Employing youth by providing vocational training NRC - Supporting young people transitioning to livelihood opportunities in the DRC-NRC Stöd till ungas ökade möjligheter till försörjning i DR Kongo - via NRC Norska flyktingrådet (NRC) har ansökt till Sida om finansiering på 30 miljoner kronor för att genomföra projektet "Stöd till ungas ökade möjligheter till försörjning i DR Kongo". Projektet syftar till att hjälpa ungdomar att bli aktiva och engagerade medlemmar i sina samhällen, och till att få stöd i övergången till självförsörjning. Tre geografiska områden är fokus för projektet: Kananga (Kasaï Central), Butembo (Grand North Kivu) och Uvira (Syd-Kivu). Det är ett treårigt projekt som ska gynna 1 800 ungdomar direkt (50 % kvinnor, 50 % män) samt 10 800 försörjningsberoende och familjemedlemmar som kommer att kunna dra ekonomisk nytta från det faktum att deras unga familjemedlemmar utbildas.

Projektet syftar till att stödja unga människors möjligheter till anställning genom att ansluta dem till utbildningscenter, privata företag och mentorskaps- och entreprenörskapsmöjligheter. NRC kommer att stödja utvecklingen av en miljö som gynnar ungdomsanställning. Detta inkluderar att fylla kunskapsluckor, ge praktiska utbildningsmöjligheter och att ta itu med de strukturella utmaningar som ungdomar ofta står inför för att få jobb eller starta egen verksamhet.

NRC kommer att fokusera på tre specifika mål:
1. Unga människor utvecklar och använder grundläggande, överförbara, tekniska färdigheter.
2. Ungdomar använder sina färdigheter i ekonomiska aktiviteter.
3. Utbildningspersonal har tillräcklig kunskap och färdigheter för att ge kvalitativ utbildning och stöd.

NRC kommer att genomföra detta projekt i samarbete med Kongolesiska Företagsfederationen (FEC) och ungdomsutbildningscenter (TVET) i Butembo, Uvira och Kananga. På provinsnivå kommer NRC att samordna sina aktiviteter med Divisionen för Sociala Frågor (DIVAS), Ungdomsavdelningen. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has applied to Sida for funding of 30 M SEK to carry out the project "Supporting Youth in Transitioning to Livelihood Opportunities in the DRC". The project aims to help young people become active and engaged members of their communities and receive support to make the transition to livelihoods. Three geographical areas will be targeted by the project: Kananga (Kasaï Central), Butembo (Grand North Kivu), and Uvira (South Kivu), for a three (3) year project that will benefit 1,800 young people directly (50% women, 50% men) and 10,800 dependents and family members who will benefit economically from the training of their youth family members.

The project will support young people's access to employment by connecting them to training centres, private businesses and mentoring and entrepreneurship opportunities. NRC will support the creation of an environment conducive to youth employment. This will involve filling knowledge gaps, providing practical training opportunities and addressing the structural challenges that young people often face in getting a job or starting their own business.

NRC will focus its efforts around three specific objectives:
1. Young people develop and use fundamental, transferable and technical skills;
2. Young people apply acquired skills in viable economic activities;
3. Education professionals have the knowledge and skills to provide quality training and support.

NRC will implement this project in partnership with the Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC) and youth training centres (TVET) in Butembo, Uvira and Kananga. In addition, at the provincial level NRC will coordinate with the Division of Social Affairs (DIVAS), the Division of Youth (Divijeunesse) and the National Institute of Professional Preparation (INPP). The project "Supporting Youth in Transitioning to Livelihood Opportunities in the DRC" aims to help young people become active and engaged members of their communities and receive support to make the transition to livelihoods. Three geographical areas will be targeted by the project: Kananga (Kasaï Central), Butembo (Grand North Kivu), and Uvira (South Kivu), for a three (3) year project that will benefit 1,800 young people directly (50% women, 50% men), and 10,800 dependents and family members who will benefit economically from the training of their youth family members. The project will have three cycles, with 200 young people trained in each geographical area each year of the project.
This project will support young people's access to employment by connecting them to training centers, private businesses and mentoring and entrepreneurship opportunities. NRC will help create an environment conducive to youth employment; this will involve filling knowledge gaps, providing practical training opportunities, and addressing the structural challenges that young people often face in getting a job or starting their own business.
To this end, NRC will focus its efforts around three specific objectives:1. Young people develop and use fundamental, transferable and technical skills;2. Young people apply acquired skills in viable economic activities; and3. Education professionals have the knowledge and skills to provide quality training and support.
This project leads to the short-term outcomes of literate youth with business skills and the knowledge necessary to create or access business opportunities and education professionals with the knowledge and skills to provide quality training and support to youth. This leads to medium-term results that enable young people to engage in viable economic activities, with the long-term result that young people become active and engaged members of their communities. To achieve this, NRC plans to support existing vocational training structures and establish a network of contacts between private companies and young people.
NRC will implement this project in partnership with the Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC) and youth training centers (TVET) in Butembo, Uvira and Kananga. In addition, at the provincial level NRC will coordinate with the Division of Social Affairs (DIVAS), the Division of Youth (Divijeunesse) and the National Institute of Professional Preparation (INPP).
Conflict resolution in Tanganyika
The project aims at restoring social cohesion, preventing and addressing disputes that have constituted a major factor in opposing communities and that have caused displacement for several years in Tanganyika. The province is affected by a historical conflict between the Twa and Bantu communities, worsened by forced displacement. Violence between farmers and herders on the one hand, conflicts between Twa and Bantu pygmy communities on the other, as well as disputes between IDPs and host communities are recurrent.
NRC seeks to address to the extent possible some of the root causes of these conflicts between communities and of the disputes between individuals with a tailored intervention methodology based on an in-depth understanding of the conflicts and disputes.
The main objective will be: NRC intends to contribute to the humanitarian efforts to stabilize the Tanganyika region by offering services that promote social cohesion, improve living conditions and enhance livelihood opportunities in the places of return for IDPs.
The project will be implemented during June 2021 to May 2022 and aims to capitalize on good practices and lessons learnt from the 3-year Humanitarian Mediation (HM) Sida-funded project implemented in Kasai, Tanganyika and Ituri (ending in March 2021). The project seeks to promote peace, dialogue and social cohesion through various methodologies as deemed appropriate after conflict analysis.
Method and capacity support through INGO forum 
INGO-forum in the DRC is an independent forum of INGOs, working to address the needs of the vulnerable people in the DRC and provide a platform for its members to strengthen the coordination, share information and expertise, and address key issues of common interest via collective advocacy action, notably related to humanitarian access, humanitarian and development nexus, visibility/funding for the DRC. 
The support from the Swedish Embassy will contribute to further reinforcing the impact and efficiency of humanitarian and recovery aid delivery in the DRC through INGO’s enhanced coordination and common positionning, where nexus coordination will be an important component. In addition to Sweden, the INGO forum is also funded by ECHO, SDC and INGOs.
Sweden intends to support INGO forum during the period of June 2021 to May 2022.