Samoa's e-Youth Hub

The e-Youth hub is an online service platform where young people of all backgrounds can use to build their profiles as employable youths, strengthen their capacity as responsible citizens, seek out other opportunities, network and contribute to the social, economic and political development and stability of Samoa.

SNYC's solution is to revolutionalise how young people engage with the education and employment sector thought its existing e-Youth hub to a capacity where it can serve all the needs of its youth constituency. The e-Youth hub was initially created to centralise existing employment services under one hub for ease of access to young people.  

The e-Youth hub profiles youths who register and generates an online resume for them. It also allows for young people to identify their strengths through a series of youth friendly questions that have been customised to suit their culturally based and communal experiences.

A key factor in limiting the engagement of rural youth, teen moms, early school leavers and youth with disabilities in the education and employment sector is their capacity to write up resumes, conduct interviews and overall soft skills in seeking and gaining employment. 

The hub is already addressing the issue of limited capacity of its youths members in creating a resume. However, if the hub were to be scaled to its full potential, it can be a tool for change and innovative tinkering for young people to not only assist them in transitioning into the workforce easily but to also provide them a platform where they can become social entrepreneurs, advocates and activists for the youth agenda.

One of the biggest challenges facing rural youths, teen moms, early school leavers and youth with disabilities is the limited capacity to engage with existing opportunities due in part to limited access to information, intimidating websites and applications available in Samoa, mismatch of skills and existing opportunities. 

Education in Samoa is an also outdated, traditional method of teaching that does not promote nor enhance the learning experience of young people and innovative and creative thinking is not adequately fostered and promoted. 

Youths in Samoa are however quite adept at navigating Facebook and other social media apps.

Since the e-Youth hub was created, SNYC has been able to accomplish small achievements like so:

• Register 83 rural youths onto its hub;
• Recruit and select 20 youths for national internship program;
• Only youth specific, youth friendly platform to access and utilise for capacity building and employment opportunities;
• One of the biggest local business in the private sector has requested the hub to recruit youth for its employment opportunities;
• Assist and provide its e-Youth hub service to over 400 youths who will be made redundant upon closure of Samoa's biggest employer in the private sector i.e. Yazaki Samoa Ltd.

The impact of the e-Youth hub is a youth friendly platform that can be utilised to equip its users with the necessary skills (soft and technical) in the following:

• Education and training through non formal providers;
• Employment profiling and professional soft skills training;
• Matching of skills with employment opportunities;
• Networking and participatory engagement with other youths, mentors
• Other applications of the hub

Those who will benefit are youths between the ages of 18 - 35. How it will be deployed will be include nation wide community conversations and capacity building sessions, media campaign, access to the hub and its components.

1. User friendly and Facebook log in and population completed and tested before launching.

2. Migration of hub to public partner i.e. Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour for hosting and server access services. - Phase II of the e-Youth hub completed and ready for launching and use.

1. App designed and uploaded in the app store.

2. Add on components on education and training completed, tested and ready for use.

3. Quarterly reports automatically generated for review and M&E. - Phase III of the e-Youth hub completed and ready for launching and use.

1. 3 youths employed to manage, facilitate and serve the e-Youth hub.

2. Quarterly review and analysis of completed registrations.

3. Tracking of number of app downloads. - 1000 youths registered onto the e-Youth hub

The solution is innovative because Samoa is relatively new to accessing the internet and all its possibilities. It is also the only youth hub that has been created by young people for young people. It is novel in the use of technology because the e-Youth hub was created with a social media template so that it can attract the attention of young people in Samoa. It is unique because the hub is to provide a platform that is not being used by other Government Ministries or CSO. 

This technology is human centered because it is utilising a medium that already thousands of Pacific Islanders already know how to use. The solution requires its users to become a network of change for other young people and for SNYC to have access to the different trends that interest young people. 

It is also the intention of SNYC to use its e-Youth hub to recruit and train youth volunteers for times of disaster and risk management, impart information on climate change issues, sexual and reproductive health and rights and other issues that affect young people in Samoa.

Access to the e-Youth hub will be free of charge to all young people. To date, SNYC has an open door policy to youth to register onto the e-Youth hub. It is also continuously looking to improve its current hub so that it does not take up too much content that may affect data usage for youth accessing via mobile technology. In particular, it should be a platform where youth are able to connect to relevant youth experts, advocates, activists and professionals who can assist in raising their profiles, capacity building and technical training in different areas of employment fields. 

Samoa National Youth Council was previously supported by the DFAT AusAid funded Pacific Leadership Program. To date, it has also secured additional funding from Samoa's Civil Society Support Program until March 2018. This support is provided on an annual basis and which SNYC will ensure to propose to for support on an annual basis. SNYC is also preparing a position statement to lobby, campaign and secure Government support of its organisation as it is the only recognised national youth organisation that is an implementing partner of the Government in its youth agenda.

1. Limited institutional capacity of SNYC to further upgrade and design the hub into its envisioned capacity;
2. No focal personnel dedicated to managing, maintaining and delivering services of the hub on a consistent basis;
3. Internet costs;
4. No youth space to house the hub as a community youth center;
5. Limited awareness programs of what the hub can offer to youths in the community because of funding;

http://www.snyc.org.ws/images/CORE_documents/SNYC_Strategic_Plan_2013-16.pdf

http://www.snyc.org.ws/images/Reports/TYES-REPORT--POSITION-STATEMENT.pdf

http://www.snyc.org.ws/images/Newsletters/MOBILIZING-YOUTH-4-YOUTH-Volume-1.pdf

SNYC is applying to Solve because it believes wholeheartedly in putting the future in the hands of its young people and the emerging population. SNYC hopes to achieve a platform where it can become the focal point in empowering its youth to take up leadership roles, advocate for issues affecting young Pacific Islanders and lead Samoa into the 21st century. Its youth population must be equipped to handle the digital era especially the costs that comes with technology and internet.

1. International Labour Organisation
2. Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development
3. Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour
4. One UN Samoa - Youth Employment Programme
5. SNYC members - Village Youth Representatives
6. Pacific Leadership Program

None that SNYC knows of.