LAH Home of Graphics

Contributing towards reducing youth unemployment and improve the livelihoods youth the youth in Uganda. And it is noted in one report that, it is important to promote entrepreneurship and inspire young people to create business and subsequently new jobs
The innovative potential of young people, combined with the power of technology, is already proving to be a powerful force on the road to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as mandated that By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than US$1.25 a day and we do feel that the three thematic areas have a big market and are easy to be learnt by the youth since they are more engaged into the digital revolution.

The youth in Uganda are 71% of its population being under 30 years of age (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_in_Uganda). And the Uganda Bureau of statistics indicate that the youth in the Ugandan definition are those between 18-30 years of age were currently at 22.9% of the total population in 2018 (https://www.ubos.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/05_2019STATISTICAL_ABSTRACT_2018.pdf) and it further indicates that only 8% of these youth had some area of specialization with post primary/secondary specialized training/degree and above. There is a high youth unemployment rate in Uganda which is at 13.3% as reported in the Uganda national household survey 2016/17 (https://www.ubos.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/07_2018UDHS_2016_FInal.pdf. Uganda Poverty Assessment 2016 Fact Sheet highlights that the proportion of Ugandans living below the national poverty line declined from 31.1% in 2006 to 19.7% in 2013 (https://www.worldbank.org/en/c... and in 2019), and the working poverty rate (percentage of employed living below US$1.90 PPP) was at 36%  as reported in the Uganda Labour Market Profile 2019(http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/sites/default/files/uploads/public/PDF/LMP/LMP2019/lmp_uganda_2019_final_version_rev3.pdf) and that 34% of the youth were not in education, employment or training and Only one out of five (20%) has attained a stable and satisfactory job. These youth being targeted are located in both Hoima district and Hoima Municipality which will be elevated to a city status in 2021 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Uganda).

Our solution is typically based on two concepts which include skills training in photography, Graphics designing and printing to the youth who need such kind of skills then the second is providing the above services to the wider community/customers who pay for them. The two concepts are intertwined in such a way that when the youth are trained, at a later/advanced stage, they will be the one to handle the customers’ tasks/assignments while perfecting their skills before being certified by the foundation and getting supported to go and explore the job sector.

We are targeting the unemployed youth for the specialized training. These youth we are focusing at are those who are interested in the three thematic areas of the foundation namely; photography, Graphic designing and printing services. Special attention will be given to the female youth since these are more unemployed compared to the male. The founders of the foundation are all youth and have worked on virus projects under different organization and they have seen the challenges the youth are facing in regards to getting employed.

Our solution relates to two challenge dimensions; first, through skills training, we focus at equipping the youth with both technological and digital skills which can enable them start their own ventures (job creators). Then we also focus at creating decent jobs to some youth who will be employed by the foundation in running its daily activities especially when we have work from other clients not among the trainees but interested in the three services (photography, Graphic designing and printing). In so doing, we shall have skilled youth with decent jobs created by themselves or/and by the foundation

There are some similar examples especially with photography and printry. There are a number of photo labs in the region but these are entirely business firms and the Difference with our foundation is that we shall be skilling the youth as well as helping them get decent jobs to better their livelihoods in this sector. There are also many printing firms who deal mainly with paper (A4 size) printing and at Lah Home of Graphics, we intend to introduce the printing of large format printing since the municipality is to be elevated to a city status in 2021 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ) and a hub for economic growth. Currently there is no large format printing in the region and whoever needs these services has to travel all the way to the current city (Kampala) where such services are availed. And when we integrate the aspect of Graphics in these two sub sectors (Photography and printing), we shall have added a big difference compared to what is being done by the similar firms and people mentioned above.

Our solution will be powered by two main technologies namely; digital technology and the printing technology.

Under Digital technology, we shall have components like; website, social media which will help in the visibility purposes, computers with a number of software for both graphic designing and accounting purposes which will be used. Also, digital cameras which will be used in the photography sector also fall under this technology.

Under the printing technology, the foundation will use digital printer (large format) and the photo printer which will be used to produce the final product of photograph.

Websites and social media platforms are widely used by people around the work to communicate with their clients or target audience. These are online services which our foundation finds vital to have in order to ease communication between us and our stakeholders. Also, they will be used for visibility purposes to show case what the foundation is capable of doing to the wider community.

We shall use computers for various purposes like; graphic designing, accounting work, managing the foundation communication platforms like website and social media site.

Digital cameras are used by professional photographers to manipulate the equipment involved in capturing top-notch photos.

Digital printers are used in the modern printing of large formats like billboards, posters and others. It’s a preferred mode of printing since it's environmentally friendly, quick delivery and high value added. The same applies to the photo printer.

INPUTS: Sufficiently skilled staff, appropriate training facilities and equipment, funds

ACTIVITIES: Training the beneficiaries in photography, training the beneficiaries in printing services, training the beneficiaries in Graphic designing, consultation with the stakeholders on how improve in the services offered by the foundation, registration of the foundation, advertising the services offered by the foundation, fundraising.

OUTPUTS: Beneficiaries trained in photography, beneficiaries trained in graphic designing, beneficiaries trained in printing services, stakeholders consulted on how to improve the services of the foundation, foundation registered and advertised, foundation with enough funds to operate.

OUTCOMES: Professional photographers, professional Graphic Designers, professionals in Printing, well established and operational foundation.

GOAL: Reduced youth unemployment rate

Currently, our solution is still in the idea stage meaning that we have no defined number (0) of people we are serving as of now.

In one year, we hope to directly serve a total of 70 unemployed youth as we study more about the adoption of our solution by our beneficiaries.

In five years, we shall reach a total of 500 youth with our intervention. 

We shall have to scale up the work of the foundation to other district across the region to enable the foundation reach a more unemployed

We shall have a needs assessment survey to identify out which other areas, the foundation can venture into in order to have a wide set of hands on skills to help the 9735 unemployed youth who are neither working nor in school.

We shall have to collaborate with the some of the already established vocational training institutes in the area of operation to see that we transform millions of lives.

The main challenge is the startup fund for the foundation. The foundation requires equipment, staff costs and running costs to fulfil its mandates.

The other challenge might be that we might have youth who are interested in being skilled in different topics which are outside the foundation's initial focus.

We might face a challenge of vulnerable youth who would wish to get skilled by the foundation but have financial challenges for them to attend the training sessions or even acquiring the necessary personal equipment.

Whereas we need to have formal partnerships with already established vocational institutes, we might find some challenges.

And this we are trying to address by presenting our idea potential partners and we shall keep open to any funding agency that feels that our idea is great for their support.

This will be looked at by the founders and if more funds are available, then other skills can be introduced in the foundation's programs. We shall also share this idea with our partners and see whether they are willing to support additional initiatives.

For the vulnerability of the beneficiaries to afford training costs, we shall base of the need’s assessment after the first year and it will inform us of what the situation is and we can strategize as the foundation and our partners on how to handle this challenge.

On getting into formal partnership with like-minded institutions, we shall have to ensure that the foundation is legalized by the end of year one.

N/A

Full time staff are 5 who include; Founder, Co-founder, Lawyer, Financial manager and Youth mobilizer.

Part time staff 4 including; photographer, graphic designer and two casual workers.

The two founders are trained agriculturalists who have over time been experienced in youth empowerment programs. The founder has also obtained skills in photography as she has been working with one photograph firm and has vast knowledge in that field. The co-founder has obtained skills in both photography, graphic designing and printing from the organization he has worked with since he has been the documentation officer for a long period of time. The youth coordinator has vast knowledge on how to handle youth empowerment projects as he volunteered with a number of organizations and is a graduate in social sciences. The financial expert is a graduate of banking and development finance and also a professional media personnel who has worked with a number of media stations in the country. Among the team is also a legal advisor to help guide the foundation in all legal aspects necessary.

Not yet in any partnership.

These beneficiaries we are targeting for specialized training are the Youth located in both Hoima district and Hoima Municipality and even those from other districts of Uganda especially those in urban setting will be welcomed for these trainings.

The Uganda Labor Market Profile 2019 (http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/sites/default/files/uploads/public/PDF/LMP/LMP2019/lmp_uganda_2019_final_version_rev3.pdf) notes that Urban youth are more likely to be unemployed (12%) than rural youth (3%). And these are not exclusive of the 41.7% value for Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population) in Uganda as of 2016 from the statistical data of World bank (https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/uganda/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY).

The foundation will also target to extend its services of photography, Printing and Graphic designing to those people who need quality work in the three thematic areas in Hoima District and Uganda at large and also ensure that the services are accessible within the district.

The foundation will keep fundraising by sharing our idea to the development partners and seeking financial support in terms of grants which will help us to implement the strategic interventions.

Skills training in photography, Graphics designing and printing to the youth at a subsidized fee and when the youth are trained, at a later/advanced stage, they will be the one to handle the customers’ tasks/assignments (who will have to pay for them) while perfecting their skills before being certified by the foundation and getting supported to go and explore the job sector.

With the digital equipment of the foundation, we believe the foundation will generate income from external beneficiaries who will need our services.

We have applied in this Solve competition to help us overcome two main barriers namely; 

Funding barrier. We need financial support for starting up the foundation and it's smooth running of it's activities. In line with this, we would wish Solve to help and connect us to a potential partnerships.

Since LAH Home of Graphics is a new foundation, we wish Solve to help in mentoring us on how we can successfully implement our idea. that mentorship will help us have better strategies on how to impact more lives in our country. We need more support to help us achieve our goal since the issue of youth unemployment is still a big concern in our country and not forgetting that the youth are the biggest composition of Uganda's population.

Solution technology; we shall continuously seek advice on using the latest technology so as to keep our foundation relevant on her Goals. technology changes every day that goes by and we as the foundation would like to keep updated with the latest technology.

Funding and revenue model; as an early stage foundation, we would wish to be mentored and advised how to have the best financial management system.

Marketing, media and exposure; as the foundation, we shall be keen at ensuring that we market the services we offer so as impact more on our target group and also for the visibility purposes so as to keep in touch with our partners. 

We would welcome any partner who is willing to help our foundation grow to help reduce the increasing Youth unemployment rate in Uganda.

Potential partners in the three sectors of the our foundation (Photography, Graphic designing and printing services) are all welcome. 

We do believe that there are some girls and women who might be interested in being skilled in Photography, graphic designing or printing services.

We would use this price to help the women attain their dream. We can only imagine having professional photographers, graphic designers and women in printing sector being promoted by LAH Home of Graphics. It would really make us proud and that we could help women especially who face a double burden of being a youth and a female unemployed (women are more unemployed compared to men) according to the Labor market profile 2019 for Uganda (http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/sites/default/files/uploads/public/PDF/LMP/LMP2019/lmp_uganda_2019_final_version_rev3.pdf). We will use this prize to support such kind of women with the necessary skills and tools.

Being that our foundation will be helping the youth to better their livelihoods through skills development in photography, graphic designing and printing, we hope that the Prize will help such that they (youth) have the required skills to access well paying jobs and in so doing, they will be able to have a better life and that of their families.

With the current pandemic of COVID 19, many young men and women are anticipated to loss their jobs following the lockdown of close to 3 month now. Many businesses have been closer during this period and we foresee many jobless youth in the country. So with this prize, we hope to help these youth to attain life skills for self reliability and sustainability. At LAH Home of Graphics, we intend to create more job opportunities for the youth so that they can also share a cake of the employment sector in Uganda.