Somaliland -WIP 2021- 2023 INNOVATE VENT WiP!’s theory of change identifies three key pathways – which inform our aims – to enable young people from diverse backgrounds to generate sustainable living wages and create optimism about their future in Egypt, Nigeria and Somalia. Two pathways are geared towards service delivery through competence development, while the third is about influencing.
Pathway 1:
We build young people’s skillsfor today and the future to find paid jobs or set up their own enterprises.
WiP! will continue to provide new cohorts of young people with 21st century and technical skills. In a rapidly changing labour market, this will better prepare them to find a job and givethem the confidence to plan their future. Collaboration with educational institutions will be strengthened to ensure scale-up and
sustainability by integrating 21st century skills, Futures Literacy1 and other training modules developed during WiP! into their curricula, and by promoting internships. Additionally, youth will be trained in the skills, tools and mindset of design thinking to solve complex social issues.
After training, job fairs will be organized to link the students with employers. Providing service deliverythrough skills building goes
hand in hand with influencing government and employers to promote and provide decent jobs for young people.
We assume that 21st century skills such as Futures Literacy and design thinking will prepare young women and men for the future job market. We also assume that teachers and trainers are convinced these skills are needed to
prepare for the future job market, and that there are enough employers to absorb trained young people.
Pathway 2:
Not all young people are looking for a job – many want to be entrepreneurs. We accelerate startups and offer business development services (BDS) to impact-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so they can employ more young people – improving the demand side of the market – and deepen their social and environmental impact. We aim to improve networks, knowledge, skills and access to finance and investors for new entrepreneurs and established SMEs while further activating and training private sector professionals as
coaches and mentors. To contribute to a greener economy, we started focusing even more on sustainable entrepreneurship and integrating the training on circular business models which we started in 2019.
We assume in this pathway that young people (men and women) are recruited once SMEs and startups grow. We assume investors are interested to invest in early startups and in the trained SMEs. And we assume that SMEs are open to adapting their business models with elements of the circular economy to contribute to a greener future.
Pathway 3
WiP! aims to improve the enabling environment for youthand enterprises. Building on the relationships established in the first three and a half years, we will
engage with different actors (governments, private sector and young citizens) to improve the implementation of policies on decent jobs and supportingstartups and SMEs.
Working with role models, we will have youth- led public campaigning to raise awareness about obstacles they face. We will especially emphasize issues women entrepreneurs
face because of their gender. We will aim in particular to improvethe internship policy in Somalia to bridge the gap between study and work, and policies of banks and workplaces in Nigeria to improve SMEs’ access to loans and create more decent jobs for young people.
For pathway 3 we assume that we can change attitudes and beliefs in a short period of four years. We assume that educational institutes will be able to adapt their curricula to include the 21stcentury skills trainings. We assume government officials are willing to implement the policies we advise andwork with them
to develop. And we assume that cultural and social norms and practices on gender roles can evolve to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs.