Enhanced Employability & Leadership for Youth

The Enhancing Employability and Leadership for Youth (EELY) Program is a six-year initiative of the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) and the Aga Khan Foundation funded by the Government of Canada, Global Affairs Canada (Formerly DFATD) and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Canada. It recognizes that youth have a critical role to play in determining the future of Gilgit‐Baltistan and Chitral (GBC). The programme aims to increase engagement of youth as productive and full members of federally administered Gilgit-Baltistan region and district Chitral in Kyber Pukhtukhwa. EELY contributes to this ultimate outcome through two complementary components: youth employability and youth engagement and leadership. The youth employability component seeks to enhance professional skills development and enterprise support services. The expected intermediate outcome result or slogan of employability component is Increased and more equitable employability of young men and women in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral.
The expected immediate outcome results of this component are as follows:

• Sustainable improvement in quality, outreach and relevance of skill development services (technical, vocational and entrepreneurial) for young men and women
• Sustainable and more equitable integration of economic actors into effective market systems to improve youth livelihoods

Funded by: GAC, Government of Canada and Aga Khan Foundation, Canada
Project Duration: 6 Years (March 2011- March 2017)
Geographic Focus: All Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan and district Chitral of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Goal:

To improve the socio-economic conditions of young men and women in Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral (GBC).

Objectives

To enhance professional and technical skills as well as support youth centric enterprise development.

Key Targets

• Outreach of employability and employment: 24,600 youth
• Indirect beneficiaries: 126,000 youth of GBC

Key Achievements

• Completed a comprehensive Labour Market Assessment for the Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral regions in collaboration with government, the first of its kind in the region;
• Over 1500 Youth provided TVET skills and placement opportunities
• Over 900 young men and women received internship in collaboration with government and private sector institutions
• 2,000 Youth trained in entrepreneurship
• 300 Youth received start up Micro-Challenge Award to implement social and business ideas
• Created the electronic youth portal for the Gligit-Baltistan and Chitral region (www.gbcyouth.org.pk), which provides youth with access to information on employment, skills development and leadership opportunities;
• 5,100 Youth received Life Skill Training and another 2,500 Youth received training on Young Community Leadership (YCLDP)
• 5,600 Youth received services from supported Youth Organizations (YOs)
• 5,000 youth (over 70% women) mobilized to take membership of 320 Community Based Saving Groups (CBSGs)
• Ongoing support to over 50 Local Support Organizations (LSOs) for sustainability and implementing youth specific programs at union council level
• Provided need based support to GB and district Government in Chitral to development and implement youth programs and policies
• Support provided to GB Government to implement Diamer Youth Development Program through Diamer Poverty Alleviation Programme (DPAP)