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Youth Employment for Sustainable Development (YESD) Success stories in

Community Road Empowerment

Government of Government of Internaternational Japan Labour Organization Background espite the sustained economic growth intensive works and skills development. The in the last few years, Kenya is still faced proposed project interventions tried to enhance Dwith acute socio-economic challenges interagency-agency linkages with other UN including unemployment and poverty that agencies operating to better respond to the is threatening to derail its efforts to achieve needs of the communities living in the target national as well as the millennium development area and create harmony and peace among the goals. Youth shoulder the brunt of the socio- refugees and host community. economic problems in Kenya with limited In an effort to address the challenges described opportunities to improve their livelihood. Youth above, the ILO, with financial support from the (15 – 34 year olds), who form 35% of the Kenyan government of Japan (total contribution of USD population, have the highest 500,000), has launched in April 2014 a project unemployment rate of 67%. Over one million dubbed “Youth Employment for Sustainable young people enter into the labour market Development (YESD)” which aims at empowering annually without any skills some having either young men and women in Garissa County dropped out of school or through creation and development of completed school and not Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). enrolled in any college. The target area has the lowest Youth unemployment in connectivity in terms of road, rail Kenya can be considered and air in the Kenya and most of the as a ticking time bomb populations depend on few feeder waiting to explode. roads. Some of these roads are According a report impassable during the rainy seasons and submitted by the Education because of frequent traffic related to Development Centre, Garissa has the highest humanitarian support, road infrastructure should illiteracy rate in Kenya (94% among females and be regularly maintained. ILO therefore partnered 71% among males). The province also has the with Community Road Empowerment (CORE) lowest primary and secondary gross enrollment to empower youth through road works using a rates in the country (26% and 4.4% respectively). technology known as do-nou. It also has very high unemployment rates Do-nou is a Japanese word that means wrapping estimated at 80% for women and 70% for men. the soil in a gunny bag. Do-nou technology on The target area is affected by influx of road maintenance involves the use of gunny refugees and suffers from social unrest as a bags to repair and maintain damaged sections of result of competition for local resources. Most the road. The bags are filled with sand, farm soil international agencies in the target area are or gravel (murram), thereafter properly securing mandated to provide support mainly to the the bag opening with an appropriate string. refugee camps with little benefit accruing to The bags are laid in a systematic way, compacted the local people, which created visible sense and covered with a wearing course of gravelly frustration among the host communities. material.Donou technology also promotes the The proposed project therefore aimed at systematic and optimum use of local resources empowering the host communities by promoting for the improvement and maintenance of youth employment through employment infrastructure.

Illiteracy rate in Garissa

YESD, empowering youth 67% 94% 71% in Garissa through creation of Micro and Small among females Rate of unemployment among males Enterprises (MSEs). of youth in Kenya Project Achievements

he project managed to empower the registering as a road maintenance contractor. young women and men in Garissa The project continues to provide its technical TCounty in order to create and develop assistance to ensure registration of the youth 10 Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) owned business groups. by up to 293 young men and women who had Under the first phase of YESD project (2012), 19 been trained and engaged on labour intensive companies were registered in as road infrastructure development and maintenance maintenance contractors and some companies using “Do-nou” technology. received a couple of contracts of more than The MSEs are in turn expected to create KES 1 million from the local government. Under thousands of jobs through labour intensive the current project phase, Garissa County works in Garissa County and the environs (one has already shown its strong commitment of most affected areas by the drought and to provide road maintenance contracting refugee concentration). opportunities to the youth groups being trained After Do-nou training, 20 leaders of youth through YESD project. business groups were trained in other road In collaboration with the County Government, maintenance techniques and business training the project continues to support the youth at an institution owned by the national road beneficiary groups to ensure the successful authorities (Kenya Institute Of Highways & model in Eldoret will be replicated in Garissa. Building Technology) in order to obtain a national certificate which is required when

293 20 19 Number of youth trained and Number of youth leaders Number of Companies registered in engaged on infrastructure trained in other road Eldoret. Garissa County has already development and maintenance maintenance techniques shown its strong commitment to using “Do-nou” technology. provide road maintenance through YESD project. International Labour Organization, United Nations Complex, Block P, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, P.O. Box 40513-00100, , Kenya, TEL: +254-20762-5646