Learning to earn through The Gambia YMCA

Gambia YMCA hairdressing vocational training.

Against the backdrop of extreme poverty and limited opportunities for youth entry into the employment market, The Gambia YMCA is running two projects preparing young Gambians for employment and entrepreneurship with 900 beneficiaries this year alone.

The Gambia is one of the least developed countries in the world. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranks The Gambia 160 out of 179 countries in its Human Development Index (Human Development Report, 2008), with people on average poorer now than they were 30 years ago.

Three quarters of all Gambians rely on agriculture for their livelihood, which is concentrated narrowly around a handful of key crops, particularly groundnut and millet. The UN's World Food Programme has observed that in addition to the country's narrow economic base, weak marketing infrastructure, lack of access to credit and lack of appropriate skills, poor knowledge and technology combine to further weaken the agricultural sector.

"These factors exacerbate subsistence and low input production, affecting overall agricultural productivity in The Gambia and pushing more people into poverty and lack of employment, especially the youth. It has also been observed that these factors retard growth in sectors such as small enterprise development," said Adama Faye, beneficiary representative in the project steering committee.

The Government has long recognised the need to provide young people with vocational training opportunities. The 1997 Constitution of The Gambia, for example, makes specific reference to providing vocational training for young people, as does the Education Act (1963). Other key policies include the 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the Government's Vision 2020 Paper, which sets out its plans, amongst others, to provide "credit, finance, technology, improvements in education, skills training and institutional support services" to enable young people to escape the poverty trap by creating employment and engaging in income-generation.

The Gambia YMCA's entrepreneurship and employment projects are a direct response to government direction and the needs of the youth in the country. Aimed at reducing poverty and social exclusion amongst vulnerable and disadvantaged young people aged 16-30 living predominantly in rural and semi-rural areas of The Gambia, the `The Life Skills and Enterprise Development Project for Marginalised and Disadvantaged Young People' is funded by Big Lottery Fund (BLF) and Y Care International, United Kingdom.

The target beneficiaries of this four-year project are female-headed households, orphans, school drop-outs, youth with disabilities and young people living with HIV/AIDS. In total, 2 400 youth will be trained by 2011 through chosen vocational skills such as catering and food management, tailoring, tie dye and batik, welding, carpentry, interior decorating, bead-making, bee-keeping, bread-making, auto-mechanics, and aluminium design. The `Empowering Young Gambian People/Tiakka Liggey, funded by Finland YMCA also offers youth these vocational training opportunities, with a target of 2 500 beneficiaries by 2011.

"To address the obstacle of entering the labour market due to lack of finances, The Gambia YMCA offers micro-finance loans to youth who successfully complete training and submit convincing business plans to the micro-finance committee," said Sam B. Thorpe, The Gambia YMCA Director.

A total of 50 loans out of 90 applicants have been approved this year through the BLF Funded Project.

After completing her nine-month hairdressing and beauty therapy training, 21-year-old Aminata Camara recently received such a loan. From a large family, Aminata had not been engaged in anything productive since she dropped out of school three years ago.

"I heard about the life skills project on the radio and from friends. Then I went to the YMCA to collect a form because I didn't want to continue sitting at home doing nothing. I wanted to learn skills to develop myself and my family. I was interviewed and I eventually got enrolled.

"The YMCA has trained me in a skill area that I like doing, which my family would not have afforded to support. Upon completing the training, YMCA gave me a loan both in cash and materials (working tools) to start my own business of a hairdressing and beauty salon. This is beneficial to me and my family. The YMCA is helping youth by training them and providing employment opportunities in order to help their families and community," she said.

The need to create awareness around legislation that supports youth employment is key in this project, as many young people consulted in the implementation of the programme felt discriminated against on the basis of their age, particularly in regard to securing employment.

"They felt excluded from decision-making processes and structures; not only political structures and institutions but also social and commercial structures such as local chambers of commerce, community development committees and education committees, where representation by young people could help push the issue of youth training and enterprise development further up the policy agenda," said Sam.

Strategic programmes with municipal mayors and local government authorities have resulted in the participation of local government authorities in the youth employment policy agenda crusade. Many young people can now discuss youth employment policy issues with elders and local authorities – something that has never even been dreamt of before.

Rider: This article originally appeared in Siyahamba (no. 16), newsletter of the Africa Alliance of YMCA