Building my Future SUMMARY 
The project aims to improve future opportunities for marginalized youth, especially young women, in Alebtong district in the Northern region of Uganda, by enabling them to take charge of their lives and providing access to a decent living, leading to their improved well-being. In order to make sure that youth, especially young women, are allowed to participate in the project and enter the trainings, it is crucial to address the importance of education, equal op¬portunities and girls’ rights in the communities and with the cultural leaders. The project will work with 400 marginalized young women and men to develop their market-relevant technical and vocational skills. They will receive trainings on life skills to build confidence, personal/leadership skills and knowledge of important life topics, as well as on business and work readiness skills. The project is implemented by Plan International Uganda and a local partner organization CPA since February 2018 and will last for three years. In Alebtong District, 34% of its population is aged 15-24 years, of which less than 5% are formally employed, 10% work in the informal sector, and over 80% are unemployed or underemployed in subsistence agriculture with low productivity and low value-added. 
Access to vocational training is limited, because marginalised women and men often lack the required levels of formal education, numeracy and literacy skills, in order to enrol in standard courses offered by the Vocational Training Institutes (VTIs). On the supply side, VTIs often lack capacity and quality to offer courses tailored to the needs and levels of education of marginalised youth. There is a mismatch between what the institutions are producing and market demand. Also, the private sector lacks understanding about the untapped potential of marginalised young women and men.
Some informal training opportunities are available via apprenticeships with local artisan workplaces. For these apprenticeships no fees nor formal education is required, but the informal nature of the system means they are not widely available or publicized. Artisan workplaces can offer the required technical knowledge to acquire the right skills for employability. However there is limited institutional support to assure quality of the apprenticeships. 
Various root causes prevent youngsters from improving their situation. Cost, time, gender norms and deeply-rooted socio-cultural stereotypes are barriers for youth to find employment. Cost and time are especially relevant for youth from low income families, as they depend on young people to contribute income and fulfil household tasks. Also, community leaders and members often promote negative gender socio-cultural stereotypes, aggravating gender inequality and encouraging harmful traditional attitudes and practices, such as early marriage and teenage pregnancies, all preventing girls and women from realizing their potential. In order to make sure that youth, especially young women, are allowed to participate in the project and enter the trainings, it is crucial to address the importance of educational, equal providing opportunities for girls and girls’ rights in the communities. First, leading community members such as cultural leaders are sensitized on gender issues, youth economic exclusion and education. Subsequently these leaders are facilitated to engage with their respective communities to address the above mentioned issues through community dialogues.
To decrease the distance between young people and the private sector, this project will create public-private forums, enabling them to identify opportunities for collaboration which are mutually beneficial. By creating links between VTIs and businesses, and working with these businesses, development plans for work placements will be established. 
The project will work with 400 marginalised young women and men to develop their market-relevant technical and vocational skills. They will receive trainings on life skills to build confidence, personal/leadership skills and knowledge of important life topics, as well as on business and work readiness skills. Youth completing the vocational courses will be linked with the private sector for internships to build practical experience, confidence, and workplace skills. 

By providing institutional support to VTIs, they will also learn to adapt courses to market-demand and the needs of marginalised young people. Artisans will be supported to develop high quality, structured learning programmes. As well as improving course and learning programme content, capacity building will sensitise VTIs and artisans on topics such as gender equality to promote equal opportunities. Via the Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) programme funded by the Dutch government, youth in the same communities are trained as Agents of Change, enabling them to actively promote decent work opportunities for youth and gender equality among their peers and in their communities. In addition, private sector actors like companies are encouraged to employ marginalized youth. All this will facilitate their participation in the project and, combined with the example set by these young people, promote attitude change in communities which will benefit young people beyond the lifetime of the project. 400 youth aged 18-35 (70% female) will benefit directly from the project by receiving training and being linked to employment opportunities 
Besides the youth, two VTIs and 10 artisans will be engaged as direct beneficiaries. They will be selected for courses and apprenticeships by the local stakeholders. We will enter into dialogue with 48 influential cultural leaders at community level to address various negative social-cultural norms, gender stereotypes that perpetuate gender inequality, and the importance of education and youth empowerment. These cultural leaders will be facilitated to engage with the communities to address the above mentioned issues during  48 dialogues over the 3 years. This will create awareness and support in the communities. Meetings with parents, especially fathers, will be organized to raise awareness on the project and highlight barriers affecting young women and men, including cultural norms, attitudes and gender stereotypes that hinder equal access to training and employment opportunities.
The project will identify 400 marginalized young women and men (70% female), of which 200 youths will be linked to practical vocational training at an artisan workplace and another 200 linked to VTIs for technical and vocational training. Identification will be done with key stakeholders including local government leaders, community leaders, young people, women’s groups, parents and guardians to ensure that genuine an deserving applicants are selected. This will reduce the risk of youth dropping out of school to benefit from the opportunity. It will also ensure that a fair selection process takes place and some of the most marginalised young people in communities will benefit from the project. Career guidance sessions will be held with each youth to help identify the best work placement opportunity in line with their skills and personal dreams. This will contribute to realistic expectations and commitment to the work placement, which will lead to sustainability of the project as students and work places are better matched.
Based on the gender analysis done at the start of the project, specific gender related barriers are identified which may hamper participation of girls and young women. If necessary, specific interventions will be formulated to address these barriers – such as arranging childcare during training hours.
200 marginalised young people will be enrolled in 3-6 month courses at two VTIs. Courses will be based on those identified in the market analysis as appropriate to local market needs, and for which the curriculum has been developed and adapted to the skills gaps of marginalized young people. A deliberate effort will be made to improve equality in participation of girls and to address gender stereotypes by encouraging both young men and women to embrace the available skills development programme. 200 marginalised young women and men (90% female) will take up practical vocational training through apprenticeships in artisan workplaces, lasting around 3 months. The apprenticeships will be guided by the learning programmes developed in activity 2.1.4, to ensure structured learning, and by signing MoUs with Plan to ensure working conditions are in line with the existing labour law, that youth are not exploited, and that all apprentices receive equal treatment and equal opportunity.  Apprenticeships provide on-the-job training, where apprentices learn both a specific trade and core skills and competencies, such as professionalism, punctuality and business skills. They provide community-based learning, so those who might struggle to attend VTIs which are relatively far away can access further training. Further, they do not require the same levels of education as VTI courses, enabling access to training for those with very low education levels.
Young people who graduate from apprenticeships or VTI courses will receive a start-up kit (e.g. a tool kit) relevant to their chosen profession. Plan’s experience with the EU-funded “Youth Economic Empowerment Project” (YEEP) shows that after graduation, young people struggle to find work immediately, as they cannot afford the equipment necessary to start a business or join an existing business. Also, potential employers often expect labourers to bring their own tools.
Forums will be created to link up the VTIs and the private sector. We aim to involve 15 (small) businesses in total. Some of these will also provide mentors for the students. With their experience, they will be able to guide youth on topics such as business start-up and how to market or add value to a product/service. Additionally, they will provide job placement opportunities. Our experience shows that mentoring is very powerful in inspiring and building the skills and confidence of young people.  The students who successfully completed the VTI courses will be linked to a work placement, relevant to their course. A total of 320 placements are aimed to be offered. Work placements enhance employability as employers value practical experience, as well as skills developed in training courses. They also enable young people to develop basic work competencies, like punctuality and professionalism.
All 400 young women and men will be trained in life-skills for their personal development. The benefits to be delivered will have an effect on the target group lasting beyond the lifetime of this project. The economic assets that the youngsters will acquire, marks the beginning of their upward social-economic mobility. During the project local capacity building will be a key focus. Vocational staff will be acquainted with market driven, competency based vocational education and private sector involvement. After the project, they will continue to support skills development for youngsters in the communities. Further, alumni networks will be trained to support and pass on knowledge to their younger peers. Linkages between the Vocational Training Institutes and private sector will continue to exist, which will enable future job placement. Within the 3 years period the private sector shall have developed responsibility in vocational training, as the private sector will be one of the main beneficiaries in a long perspective through an increasing number of high qualified personnel.

By engaging parents, teachers, the private sector and the community on issues such as the importance of education, especially for girls and gender inequality, (girls’) access to education will be improved and long-term change of social gender norms promoted. The link with private sector and with the advocacy initiatives under the Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) Programme will help to promote this holistic approach, so that it can be replicated in other regions. 

Additionally, the project will be implemented in collaboration with the district departments including Community Service and Education. As a sustainability strategy, this will ensure that the District officials are well familiar with and are in a position to follow up on the young women and men even after the project has ended. The District departments will be involved in identification process of the young women and men, follow up, mentoring and conducting some components of life skills training.