The Niger Delta records some of the worst indices in youth unemployment, raising the need to find a working and sustainable model for getting the teeming youth population employed. In 2018, PIND and the Ford Foundation commenced a two-year NYDEP project pilot. It is based on a simple logic: a cohort of young people can become employed by targeting growth sectors developing and delivering skills development content (which incorporates technical, behavioral, and entrepreneurship skills) tailored to these sectors, and receiving post-training support into employment or entrepreneurship.
In the first year, PIND and local partner organizations with intervention sector expertise delivered in-person and practice-based experiential trainings to 1,468 youths. The trainees included women, PWDs (people with disabilities), and other marginalized groups in the three (3) states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers. They were equipped with market-relevant technical and soft skills in the key growth sectors of agriculture, construction, and ICT (information and communications technology). The trainees received post-training support from the sector expert implementing partners that empowered them to get jobs as employees or to create jobs as entrepreneurs.
Although they were sector experts, PIND still invested in enhancing the organizational capability of the implementing partners from 2018 to 2019. We provided them with technical advisory support, linkage to existing resources, financial resources through small grants, and platforms for coordination and collaboration. These provisions served as veritable success enablers for the NDYEP objective and supported their ability to adapt when COVID-19 emerged.
