Youth Alive Uganda

Uganda has one of the highest teenage pregnancies in Africa and in the world. These are young girls who are deprived of formal education at an early age and therefore lack any skill to start any enterprise or get employment. Most of these girls, end up in towns and cities to work as house maids or commercial sex workers to earn a living. Over the past two years Youth Alive Uganda has piloted integration of Sexual reproductive health (SRH) and workforce development (WfD) for teenage mothers. SRH include; addressing gender based violence, family planning, and HIV while WfD focus on entrepreneurship training, financial literacy, business planning, and practical skills training focusing on selected and market led trades like hair dressing, crafts, mechanics, baking as well as placement of training teenage mothers. This improves productivity of teenage mothers by preventing un intended, and creates business and employment opportunities for these mothers. 

An estimated 6,000 teenagers die annually from maternal-related complications according to state of Uganda's Population Report (2016). Many who survive days of obstructed labour end up with complications like obstetrics fistula, a difficulty which mostly affects young girls. Poor access to Sexual and Reproductive Health services in many countries can lead to early and unintended pregnancy as well as re-occurrence of teenage pregnancy, thereby limiting the ability of young women to develop adequate skills to fully participate in the workforce. This is worsened by patriarchal societies that create barriers to girls education.  Youth unemployment remains a serious challenge in many African countries, including Uganda. In 2013, youth (15-24years) in sub-Saharan Africa were twice likely to be unemployed compared to any other age cohort. In 2016, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics revealed that the share of unemployed youth (18-30years) among the total unemployed persons was 64%.. The multifaceted causes of youth unemployment range from an inadequate investment or supply of jobs, high rates of labour force growth and insufficient employable skills (i.e., youth possess skills that are not compatible with available jobs).

The solution is phase into two, phase one involve working with local leaders to identify and mobilise teenage mothers into Teenage mother Groups (TMGs). These undergo a two week training in soft skills that include; life skills, visioning, comprehensive SRH education, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, business planning, and gender. At the end of this phase an interest assessment is conducted to transition mothers to different trades of their interest that include; mechanics, hair dressing, crafts etc. Phase two include; delivering practical skills across selected trades working with local artisans who deliver skills training for two month. For both the soft and practical skills, teenage mothers have weekly sessions and in some of these sessions their caregivers that is parents, boy friends/husbands, and local leaders are invited to attend and discuss barriers to girls participation in development and how they can support them. After training, Teenage mothers choose from two pathways or both, some through placement end up getting employment, other choose to start their business or both. These help is creating employment opportunities as well as increasing their income to cater for their children and for themselves plus pursue other dreams like returning to formal education. 

The solution will target teenage mothers aged 14 to 19 years from the slums of Kamwokya Kampala. Indirectly, this solution with target caregivers of these teenage mothers like parents, boyfriends and husbands to address gender inequality issues and how to support these mothers to transition into business and employment. Over the past two years, we have worked with teenage mothers in Kampala and uring this time together woth their leaders understood more about their needs and the feed back we have received from them is what is being proposed in this solution. Specific (SRH) changes include; increased HIV and contraceptive knowledge among teenage mothers, Greater awareness of what gender is and how it can impact one's life and rights, increased access and utilisation of family planning services. Specific WfD changes will include improved hands-on skills for finding a job or starting an enterprise, increased saving behaviours, increased income among teenage mothers. Youth Alive Uganda will also train these teenage mothers in the education for life session that will help them develop self esteem, courage and confidence to still believe that they can still make it in life if they adopt un risky behaviours and also work hard.

The solution enables teenage mothers to still participate in informal learning and training to acquire skills to either start their own business on get formal employment. After child birth, teenage mothers have ,limited options to pursue their dreams. Majority end up in forced marriages because of the stigma attached to teenage pregnancy, others end up in towns and cities to work as maids because they lack skills to get them gainful and dignified employment. This solution ensures that these teenage mothers are given a chance to acquire both soft and practical skills to enable them live gainful and dignified lives 

Most of the program in Uganda that target adolescent girls and young mothers are single sector programs for example that address sexual reproductive health alone or workforce development alone. Whats unique about this solution is the ability to SRH and WfD as well as use of local artisans that provide work based learning and prepares teenage mothers to be entrepreneurs to improve their incomes to support themselves, their children and families. 

One of the core technology is use of mobile money technology to save and access small loans by teenage mothers to avoid risks of money being stollen from their saving boxes before being deposited into the bank. The other technology is turning recyclable materials like paper and polycene bags into crafts that can sold to earn income 

Youth Alive Uganda has applied this technology in other projects we run and it has produced results. 

If Teenage mothers are equipped with sexual reproductive health information as well  entrepreneurship skills, then their productivity will improved, their entrepreneurship skills will also improve and this will result into enhanced SRH and WfD outcomes like increased access and utilisation of SRH services, improved saving behaviour , teenage mothers starting their own businesses as well as transitioning into formal employment.

Our solution currently serves 550 teenage mothers, In the first year we hope to increase to 800 and in five years reach out to 7000 Teenage mothers 

The main goal is to improve sexual reproductive health for teenage mothers well as reduce poverty by supporting them to start own businesses or transition to formal employment. 

Significant Sexual Reproductive Health outcomes will include;

1. Increased HIV and contraceptive knowledge

2.  Greater awareness of what gender is and how it can impact one’s life and rights

3.  Increased condom use and other family planning methods4

Work force Development outcomes will include; 

1. Improved practical and hands on skills for finding a job/starting enterprises

2.  Increased saving behaviours

3.  Increased participation in vocational training

4. Increased income and increased employment. 

The project will transition teenage mothers into village saving and loans Association (VSLA) and link them to financial institutions for financial inclusion opportunities.

One of the major challenges is lack of enough financial resources to reach out to all vulnerable teenage mothers. The other is social and cultural beliefs and attitudes towards teenage mothers where adolescent girls who become pregnant are viewed as a-curse and a disappointment to the community and therefore they face discrimination and lack of community support

The plan to work with community leaders and other stake holders to sensitise them about the need to support these teenage mothers to bounce back to life. The other plan is to engage the private sector and encourage them to support skilling of teenage mothers as well as offering them business opportunities as well as employment opportunities

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Youth Alive Uganda has fully developed systems to support implementation of the solution. The team is experienced working with teenage mothers and have developed a training pipelines that has been appreciated by teenage mothers and smallholders as appropriate and responding to the needs of teenage mothers 

we currently work with financial institutions like Post bank Uganda top provide financial literacy and loans to youth groups, we also work with Mastercard foundation that support economic empowerment of vulnerable youth 

Our business model to;

1. Mobilise teenage mothers into groups 

2. Deliver soft skills training (SRH, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, business planning and VSLA methodology

3. Carry out interest assessment 

5. Based on interest deliver practical skills training 

6. Support teenage mothers to start own businesses or carry out placement for more work-based learning and employment 

7. Carry out linkages with financial institutions and private sector for markets 

The path to financial sustainability is to support teenage mothers to start their own savings group, link them to financial institutions for soft loans as well as support them to start their own businesses. Then we link them to the private sector for markets. At this point groups become self sustaining 

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