Benin Youth Employment Project

  • P Project/Program

I Inactive

Key Information

The IDA-funded Benin Youth Employment Project4 was designed to improve access to employment skills and employment opportunities for underemployed youth in Benin through four components: Developing skills through apprenticeships, developing small business skills, start-up support, and institutional capacity building and project management. The objective of the PEJ was to deliver impactful employment services to populations deprived of opportunities and with limited capacity to develop robust economic activities on their own, due to a lack of information, skills or capital. The PEJ was therefore designed as a national program focused on all 77 communes in Benin, spanning various local contexts, adapted to the specific needs of the target populations, and delivered at a highly decentralized level to ensure participation of rural beneficiaries. The project has particular sectoral focus on artisanal trades, agricultural transformation, and tourism. The key beneficiaries of the project are the young underemployed men and women of Benin between the ages of 15–35. Women in Benin are particularly vulnerable and consistently work in lower paid jobs than men, and also with incomes on average two times lower than those of men. The project places emphasis on targeting hard-to-reach, poor youth not served by other programs and most affected by underemployment- that is, female, rural, self-employed and/or those with low levels of education. In line with the emphasis on gender in the CPS, the project was designed to ensure that at least half of beneficiaries were women, the specific needs of young women were taken into consideration, and gender disaggregated results indicators were collected.


Lead Implementing Government(s)

Benin

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Benin

Government Affiliation

Government-affiliated program

Years

2014 - 2019

Partner(s)

Swiss Cooperation, Swiss contact and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Ministry Affiliation

Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Employment Promotion

Funder(s)

COVID-19 Response

Unknown

Geographic Scope

Sub-national

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Other

  • Transition from school to work

Cross-cutting areas

  • Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
  • Empowerment
  • Gender equality
  • Social and gender norms and beliefs

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Boys out of school, Girls out of school, Other community members - female, Other community members - male, Youth

Age

15 - 35

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Vocational

Other populations reached

Not applicable or unknown

Participants include

  • N/A

Program Approaches Back to Top

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • Technical assistance/capacity building to civil society organizations or governments

Learning while working

  • Apprenticeship/internship
  • Work-study

Reducing economic barriers

  • Financial literacy training
  • Vouchers/grants

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Increased literacy
  • Increased numeracy

Cross-cutting goals

  • Improved financial literacy and savings
  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • Increased employment/job-related skills
  • More equal power in relationships
  • More equitable gender attitudes and norms