs that realize the following objectives

Develop capacity of youth to lead in-country youth employment initiatives

Promote (in-country) youth employment to address key development challenges

Build in-country coalitions to develop national strategies addressing youth unemployment

We have placed the issue of youth employment on the global agenda.

GRADEL The Evolution of the GRADEL Campaign

2003 2007 2008 2012

Identifying the issues

Building consensus

Generating ideas

Creating a platform that inspire youth and development of Networks

Advocacy with leaders and institutions

Identifying sectors for employment and doing pilot work

Establishing the GRADEL information center hub for generating employment

• Building Partnerships

• Creating employment generation models in GRADEL Network

• Building in-country self-reliance

• Replicating and scaling up employment generating programs

We are creating great progress in building knowledge and infrastructure.

GRADEL The 10 GRADEL Networks

…are youth-led national-level coalitions focused on promoting youth employment

Manifesting two core design principles that drive the GRADEL Campaign’s work

the recognition that no one individual or institution can do the work alone; working in partnership is essential

our belief in building self reliance and absorption capacity in our GRADEL Network countries

Networks exist from Natitingou to Cotonou!

JOIN US

There is a Youth Event organized somewhere in the world every other day!

GRADEL We are establishing new partnership around the world Afghanistan

Albania

Angola

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bangladesh

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Brazil

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Canada

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cote D’Ivoire

Dominican Republic

Egyp

El Salvador

Gambia

Georgia

Ghana

Guatemala

Guinea Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

India

Iran

Jordan

Kenya

Liberia

Malaysia

Malawi

Mali

Mauritius

Mexico

Moldova

Mozambique

Namibia

Nepal

Nigeria

Pakistan

Panama

Paraguay

Philippines

Peru

Romania

Rwanda

Senegal

Serbia & Montenegro

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

USA

Uruguay

Zambia

Zimbabwe

GRADEL GRADEL Global Activities

Outreach & Engagement

• Building strategic alliances and fostering partnerships – Over 1000 members of the GRADEL Global Alliance

• Seeking and developing programs – Over 100 programs and projects

• Communicating information about youth employment and the GRADEL Campaign through newsletters, press releases, the website, electronic discussion groups, toolkits, and publications. Partner publication. Over 50 original publications

• Organizing regional and national training workshops and Forums.

Knowledge Development

• Designing and implementing youth employment pilot projects centered around the Campaign’s five key sectors

• Conducting policy analysis and publishing policy briefs

• Managing the Global Knowledge Resource (GKR) a resource database and communication medium where all stakeholders of youth employment can share and access innovative initiatives, useful toolkits, and comprehensive research and publications

• Managing the GRADEL, information center hub for youth employment initiatives located in Cotonou

We are at the forefront of youth unemployment advocacy and research.

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GRADEL Global Activities

Capacity Building

• Supporting the formation and development of GRADEL Networks, youth-led entities comprised of diverse stakeholders groups committed to the issue of promoting youth employment

• Creating the GRADEL Networks in the following activities:

Consultations: Hosting national level consultations with governments, private sector, academic institutions, education and training organizations and NGOS and youth groups to build the national coalition for youth employment

Partnership Building: Building partnerships for developing and implementing projects

Action Plans: Preparing country action plans and reports to inform stakeholders

Entrepreneurship Development: Promoting an entrepreneurial culture through workshops and materials; developing programs to provide business development services to young people; working with banks and government agencies to provide credit and to provide credit and other services to youth

Understanding Markets: Understanding the needs of the market place and creating products and services to serve the market and to help in enterprise development

Mobilizing Resources: Building the capacity of GRADEL Network leadership to identify needs, develop projects, build partnerships, mobilize resources and implement projects

Build Absorption Capacity: Working to make the YES Networks sustainable and effective and able to absorb the resources available for its development

We excel in a catalyzing youth-led employment creation programs.

3. The GRADEL Fund

For Youth Employment

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Our Request

Invest in the GRADEL Fund

The Problem:

Over one billion youth in the labor market

No real jobs in the public or private sectors

Solution:

Creating Markets

Unleashing Entrepreneurship

What will the GRADEL Fund do:

Offer a mix of grants, loans and technical assistance to young entrepreneurs

Support will be offered to those countries that have arranged matching funds

YOU CAN invest as a

A traditional philanthropic donor

A micro-finance creditor

A venture capital angel investor

A private donor at any level comfortable for you…it will take all of US!

We seek your help in raising a fund to turn our knowledge into action.

“Let us be clear. Half-educated, unemployed youth, with no prospect of being integrated into a better future is a prescription for disaster. If young people do not have a stake in the existing social order and political order, if they do not feel there is a way for them, why should they sacrifice today for a better tomorrow? Why should they have an interest in protecting the stability and social safety of that system?”

Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Vice President, World Bank, 1999

GRADEL Replicating INITIATIVE

The Campaign is uniquely positioned to leverage your investment.

We need a New Deal for Youth Employment

What is Missing… is the WILL

…will we?

“The YES Campaign recognizes that it is only through employment, that we can accomplish conditions of freedom, democracy and equity, where youth can live in dignity and relate to the society and the environment in a truly sustainable way”.

-Dr. Mohamed T El Ashry, CEO GEF, September 2002

Renewable Energy: The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Global Environment Facility have worked with us to train and develop RE entrepreneurs

Water & Sanitation: With the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and others, we are currently developing a plan to develop income-generating programs in this sector

Rural Development: The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Youth Employment Network (YEN), UNIDO, and the YES Campaign are preparing a project for East Africa for promoting agribusiness among youth

Information & Communication Technologies: With the IT department of the Ministry of Technology in India the YES Campaign is proposing to set up 200 Knowledge Centers to train youth in ICT skills, and serve as an information hub for local communities

HIV/AIDS: YES Campaign staff has worked with the USAID-funded program Equip 3 in Southern Africa to prepare a livelihoods based strategy for prevention

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DONATIONS LOANS EQUITYInvestment Options

Fund Goals To create jobs for unemployed youth in the 5 development sectors

Investment Beneficiary

Knowledge & Training

Individual Youth Entrepreneurs

New or Growing Enterprises

Investment Use

• Fund “knowledge and employment centers” that provide job-skills training classes and practical experience

• Provide small loans (with interest return) to local youth entrepreneurs looking to start businesses

• Provide capital and strategic advice to young and growing businesses in return for an ownership stake

Job CreationImpact

• Prepare youth for the working world

• Help build youth employment opportunities

• Create many new jobs as businesses grow

Overview of the Fund

The Fund will offer various avenues for investment and return.

GRADEL Donations Investments

• The GRADEL Campaign needs your investment to help strengthen local infrastructure for developing young entrepreneurs

• The donations will be used to create Knowledge and Research centers that will offer Youth Leadership Training

Green Enterprise Training

Social Entrepreneurship Training

Fundraising Training

Livelihoods Internship Programs

• As well as supporting youth in Youth Led Innovative Program Implementation

Seed Grant Projects for Entrepreneurship Development

Developing multi-stakeholder partnerships for program design

Building local capacity for program implementation

Using new technologies for livelihood generation

Community Driven Development

Designing Collaborative Projects

Donations will impact scores of youth creating employment programs.

GRADEL Loans Investments

• We will work with you to select the young people and train then to design business solutions in the five development sectors

Renewable Energy

Water & Sanitation

Rural Development

Information & Communication Technologies

HIV/AIDS

• The GRADEL Fund seeks to provide the start-up capital to help these entrepreneurs launch their business ideas

• Many of these investments will be made in the form of micro-credit loans that will offer investors both a return of principal and interest

• Micro-credit has been proven to act as a catalyst for both new employment-generating ventures and reliable investor returns

• The GRADEL Campaign will leverage its local knowledge and experience as well as commercial and government partnerships to implement this investment initiative

Loans to young entrepreneurs will spur crucial development solutions.

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Equity Investments

• In the medium-term, many of the development projects inspired and supported by GRADEL Campaign initiatives will be in phases of fruition and growth

• The GRADEL Campaign Fund aims to be in a position to provide significant capital to young and growing enterprises to further our two goals of creating employment and developing sector infrastructure

• Because the GRADEL Campaign prefers market-based solutions and understands that hand-outs are not the best long-term answer, the Fund will make capital contributions in the form of equity

• These contributions will ensure aligned incentives, long-term sustainability and an investment return to our investors

• Additionally, our investors can leverage their business backgrounds and provide strategic advice to the youth entrepreneurs

• Creating a culture of market-driven ownership and investment will catalyze long-term systemic change in the developing world

Equity investments are the final step in ensuring lasting enterprises.

GRADEL GRADEL Fund - Governance

Strong Governance is critical for investor and donor confidence

GRADEL will choose the best Bank that profile is to mobilizes market capital and philanthropic investment for development enterprise, will be acts as trustee for funds ensuring compliance with business standards and regulatory requirements, screens and selects opportunities for funding, oversees grant-making and investment into youth enterprise, and reports back to donors and investors.

Bank Trustees channels donations to charitable aspects of GRADEL Campaign

network

Advisory Board

Advisory Board

Bank LLP mobilizes for-profit micro-finance investment

and acts as equity partner for selected GRADEL

enterprises

Bank LLPBank LLP

Bank Trustees

Bank Trustees

DonorsDonors

Youth

EnterpriseGRADEL Campaign orchestrates action in the in-country networks

The Board advises on all aspects of philanthropic &

market investment and capacity building

4. Sector Solutions

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GRADEL Renewable Energy

• Organize young people at the community level to assemble, install, service and market renewable energy systems

• Provide renewable energy entrepreneurship training and seed grants or access to microfinance credit for innovative youth to launch their own renewable energy enterprise such as

providing energy for agro-based industries for making fruit pulp and juices, pickles, and drying vegetables

manufacturing of home lighting systems - lights, fans and small refrigerators for storing medication, milk

Designing and installing small power plants for institutions

maintenance of renewable energy systems and selling and installing small home systems such as solar panels

manufacturing of solar lanterns for fishing activities during the night and renewable energy based ICTs to enhance access to income generation opportunities, especially in rural areas

solar cookers

installation and maintenance of solar powered community facilities in rural areas

GRADELRural Development (On-Farm and Off-Farm)

• Orient agricultural extension programs towards youth, which includes

preparing then to set up small enterprises

working with credit institutions to help youth build productive assets such as land, livestock, equipment and others

vocational training, micro-entrepreneurship in the curriculum targeting young women

identifying, natural resource based micro enterprises, and offering rural youth business development services to start such enterprises

building an understanding of how agro-business value chains work and supporting rural youth entrepreneurs in producing value-added farm products

GRADEL Water & Sanitation

• Integrate youth in community management processes to improve the availability and supply of clean drinking water, sanitation services, and environmental conditions through

research, develop and disseminate information on water and sanitation sector, to inform and support behavioral change at the village level

support income-generating programs in rain water-harvesting, storage and supply

organizing community level training for youth to build and maintain low cost toilets in rural areas and tackle the sanitation needs of people in villages

training youth to build and maintain hand pumps to provide water supply to rural communities

GRADEL Information Communication Technology

• Develop programs to support ICT-based entrepreneurship through

Knowledge Centers that provide information and a business development network that seeks to link youth entrepreneurs, interns, investors, incubators with each other

“Youth in Business Centers” to support developing business ideas, explore credit options and financial management, and assist in marketing, product development

training youth in web based services such as website development and e-marketing

training youth as educators and mentors for distance learning and business development

supporting agriculture though ICT tools

incorporating the use of ICTs to support the educational programs for the students of the elementary and middle schools in the communities

GRADEL Reproductive Health & HIV/Aids

• Improve the reproductive health and family planning choices of women through

life skills and leadership trainings with reproductive health messages embedded

providing vocational, professional and entrepreneurial trainings

conducting pilot programs to evaluate the correlation between economic empowerment and improved reproductive health status

improve the livelihood opportunities of youth living with HIV/AIDS - training them in “positive living”, peer/educators/mentors, establishing a support and mentorship network

strengthen services by introducing a greater focus on youth livelihood initiatives, and supporting the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the delivery of youth-friendly HIV/AIDS and reproductive heath services

5. GRADEL Background Information

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GRADEL GRADEL Campaign LeadershipCampaign Committee• Saturnin KOSSOU President ONG DPD( Dialogue for Peace and Development) President of

DPD Network• Gbenga Adebusuyi FOUNDER of WIRE AFRICA President of Economic Forum Africa-USA

Executive Director

Owalakin B.BELLO

GRADEL (Group of Local Development Action’s)c/1365 Ste-Rita072BP238 Cotonou-BeninTel. +229 97898504Fax.+229 21302278Email: jmsjbenin2006@yahoo.fr

GRADEL These Recent Project Successes in YES NETWORK can be replicateIndia - The UNIDO/India Renewable Energy (RE) project had 4 major outcomes:

• Created a RE Center for Excellence at the SRT Rural Institute (SRTRI), in Andhra Pradesh

• Established a Solar Laboratory at SRTRI

• Trained about 100 young people as technicians and entrepreneurs in RE

• Worked with Shell Solar and other businesses to tailor the curriculum to their needs, and almost 40 percent of the trainees were hired by private business

Zambia - UNIDO/Zambia Renewable Energy (RE) project had 4 major outcomes:

• The creation of a RE lab at the Elias Mutale Training Centre, in Kasama, Zambia

• Training 50 Master Trainers in renewable energy enterprise development, and an additional 250 youth trained by these master trainers

• A microfinance plan developed for the government

• A vibrant RE enterprise development network created of institutions, experts, NGOs, youth, membership drawn from all 23 districts in Zambia

Global Environment Facility (GEF) – The Renewable Energy Fellowship program:

• 5 Youth selected in competitive process (from Georgia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Peru)

• Training delivered in renewable energy, leadership and entrepreneurship

• Business planning assistance and start-up funding provided for businesses in Portable Photovoltaic Panels Production and Distribution Wind Power Mills and Turbines for Farming Solar Equipment –lanterns, box cookers Wind Energy to Pump Water for Communities Bio-digesters and Solar Cookers through Bio-mass

GRADEL The GRADEL Framework for Action

Employability

Equity

Entrepreneurship

Empowerment of Youth

Employment Generation

Environmental Sustainability

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THIS PRESENTATION WAS INSPIRED BY YES (Youth Employment Summit)

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