Urban and Productive Safety Net and Jobs Project

Implemented by the Ethiopia Ministry of Women’s and Social Affairs, the UDS program partners with local NGOs to target the urban destitute - children, women, men, and elderly people who live on the street. The program falls under the umbrella of the World Bank’s support to the government’s larger Urban and Productive Safety Net and Jobs Project, which, through its various interventions, aims to improve the incomes of the urban poor (e.g., unemployed youth, refugees, and Internally Displaced Persons) and help them gain employment.

Under UDS, beneficiaries are provided food, shelter, and soap; psychological and social support (counselling and substance abuse treatment); and livelihood development support (training, education, and business start-up grants). The project aims to scale up the safety net and youth employment activities to strengthen gender-sensitive interventions. One of the described components of the project is the provision of life skills training, which consists of bi-monthly sessions that would provide information on essential family practices, reproductive health, parenting, and gender-based violence. Regarding the project management and monitoring, the gender inclusiveness of the project will also be enhanced through the strengthening of institutional capacity. The proposed additional financing will contribute to the implementation of the gender strategy and action plan, with a focus on evidence-based action. In addition, it supports the educational reintegration and linkages to education.