Background
Historical Perspective
The Government of Kenya has received financing from the World Bank towards the cost of the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project (KYEP). The youths of Kenya comprise more than 30% of the working population. Youth therefore have the potential to accelerate productivity growth, but left idle, can represent a risk to social stability and in the longer term a risk to development of the nation’s economy. Ensuring that youths are successfully integrated into the economy will improve Kenya’s competitiveness, raise household incomes, reduce poverty, and create a circle of investment and growth. The failure to achieve this integration raises the possibility of further social disruption and an economy unable to attract industries that are globally competitive in their use of modern technology.
Rationale for the Project
Unemployment has become a huge challenge for the country and the magnitude of the problem especially large among the youth. Youth in Kenya face serious challenges including high rates of unemployment and under employment. The overall unemployment rate for the youth is double the adult average, at about 21%. Statistics on joblessness suggest that the magnitude of unemployment problem is larger for youth with 38% of the youth neither in school nor work (aggregating the rates of unemployment and inactivity).
Besides, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is relatively newly established with an important need of capacity strengthening. MOYAS was established in 2005 to better address youth concerns in Kenya.
Objectives
The Project Development Objective is to improve youth employability, by providing youth with work experience and skills through creation of internships and relevant training in the formal and informal sector (with priority given to the five growth sectors defined by the Vision 2030) in the Private Sector as well as Capacity Building and Policy Development for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (District Youth Officers).
KEPSA is mandated by the Government of Kenya to implement the project on Provision of Training and Internship to approximately 10,000 youth aged 15-29 years in the private sector over the period 2011 to 2014. Through careful monitoring and independent evaluation of component activities, lessons will be developed for guiding future youth employment and skills development policies.
The project and its support for work experience and training is aligned with the industrial structure of the national economy. This component will provide work experience and training in the sectors, with priority given to potential growth sub-sectors identified in Vision 2030.
