Note from Uganda: War-Affected Youth Benefit from Education and Market-Driven Skills Training

For more than 20 years, the conflict in northern Uganda disrupted social structures and destroyed livelihoods and economic development in the region. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by Joseph Kony, frequently launched raids targeting girls and boys in order to recruit them as soldiers. A generation of young people has grown up in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) amidst poverty and insecurity. In addition to widespread exposure to violence, children and young people in the north have had limited access to primary education and almost no access to higher education.

 

In 2006, responding to the high illiteracy rates and limited access to education, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) brought their Youth Education Pack (YEP) program to northern Uganda. Operating in 10 conflict-affected countries around the world, the YEP program provides war-affected youth with literacy skills, life skills and vocational training. While the program emphasizes basic literacy and psycho-social support, the livelihood skills offered are an integral tool in helping participating youth successfully reintegrate into their communities.

 

Before joining NRC’s YEP Gulu Municipality Centre in northern Uganda, Opiyo Solomon’s main source of income came from selling palm fruit and he was unable to support himself or help his family.  At one point, his situation became unbearable as his income actually was insufficient to make ends meet and his lack of education and training inhibited access to new money-generating opportunities. Solomon had only completed five years of primary school, and could not continue studying due to school fees. He learned about YEP from a friend who shared his own experience from participating in the program. Solomon says that, “The success stories from my friend made me take his advice so seriously that I contacted a YEP teacher immediately.”

 

Today Opiyo Solomon is a 19 year-old YEP graduate who is convinced that the skills he has obtained from the program have launched him onto an entrepreneurial path he could not have imagined a year ago. When Solomon joined YEP, his main priorities were mastering discipline and creating friendships. He chose carpentry because he liked building and working with wood and because he thought it would be a good source of income.

 

Solomon’s discipline and hard work were recognized when he was elected chairman of the Income Generating Activity (IGA) Group—a cooperative of learners who work together using new skills learned at NRC’s YEP center. In the IGA Group, Solomon and his team of four carpenters process orders, building tables and chairs for businesses and other individuals in the community to earn a profit. The group has recently obtained a contract from NRC’s Camp Management Program to make doors for people returning home from IDP camps, and yet another contract to build dining tables for the Katerina Hotel in Gulu. In their wood workshop, each worker earns up to 20,000 Ugandan Shillings (approximately USD 9) per day producing items for sale—which is a significant amount in northern Uganda, given the economic situation. With the money obtained from his carpentry work, Solomon has been making rapid progress out of poverty for himself and his family.

 

Before joining YEP, Solomon shares that he was utterly unable to imagine a viable future. He was embarrassed to visit friends as he lacked appropriate clothes. He would engage in fights at the slightest provocation. His siblings would disregard him. Today, with his head held high, Solomon can buy the clothes he needs and feel comfortable visiting friends. YEP has helped him work on conflict resolution and anger management, and their psycho-social support and guidance have helped Solomon reorient and focus his energy toward his work. As a consequence his anger has dissipated. Solomon shares, “I now don’t fight with anything; [I] only [focus on] my work.” By the time Solomon graduated from the YEP program, he had taken on the responsibility of paying his sister’s school fees and his siblings had come to respect his leadership. His mother is very happy to see hope, initiative and previously unknown opportunities in her son’s life.

 

In March 2009, a team of graduate students from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs traveled to Uganda to partner with NRC in field testing the Women’s Refugee Commission’s Market Assessment Toolkit for Vocational Training Providers and Youth. Through a series of interviews, the Toolkit provided a broader understanding of the labor market demands in Gulu district and identified potential partnerships for vocational training programs. The team suggested concrete steps for vocational training providers (such as NRC) to take in order to strengthen their educational programming. Preliminary findings have identified potential partnerships with business associations, local businesses, donors and international NGOs to help YEP graduates find apprenticeships and internships to improve the quality of their skills. These partnerships could also assist NRC to diversify the vocational training skills taught and reach more participants. Furthermore, the Market Assessment Toolkit identified sources of funding from Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) that are willing to provide loans to students like Solomon to buy tools and equipment for their cooperatives. This has the potential to help YEP graduates get a better start at processing their orders upon exiting from the program.

 

The Columbia University team is producing a report with detailed recommendations for NRC and other vocational training service providers in Gulu. Preliminary recommendations include that NRC should dedicate more time to teaching income generating skills to enhance learner’s competitiveness and to help them improve the quality of their work. This would enable students, such as Solomon, to be more competitive as they bid for government contracts and other contracts advertised by donors and INGOs, which demand capable and competitive local labor.

 

In addition to recommending the YEP program to others, Solomon advises other YEP graduates to consider participating in his workshop for apprenticeships and training. “I welcome any YEP graduate to come and work with me at my woodshop.” When describing the impact YEP has had in his relationship with his family, Solomon says: “My uncle used to think I was a … useless person, he would not … delegate anything to me, and regarded me as a burden…but now my uncle is delegating many tasks to me at home”. Before joining YEP, “I used to spend my time watching movies, but now I have changed my attitude, and I work toward generating money.”

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS