Activities

Institutional development programme

Planning, assessment and training services has been provided for YAPAD and its members towards the development and implementation of a wider institutional strengthening strategy that will secure it as a local and sustainable youth agency.

In terms of organizational development, YAPAD members want to ensure that its members are also challenged as part of a process of empowerment that provides opportunities to those young people who are genuine representative of the most marginalized.
This component also has links to a multi-partner capacity-building programme that has been funded as a separate component.

Enterprise development programme

The lobbying and advocacy programme establishes the rights of young people to access credit, establish their own enterprises, and develop their own capacities for responsibility within wider processes of community development Young people’s savings and enterprise groups has been established and used as fora through which they can develop income-generating ideas.

Training in vocational skills will be provided to members of these groups along with small business management support.

Terms and conditions for the disbursement, use, and recovery of credit is being negotiated with each group and individual members where appropriate. Learning generated from current YAPAD projects will be essential in designing the revolving loan schemes.
Monitoring has been the means to assess progress laid out in each group/individuals’ business plan. Each round of credit will be evaluated with regard to an increase in income, control of resources, support from their communities (especially in terms of investment) and rights to take up their own initiatives.

Lobbying and advocacy programme

Social drama methods – including role plays, stop/start drama, and skits – is been used throughout the communities to explore and transform attitudes that lead to the exclusion, exploitation and abuse of young people in their communities.

Use of radio and publication media to field and invite comments on youth issues, as well as raise awareness of them.

Participatory evaluation and review exercise of the National Youth Policy framework
A series of stakeholder workshops is been held with a variety of NGO’s and Governmental agencies to raise the profile of youth issues, deficiencies in support of the youth to address them, promotion of policy recommendations, and the development and monitoring of institutional strategies aimed at young people’s needs.

An inter-agency website will soon be used as a key strategy in driving effective co-ordination, learning and momentum around specific issues affecting young people and the work of member agencies in addressing them.

Quarterly workshops with local administration and traditional leaders are being be held across the 10 Chiefdoms involved in the project, during which co-ordination and review, awareness raising and lobbying processes is in effective use to facilitate greater accountability to the needs of young people

Objectives:

To support rural young people in establishing viable livelihoods through an enterprise development programme that will include skills training, business management support and the provision of credit.

To facilitate conflict transformation and resolution between young people, their communities, traditional leaders and Government authorities

To drive a youth advocacy programme which ensures that Young people’s interests are represented and resourced throughout the plans of local administration, traditional leadership, NGO’s and Government Oppressive and exploitative attitudes towards young people are transformed and so foster greater interest and support for them, while assisting them to channel their own energies into positive action.

To promote awareness raising among young people of their rights and responsibilities concerning key issues which they feel affect them as a means of fostering their own capacity to address these issues.

To secure YAPAD, through a programme of institutional strengthening, as a sustainable local institution that is able to represent, co-ordinate and lever in investment to support the long term development of young people in Sierra Leone.

Achievments

Broadened YAPAD membership base at national level Brought together traditional leaders, youths and children and other stakeholders to discuss issues directly affecting them in their communities YAPAD has been able to establish partnership with international NGOs
e.g. CARE, VSO, Village Aid UK etc and is on the verge of making more linkages with other International organizations.

Conducted capacity building trainings for all YAPAD members. This training has helped members in gaining new techniques in areas like Project Proposal writing, Advocacy and lobbying skills, Processes in youth development work, Conflict Resolution/Transformation and Mediation Methods.

Provision of small grants One million each to six (6) organizations .This has led to the establishment of offices in regional towns. Thus contributed to organizations having a complete office set up which has resulted to building confidence in their daily operations.
Provision of small grants ten million each to six organizations within Sierra Leone has offered the opportunity to 50 youths in the Western areas to be gainfully engaged in skills training activities that will subsequently build up their economic status. Also YAPAD member organizations have been supported and are involved in the food security drive which is within the concept of the MDG. Members are engaged in Mechanized farming and animal husbandry whereby these activities, aim at providing income generating activities that would build on the economic status of young people, thus giving the youth groups within these communities the opportunity to create wider impact in their implementation areas.

Providing income generating activities that would build on the economic status of young people. Thus giving the youth groups within these communities the opportunity to create wider impact.

Helped build Peace among youth groups in the Kono district MOCKY and TACYDA……..power struggle

Enterprise Development

Opportunities for young people remain negligible. A lifetime devoted to manual farming often leave youths with no alternative, but to migrate to urban areas, or diamond areas. It is not the farming they are opposed to, but as manual laborers they are exploited and unable to raise the need to establish independence, current programmes undertaking by YAPAD members have shown the willingness of youths to organize they to work hard towards their future given appropriate ownership in the process. Presently YAPAD is engaged in series of mechanized agriculture activities and vocational skills training, areas of interest identified by youth in their local communities.

ACTIVITIES (B)

• Disbursement of funds to undertake skills training
• Commercial Agricultural activities.
• Monitoring and Evaluation

ACTIVITIES FOR LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY
Chiefdom base workshops are conducted on thematic issues affecting youths in their communities

Media campaigns on thematic issues identified from chiefdom base workshops
Stakeholder’s workshop - to design additional strategies by youth organizations’ representatives for proper implementation of programmes.

Conflict mediation among youth and community leaders
Behaviour change and communication.

INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING

Help the Community Development Organization - HECDO
Women in Youth Work Development Organization - WIYD
Campaign for Disabled Children and Youth - CORDCY
Youth Movement Towards Education and Against Torture -YMEAT
Tabotsaneh Development Association -TADA
Tankoro Chiefdom Youth Development Association -TACYDA
LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY
Malal Mara Youth Development Association - M MYDA
Tabotsaneh Development Association - TADA
United Nations of Youth - UNOY
Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organization - SLYEO
Movement of Concerned Kono Youth - MOCKY
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organization - SLYEO
Centre for Coordination of Youth Activities - CCYA
Bombali Shebora Chiefdom youth Committee - BCYC
Movement of Concerned Kono Youth - MOCKY
Young Women Vocational Training Centre - YWVTC
Youth Development Project - YDP
Activities PROJECT COMPONENTS
Institutional Strengthening
Lobbying and Advocacy
Enterprise Development

PROBLEMS PROJECT IS TRYING TO ADDRESS

1.INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING

Youth empowerment organizations that fall within YAPAD, have since the end of the war been working to reintegrate young people back into society and to develop positive living opportunities for them. Since these youth organizations are aufait with the issues facing young people and the needed methodology in addressing these problems, they must be capacitated to drive the empowerment process.

ACTIVITIES (A)

Training event in IT Skills, Finance and Project Management, Fundraising, and Website Development

Institutional Support grants to smaller organizations within YAPAD

2. ADVOCACY AND LOBBYING

This component is initiated to address thematic issues affecting young people either by marginalization or social exclusion e.g. HIV AIDS, Peace Building, Human Right, Early and Forceful Marriage, Women Empowerment, Decentralization, PRSP. This aims at promoting positive attitude, direct support that secure young peoples interest on key national development agendas.