Being young and striving for a fair income is challenging in Bolivia. Beyond economic crisis, opportunities to strengthen skills and gain experience are limited. This reduces chances of economic security, especially for vulnerable youth. In response, our program helps them strengthen their income-generating skills through training, mentoring and learning-by-doing opportunities. Thats how we accompany youth as they take their first steps towards economic independence and a brighter future.
85% of Bolivian youth work in the informal sector, 70% in precarious conditions. This means low-paid jobs, no social benefits, and often unsafe or even risky working conditions. When it comes to setting up their own small businesses, 80% of start-ups fail. Combined with a lack of opportunities to improve their skills and gain work experience, chances of young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, achieving economic independence and a dignified life are quite limited.
Our Youth Opening Pathways program supports youth from vulnerable backgrounds to develop relevant skills for their transition towards income generation, such as team work or resilience. They also get the opportunity to gain basic work experience, through mentor-led labor practices, significantly increasing their chances for job placement. Finally, we also support youth entrepreneurs in developing profitable and sustainable businesses, that also have a social and/or environmental focus.
Through a effective transition into (self)employment, prospects of earning a fair and stable income will increase for vulnerable youth, enabling them to maintain themselves, and eventually their families. This will also reduce frustration and potential negative consequences like substance abuse, violence against others or themselves, and delinquency. Thus, in the long term, ensuring their economic independence will contribute to dignified lives for themselves, their families and community.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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