Youth Employment Service (YES) Programme

General Information

Institution:

The Ministry of Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Youth and Sports (Youth Affairs Department)

Country:

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Contact person:

Carlos Williams

Position:

Youth Officer

Email:

yadsvg@gmail.com

Phone:

(784) 456-1087

Which of the following topic(s) applies to the program?:

Topics:

EMPLOYMENT

Youth employment

Program Description

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Description:

The Youth Employment Service (YES) programme is a one year job attachment programme that is geared towards providing employment and job related training to young unemployed persons between the ages of 16 and 30 years. The programme is administered by the Youth Affairs Department of the Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Youth and Sports. The process involves recruitment and registration, interview, selection and orientation. Over 5,000 persons have been registered as of the second quarter of 2010. The jobseekers are placed within government ministries, departments and institutions as well as the private sector. Participants have been exposed to various areas of work including Dental Care, Physiotherapy, Library Services, Radio and Television Broadcasting, Plant Propagation, Tissue Culture Processing, Computer Operations, Early Childhood Development, Basic Laboratory Procedure, Data Processing, Secretarial Duties, Tour Guiding, Teacher Training and several others. The programme also provides a stipend to participants.

Objectives:

• To provide work experience to (700) persons over a twelve-month period • To provide income in the form of a stipend to a similar number of persons • To provide work-based and other training to participants • To provide the nation with useful service in the areas of social and economic endeavours

Year of Start:

Before 2010

Estimated duration:

Undefined

Geographic coverage:

National

Target population:

Young boys

Evaluation and Documentation

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Describe the program's most important achievements and lessons learned:

Achievements • Over 3,500 placed and obtain training • A number of young persons received permanent employment • Participants gained valuable work experience/skills • On-the-job training resulted in a change in attitude towards work • The programme provided income for the unemployed • The stipend, though small, assisted with poverty alleviation in households • Non-jobseekers were attracted to the programme Lessons • A pre-training programme is needed before placement takes place • The majority of job seekers are females (80% females placed) • A high percentage of teenage mothers are unemployed • There is a high level of functional illiteracy among school dropouts • A wealth of human resource could be mobilised for national service

Describe the challenges of the program:

1. There is need for a greater level of involvement of all players (private sector, government and NGOs). 2. An increase in the stipend which is very small 3. Closer monitoring of placements

Specify if the program has any internal and external evaluations, if applicable, include key findings:

Internas: No Externas: Si