Skills, Competencies and Employability – Building the Evidence Base of What Works in Youth Employment

The quality and quantity of outcomes resulting from youth employment programmes suffers because of a severe lack of evidence supporting effective programme design and delivery. This project, a partnership bet-ween the Jacobs Foundation and the Youth Employment Network, aims to inform policy makers and practi-tioners in developing countries on what works, why and how in achieving positive youth employment outcomes. This will be achieved through the commissioning of a series of impact evaluations accompanied by impact evaluation clinics. Nine projects will benefit from comprehensive technical and financial support for conducting rigorous impact evaluations. The projects will be competitively selected based on the quality of the proposal and the likelihood of contributing to the evidence base for effective youth employment programme delivery. The selected projects will also serve as case studies for practical learning. Ninety additional practitioners and policy makers will acquire the skills and knowledge to allow them to conduct impact evaluation. The methodology used is a 3 step iterative process of learning – applying – sharing. Learning is achieved through yearly Clinics where leading experts provide advice and guidance for conducting impact evaluations. Lessons learned are applied to live projects who receive backstopping and financial support for finalizing their evaluations. Results of completed evaluations are shared with policy makers through policy briefs and learning events, helping them to make informed decisions about programming and resource allocation. The project will directly target a total of 1100 beneficiaries. The main output will be the production of at least 3 impact evaluations. The project will cost a total of 873’000 CHF. Jacobs and YEN will co fund the project contributing 450'000 CHF and 423’000 CHF respectively.

Project symbol

GLO/10/11/MUL

Admin unit

EMP/CEPOL

Start date

29/06/2010

End date

30/06/2013

Total allocation

716143

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

716143

Development Partners

Jacobs Foundation

Country/Countries

Global

Outcomes

Employment Promotion