This campaign is raising money for The International Youths Development Network IYDN Finland, an international non-profit organisation committed to nurturing, Empowering and transforming local Youths and disadvantaged communities to be self-reliant, and independent, through income-generating initiatives and formal education with basic technical/vocational skills within 6 West African countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Benin republic and Guinea Bissau). 

The founders have worked as well as volunteered with nongovernmental institutions working in the area of youth development, health and education in disadvantaged communities, in West Africa for over a decade. 

During this period, we discovered lots of local private driving skills acquisition centres doing a great job in training disadvantaged youths mostly young women school dropouts in various skills such as tailoring, confectionaries, local garment production, hairdressing etc. Although they are doing a great job, these local centres offer only practical skills leaving learners with limited business or entrepreneurship skills, also the centres are not recognised by the local government making it impossible for them to receive any government benefit, leaners also suffer from the inability of the centres to support them with needed assets and resources to establish themselves after graduation, also the apprenticeship certificates offered by this centres are not recognized and accepted for job placements in the job market.

To salvage this situation since October 2023, our project team has been working on a project called Skill Builders Community by engaging proprietors of 40 local skills acquisition centres with over 700 enrolled apprentices across, Benin, Sierra Leon, Nigeria and the Gambia, organizing this local neglected skill acquisition centres into a network, working with them to tackle the root cause of poverty and unemployment among disadvantaged rural youths especially the girl child through an innovative approach codenamed “Train, Empower, and Promote” (TEP Approach). 

With this approach we shall link over 2000 training centres in 6 countries in West Africa, providing mentorship for over 20,000 female apprentices to up-skills with globally accepted training that cuts across all industry sectors and build alumni of over 20,000 local skilled apprentices within West Africa who can be able to take care of themselves and provide for their immediate family needs within the next 5 years and also be in position to support in training more youths to benefit from the initiative.

The project shall bridge the knowledge and funding gap for over 20,000 disadvantaged female apprentices in our network, we shall also assist in off-taking their products in partnership with the business community in each country. 

We will need the support of 80,000 euros to equip the first 20 local skill acquisition centres with solar-powered learning tools and also empower 20 youths from each country with startup kits, peer them into productive networks under the watch of professional business mentors.

 Your Loving Support will be used to:

·         Set up the IYDN revolving impact-fund, to empower graduates with needed assets and resources to establish themselves after graduation.

·         Develop and implement a standard curriculum and a skill learning management system for all the centres in our network with professional online/offline courses for students to choose from.

·         Procurement of training kits for learners and equipping the local acquisition centres with modern learning tools to enable them to use technology in lesson delivery and certification. 

Your kind support will make a frown face smile again, thanks.