Route for Youth Economic Empowerment in Guatemala including prevention & response COVID-19 SUMMARY 
Guatemala is a young country and 25% of the youth neither study nor work. A rate that continues to rise. This project (April 2019 - October 2021) improves the access of vulnerable youth (60% women) between 18-24 years to market-driven decent work opportunities in communities of San Pedro Carchá (North Guatemala). By strengthening their capacities and improving their businesses and labour skills their incomes will increase and their living conditions will improve. Additionally the project will contribute to the local and regional economies. 
Plan International implements the project with the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Agriculture, Tourism Office, municipalities, development councils, National Education Technical Institute (INTECAP) and financial organizations (banks, microfinances). It builds on previous experiences and methodologies such as Entrepreneurship/Employability Clubs, blended approach using mobile technology labs and face-to-face training. Guatemala is a young country, with more than 65% of the population under 29 years that faces an unemployment and sub-employment crisis, especially in rural areas with less infrastructure and private sector investment. One-in-four Guatemalan youth neither study nor work, continuously rising rate .
In the department of Alta Verapaz, the youth unemployment rate is 5.54% (52% women, 48% men).  Although this rate seems low, the economically active population is mainly dedicated to agriculture activities and to work in the informal sector with low incomes and poor working conditions.
Among young people in this region, 24% are illiterate and only 44% are studying at the secondary level. Up to 77.2% of these young people live in poverty, with 30.2% in extreme poverty. Furthermore, in the rural areas, for every 10 students, only three are young women. In 2015, 5.713 births were reported among underage girls. As of August 2017, there have been a total of 13 marriages among young women under 18 years of age. Additionally, more than 1,200 cases of violence against women have been reported in the department of Alta Verapaz this year.
Many companies do not hire youth, stigmatizing them as violent or assuming they are unmotivated or unqualified, lacking market-responsive skills. This creates a paradox in which youth are unemployed, but also unemployable.  Many of the existing jobs remain in urban or peri-urban areas, difficult for rural youth to access. These barriers shortchange both youth and employers, preventing many talented youth from contributing meaningfully to the economy. Plan will be implementing its Youth Employment Solutions model and pathway to promote entrepreneurship and support youth for their transition to employment based on technical and soft skills trainings.  The project is focused on four components to achieve the following outcomes:
Component 1: Entrepreneurship pathway:
1.	Outcome 1: Youth in entrepreneurship clubs with strengthened entrepreneurial skills and with abilities to generate their own income. Indicators: number of youth participating in clubs; number of youth trained to develop  business plans and business management; number of youth equipped with soft skills; organization of Business Start-up event; establishment of new businesses; number of  youth who has improved their businesses and participation of youth in commercial fairs. 
Component 2: Employability pathway
2.	Outcome 2: Youth in employment clubs with life skills strengthened and have the ability to pursue wage employment opportunities. Indicators: number of youth participating in clubs; number of youth trained with soft and technical skills; support for job readiness;  number of youth placed in jobs and in internship.
Component 3: Community awareness 
3.	Outcome 3: Members of targeted communities support the importance of Youth Economic Empowerment (YEE) and gender equality. Indicators: number of local leaders engaged; number of parents sensitized to support the young people economic empowerment and gender equality; and dialogues initiated to engage influential  cultural leaders.
Component 4: Enabling environments
4.	Strategic alliances with the private sector and governmental institutions strengthened /consolidated. Indicators: agreements signed with institutions and organisations; network of local and regional buyers consolidated. The project builds on the entrepreneurship and employability Clubs, which are key methodologies developed in previous YEE projects and have demonstrated positive results and impact on participating youth. The project supports young entrepreneurs who have started their businesses in previous projects of Plan International. By providing them with technical assistance, mentoring, access to potential clients, these young entrepreneurs will be able to formalize and scale-up their businesses. The Project contributes to the Country Strategy´ Goals 2018-2022 of Plan International Guatemala, and specifically, with the National Program “Learn”. The methodology used is aligned with Plan´s Global of Distinctiveness Area “Skills and Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship” (SOYEE) and the Theory of Change, incorporating key life and work competencies. Furthermore, Plan will strengthen partnerships established in previous projects with the local representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture. In this way, Plan will contribute to the socio-economic development of the region supporting these institutions to achieve their own targets. 550 vulnerable youth (60% women) of 30 communities of the municipality San Pedro Carchá will participate in the Entrepreneurship (500 young people) and Employability Clubs (50 young people). The project will also engage 2,200 family members,  and 1,000 local clients for the new entrepreneurs. The project considers the following activities in order to achieve the outcomes and objectives presented in the log frame. 

Preparation Phase:
•	Community awareness raising
•	Market scan research
•	Baseline study and gender assessment
•	Development of detailed working plan and log frame
•	Startup workshop 

Implementation Phase:

Outcome 1: Youth in Entrepreneurship Clubs with strengthened entrepreneurial skills and with abilities to generate their own income. Activities: 
•	Organization of Entrepreneurship Clubs
•	Soft and Business skills training
•	Business start-up” event and provision of seed capital
•	Business development and start-up 
•	Business skills training 
•	Participation in commercial fairs

Outcome 2: Youth in Employment Clubs with life skills strengthened and have the ability to pursue wage employment opportunities. Activities:
•	Private sector engagement
•	Organization of Employment Clubs
•	Training on life skills and job readiness
•	Technical training
•	Job placement and Internships.

Outcome 3. Members of targeted communities support the importance of Youth Economic Empowerment (YEE) and gender equality. Activities: 
•	Awareness activities for local leaders and community
•	Sensitized workshops with parents 
•	Dialogues to engage influential cultural leaders 

Outcome 4. Strategic alliances with the private sector and governmental institutions strengthened /consolidated. Activities: 

•	Partner institutions provide technical assistance in business management and/or training to young entrepreneurs using the Michael Porters Value Chain model 
•	Develop Network of local and regional suppliers and buyers Young people will be generating their own income and investing in improving their quality of life. Capacities and skills are built to continue managing their businesses so that their productive units are stable and sustainable in the local and regional markets. This will allow them positioning their products in the top of the minds of their customers. Also Plan will provide technical assistance and accompaniment for six months after businesses have started by young entrepreneurs to guarantee sustainability. Network of suppliers and buyers will be established to facilitate cooperation within the value chain and identify new market opportunities.

A network of governmental counterparts will be strengthen at the local level that will be bringing technical assistance, training, internship, jobs, access to market and access to financial services to grow up the new entrepreneurs businesses and sustain employment to the participating young people.  Plan raises awareness in these institutions on the importance on gender equality and youth economic empowerment. 

The project increases the infrastructure of the mobile technology “Nómada” that will be used for future youth economic empowerment projects of Plan in other regions in Guatemala. The “Nómada” infrastructure provides a portable television, 16 tablets, benches, and a computer for the Clubs.

The community will be sensitized on gender equality and young women will be economically empowered within an environment that promotes productive investment in youth and especially in young women. The private sector will be sensitized of youth empowerment and in gender equality in workplace.