Young Africa

Breaking gender stereotypes in vocational training🤝✌️

At Young Africa, we believe that all young people should have the opportunity to pursue their dreams, regardless of gender. That's why our vocational training programs actively encourage participants to step outside traditional gender roles and explore careers that may be unconventional for their s*x.

One powerful example is our dress making program, where we've seen a growing number of young men enrolling to learn the art of garment design and construction. These male students are defying societal expectations and discovering their passion for an industry long dominated by women👏👏

Through hands-on training and mentorship, these young men are honing valuable technical skills that will set them up for success as professional dress makers and fashion designers.

By championing this kind of progressive mindset, Young Africa is helping to build a more equal, inclusive future for the next generation. We're proud to empower youth of all backgrounds to chase their dreams without limits.

We break gender stereotypes in vocational training! ✌😎

🟢Our programs encourage everyone to explore careers beyond traditional gender roles.
🟢In our dress making program, more young men are joining to learn garment design.
🟢They're defying stereotypes and finding their passion in a traditionally female-dominated field!

What do you think? Would you as a young woman pursue a career in male-dominated spaces like mechanics? Or as a young man, would you choose dress making as your career?

The future belongs to the bold and we are here to help you seize it!

We are excited to let you know that we are almost ready to launch the e-learning platform for you to improve your entrepreneurial skills.

This is an initiative that will equip young people like you with the skills, expertise, and mindset to thrive in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship.

Through interactive modules, hands-on activities, and expert guidance, this transformative initiative will empower you to navigate the startup landscape with confidence. You'll learn essential business skills, from ideation and market analysis to financial planning and scaling your venture. This will be coupled with practical on the ground lessons led by some of your community's leading entrepreneurs

Certainly, an opportunity not to be missed!

Get ready to level up your entrepreneurial journey and make your mark in the world!
SERVE

Ashley Gwatida Speaks!

As promised, we're excited to share the first video in a series featuring inspiring stories from former Young Africa (YA) students. Dive into Ashley Gwatida's journey as she shares her path to becoming a successful business owner, all thanks to Young Africa's transformative technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs.

Ashley's story highlights the profound impact of YA's TVET initiatives on both individuals and communities. By providing opportunities, we empower young people like Ashley to drive positive change in their lives.

Kudos to Ashley and many other YA youth who are making a difference in their communities.

Sit back, enjoy the video, and share your thoughts with us in the comments below!!

Skills2Live Zimbabwe: Portrait of Postgraduate Ashley Gwatida

Something cool is coming up

To raise awareness for our work in equipping youths with skills to live, we are launching a video series of 2 former students. After all, who can explain the impact better than those that experience it?

Grateful to have Ashley Gwatida and Diki Hudson Wilkie as our ambassadors and stars in the Skills2Live campaign. 🙏🏼

Check out the first video this coming Monday morning at 10am Zimbabwean time

Multiple vacancies at Young Africa. Visit Young Africa on LinkedIn for details https://www.linkedin.com/company/young-africa-international

Our partner in youth economic empowerment, PUMA Energy Foundation, has joined the LinkedIn community.

Puma Energy Foundation provides funding to non-profit organisations and social enterprises to tackle vital health challenges.

Connect with PUMA Energy Foundation on LinkedIn via this link https://www.linkedin.com/company/puma-energy-foundation/posts/?feedView=all

The entrepreneurs’ e-Learning platform is here!

Young Africa is proud to inform you that the organisation has developed a digital based learning course for entrepreneurs to acquire the necessary skills to run entrepreneurial adventures of their choice (elementary catering, welding, plus more).

The platform offers a chance for young people to develop industry specific skills in trade areas of their choice and practical exercises through locally based entrepreneurs.

What else can you expect?

🟢life skills
🟢business planning
🟢financial management
🟢marketing skills

Zero qualifications needed for entry- just your ability to read and write!

Who is excited for this?


SERVE

It's been an exciting week in Mutare 🙌

Currently 24 teachers from Magamba and Mutare Vocational Training Centers in Zimbabwe are being trained to be Life Skills Education Facilitators.

🟢 They will support the youths to acquire critical life skills.

🟢 They will train youths to make informed decisions, including on matters related to their s*xual and reproductive health and rights.

🟢 We aim to train facilitators in all vocational training centers under the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training across the country.

here we are!

We're excited to announce that Young Africa International is participating for the first time at the ongoing Southern African Regional Students and Youth Conference on SRH (SARSYC)!

This is a fantastic opportunity for us to share our innovative models and approaches for empowering youth across Africa. We'll be highlighting our successful holistic programs that address economic empowerment, skills development and integrate Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) education.

Our goal is to inspire other organizations to adopt our proven methods, so we can collectively make a greater impact on the lives of young people in the region.

Saywhat
Southern African Regional Students and Youth Consortium

Today, we celebrate World Youth Skills Day and the incredible contributions of young people in Africa. At Young Africa International, we're proud to support youth-led initiatives that are making a positive impact in various communities across Africa.

From the young entrepreneurship enthusiasts who turned out in their thousands in Angola to express their interest in our skills training programs, to the established innovators in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other countries across Africa, the youth in this continent are truly inspiring.

Join us in recognizing the skills, creativity, and passion of our youth.

To the youths, today is your day and it is your time to shine. Share with us about your hustles. How are things going so far?

Did you know that over the past 25 years, more than 58 000 Students from across Africa enrolled for our integral Technical and vocational education and training (TVET)? Of these, a total of 1,936 stayed in our hostels.

Young Africa Leaves no-one behind in the pursuit to empower vulnerable young people. Disadvantaged youths with no stable environments to stay or financial resources to pay rentals can still pursue their education dreams through our safe and friendly hostel facilities within our centres.

We are thankful to our partners who make this possible, year after year.

Siyabonga, Thank you, Tinotenda👏👏👏👏👏

What do you see in these photos? 👇

Maybe you see just another event that's far away from your daily life.
We see pride. Hope. Commitment.
Why? Because in a country where 60% of the 36 million people are under 30 years old and there's a structural lack of opportunities, this event has great meaning.

Grateful to have launched Young Africa in Angola. Vamos! 💫

We're still excited about last Friday: the official opening of YA Angola! 🇦🇴

Through the Skills2Live programme we can equip youth with skills for health and work. There's loads of work to be done and we can't wait to empower Young Angola.

Many thanks for the support Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken Tsjeard Hoekstra and all other partners that came out to Luanda.

❤️ 🖤

Dorien Beurskens Mahara Goteka Muchechetere Wellington

"Today is UN World Environment Day 🍀

This year’s World Environment Day campaign focuses on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience under the slogan “Our land. Our future. We are .”

Let's celebrate this call to action and do whatever we can to respect Mother Nature. At YA we are doing our best and are increasingly focussing on green youth empowerment programmes, preparing youths for working in the clean energy sector.

"

Did you know?

We have wellness centres at every TVET Centre across the YA Federation and their services are not only free of charge but are open for, not only youths from our centres, but for youths from the surrounding communities as well.

At these spaces, youth access counselling, psychosocial support services and referrals to nearby health facilities for specialist healthcare. 2, 580 youths accessed services from our wellness centres in 2023.

Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken Embassy of the Netherlands in Mozambique Postcode Loterij SERVE Oak Foundation Mastercard Foundation Ashoka Africa

Behind the scenes: YA International employees🤝

Today, we shine a spotlight on our colleagues, working behind the scenes at our international offices in Harare, Zimbabwe and in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Catch a glimpse of the interactions and teamwork that take place within YA International. Whether it's brainstorming innovative projects, sharing insights during meetings, or collaborating on strategies, our colleagues showcase their passion and commitment in every moment.

YA collaborates with Rooftop Promotions on Skills2Live Graduate Profiles

We recently partnered with the team at Theatre in the Park, Harare to film graduate profiles for our Skills2Live project, capturing the stories and experiences of two YA graduates.

We're incredibly grateful for this opportunity, their expertise, creativity, and passion for empowering youth really shone through in the footage they captured.

Special thanks to Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken and Embassy of the Netherlands in Mozambique. Their continued investment in youth development initiatives like ours is making a real difference.

Nakai Tsuro

with Young Africa! ✊

With the African Union's decision to make 2024 the "Year of Education", they are calling on governments to "accelerate progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) that is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all".

At Young Africa, we're proud to be supporting this vision by equipping youth in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Namibia with the skills and knowledge to thrive.

Join us in celebrating the achievements of our young leaders who are shaping a brighter future for Africa!

De nieuwe Nederlandse regering is van plan om miljarden te bezuinigingen op ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Lees onderstaande bericht voor de reactie van Young Africa International.

ENG
The new Dutch government plans to cut billions from development cooperation. Read the post below for Young Africa International's response (In Dutch).

Our wellness centre in Angola is nearing completion, thanks to the efforts of our students.

Those studying electrical installation are working on the center's electricity setup and our welding students are fixing the roof, demonstrating the valuable technical skills they have acquired so far.

This expansion is part of our Skills2live project, which we are implementing in partnership with Don Bosco Tech Africa .The project aims to equip vulnerable youth with the skills for health and work.

Thanks to Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, through Embassy of the Netherlands in Mozambique, for funding this project.

Skills2live has already been successfully implemented in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia since 2019.

Behind the Scenes 🎥

We're excited to share a sneak peek of our upcoming video profiles highlighting the success stories of two of our graduates! These videos will showcase how our skills training programme has empowered young people to build brighter futures.

Powered by Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken through Embassy of the Netherlands in Mozambique . This project is part of our ongoing Skills2Live initiative, which has facilitated life-changing training for dozens of young people in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and now Angola.

Stay tuned for the full video profiles coming soon!

Celebrating resilience and empowerment

Last Friday, 47 youths graduated in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, overcoming the challenges posed by the civil war in the region, which forced us to pause our training for a while. These 47 demonstrated remarkable resilience and determination to complete their training.

They are certified in Solar Maintenance and Installation, as well as Electrical Photovoltaic Installation. As part of our post graduate support services, eight startup kits were awarded to groups of three graduates each. This initiative is designed to empower them to start their own businesses and create sustainable livelihoods.

Thanks to for funding this project.

Interesting read for our Dutch audience 👇🏽

Waarom is er nog armoede na 75 jaar hulp? Hoeveel ontwikkelingsgeld blijft aan de strijkstok hangen? En wat heeft ontwikkelingssamenwerking opgeleverd?

Het boekje 'Voorbij de borrelpraat' neemt je mee langs onbekende feiten en veelgehoorde fabels over ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Klik op de link voor meer info: https://buff.ly/44VpIMp

Mede mogelijk gemaakt door , Hunger Project, Ganzen, Vision en en Daad. Geschreven door Vossen

https://buff.ly/3UXmUe8

- CuriCos Waarom is er nog armoede na 75 jaar hulp? Hoeveel ontwikkelingsgeld blijft aan de strijkstok hangen? En wat heeft ontwikkelingssamenwerking opgeleverd? Voorbij de borrelpraat neemt je mee langs onbekende feiten en veelgehoorde fabels over ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Prikkelend, verfrissend en praktis...

A call for young african leaders!

Ashoka Africa is searching for innovative youth aged 16-25 in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana to tackle climate change.

If you have bold ideas or existing initiatives to address the climate crisis. This is your chance to drive real change in your community. Don't miss out! https://buff.ly/4bnxIYq