Youth Empowerment Project
This initiative aims to equip young people with entrepreneurial skills and the resilience needed to create meaningful change within their communities. Since its launch in 2020, the program has celebrated significant achievements, including the completion of training for five cohorts and the self sustainability and creation of jobs for youth. To date 139 youth have graduated and 70% of those have started businesses and employed their peers.
The enterprises range from agriculture farming to animal farming to environmental friendly innovations to IT and online services and so forth.
Women Empowerment Project
The Women Empowerment Project supports women-led households mostly from Nyabisindu, Nyagatovu and Cyahafi slums by taking the family breadwinners through 6 months vocational training in culinary art/baking, hairdressing and tailoring. The beneficiaries are then taken through a short course on business management and formation of SILCs, after which they are given equipment and assisted to begin working and earning an income.
The project came about as a second phase of the JUC’s Emergency response to COVID-19 pandemic where over 170 of the most vulnerable families from said slums were assisted with food parcels and rent arrears from May to July 2020.
In November 2020, JUC selected 50 breadwinners (most of them women) of these families and took them through vocational trainings in hairdressing, tailoring and baking. The beneficiaries were then taken through business management training and internship after which JUC handed over to them equipment and set up businesses for them.
In January 2022, JUC launched a second phase of the women empowerment program during which the Centre took on a second group of beneficiaries and facilitated vocational training and internship for 60 women and men from the same slums. The beneficiaries have since completed their training and internship. They have formed SILCs and chosen banks they will work with in their businesses.
