Tanzania

Website

 

Challenge

Advancing Youth in Tanzania is a program implemented in Mbeya, Iringa and Zanzibar that promotes healthy life styles, leadership skills and connect youth to employment opportunities. Being aware of the greater challenges that women and girls face in the region, the program has a strong gender component. In order to make this topic attractive for young people this program uses innovative and interesting games that combine income generating activities and gender awareness.

 

Tanzania Advancing Youth assesses the four conditions in the following way:

 

Link to income generating activities and use of youth friendly tools

Tanzania Advancing Youth uses a demand driven approach to meet the most pressing need for youth. By working together with the private sector, they identify the skills, knowledge and resources that are needed in order to access the agricultural market or other rural-based value chain. Based on the information gathered, the project develops tailor-made interventions to empower youth with skills and opportunities. The program also serves as a network that connects young people with employment and entrepreneurship opportunities that fit their skills and capabilities. This matching process also includes mentorships and grant opportunities to stimulate youth-driven investments.

 

In order to make the trainings more attractive for young people, the program uses interactive dynamics and games. The sessions are short and give flexibility to participants to decide when they could join the trainings, based on their tight schedule. The most innovative game that is being used for over a year by this program is the SYB Business Game developed by the International Labor Organization (ILO). This game allows participants to experience and simulate a small size enterprise. It is flexible, adaptable to different contexts and fun to play. Tanzania Advancing Youth went even further and added a gender component to this game. It is played by teams composed by families who have to make decisions together regarding expenditures, investments and others. This exercise allows the facilitators to incorporate gender roles dynamics within families.

 

 

Use of role models

This project uses as role models young people who succeed as gender champions, leaders or change and entrepreneurs in their communities. The program invites these role models as motivational speakers on gender forums and to mobilize youth in the community. They inspire other young people by giving testimonials on how they overcame difficult situations and create awareness of the importance of gender justice. The innovative aspect of the use of role models in this program is that they are also capacitated as trainers so they serve as a point of contact for young people when they need more information or have questions regarding the sessions of the project. The experience of Tanzania Advancing Youth is that young people build a close relationship with the role models since they are people living in their same localities.

 

Use of digital tools

Tanzania Advancing Youth uses social media and mobile apps to address the different topics of the program: gender issues; engagement in income generating activities; entrepreneurship; leadership; health; and economic empowerment. They use a YouTube channel for giving or repeat trainings and make questions on all modules of the curricula. People who are not part of the program can use this channel to get information about the different topics that are assessed there. The following link contains their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCegOb7gc46wYne1Vz9MhA6w.