Empowering youth in the north

Monday, January 26, 2015

Like many young people from his village Thuvegaran, 18, couldn’t complete school. Living at the heart of a war in the North of Sri Lanka, education was not a priority for them.

“But I managed to complete my Ordinary Level Exam and qualify for the Advanced level while I was in the displacement camp,” says Thuvegaran, “But after the resettlement when I saw my parents struggling to provide for our family, I dropped out of school and went for daily labour work to support them.”

"There were a lot of youth like me who were unemployed. Most of them had had to stop schooling during the war,” he says, “we didn’t know about any opportunities available for youth like us who have not been able to complete school properly.”

Livelihoods support was one of the biggest needs in the resettled communities in North. In an effort to improve capacity and economic productivity of resettled communities, World Vision implemented Socio-Economic Empowerment of Communities and CBOs (SEEC) Project in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts with a grant from the European Union. The Project also focuses on skills development of unemployed youth and providing them career guidance.

“From the assessment reports and from the labour market survey, it became evident that the main reason for their unemployment was their lack of knowledge with regard to opportunities available for them,” says S. Emilianspillai of World Vision’s Project Coordinator for the SEEC Project.

“Identifying this need, we (World Vision) partnered with the government’s Vocational Training Centre and the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) business management training programme of International Labour Organisation (ILO) to provide awareness and skills training for the youth,” he says.

“The programme helped us understand the different employment opportunities available for us and different courses we could follow. It also helped us understand the job market and identify suitable careers” says Thuvagaran, “I decided to learn electrical work especially because there are a lot of opportunities for it even outside Sri Lanka”.

Fifty youth have already completed four months in their respective skills training and have only two month remaining. “I’m already confident I can find a good job,” smiles Thuvegaran, “My aim is to be well employed so that I can support my family.”

Note: The SEEC Project provides skills training and awareness on available market opportunities to communities and livelihoods-based Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to strengthen livelihoods while improving community-Local Authority engagement and good governance.  Currently around 2,500 resettled families (10,000 persons), 5000 active members from 20 CBOs, 150 personnel from Local Authorities are benefitting from the Project.