Quarterly Progress Report FY20 Quarter 2 – January 1 to March 31, 2020: Djibouti Workforce Development Program

The program aims to improve the quality of vocational workforce readiness programs, enhance sustainable linkages between TVET institutions and employment providers, and strengthen job placement, retention, and advancement services. The program is implemented by Education Development Center, with Cardno Emerging Markets USA serving as a subcontractor. Implementation of the program's first objective, IR1, focused on expanding quality vocational workforce readiness programs. Key interventions included improving the vocational, technical, and counseling skills of instructors, enhancing the vocational knowledge and skills of targeted youth, and developing demand-driven curricula adopted by TVETs. The program's second objective, IR2, aimed to establish sustainable, productive linkages between TVET institutions and employment providers. This involved increasing public and private sector coordination and collaboration, raising employers' and TVET administrators' awareness of gender equality laws and policies, and establishing a public-private partnership focused on women's employment. By the end of the second quarter of FY20, public and private sector coordination and collaboration had increased, and employers' and TVET administrators' awareness of gender equality laws and policies had been raised. The program's third objective, IR3, focused on strengthening job placement, retention, and advancement services. Key interventions included providing career counseling services, improving the quality of job search and information mechanisms available to job-seekers, and enhancing job center outreach and communication. By the end of the second quarter of FY20, career counseling services had been provided to beneficiaries, and the quality of job search and information mechanisms available to job-seekers had improved. The program's implementation has faced several challenges, including integration of cross-cutting issues and USAID Forward priorities, gender equality and female empowerment, sustainability mechanisms, environmental compliance, policy and governance support, local capacity development, public-private partnership and global development alliance impacts, science, technology, and innovation impacts, stakeholder participation and involvement, and management and administrative issues. To address these challenges, the implementing partner has taken various measures, including providing coaching and mentoring to beneficiaries, conducting a youth employment survey, and evaluating the effectiveness of employment services. The program's success stories, as documented in Annex A, highlight the positive impact of the program on the lives of beneficiaries. The program has also made significant progress in terms of financial management, with a financial report for FY20 Q2 provided in Annex F. Overall, the Djibouti Workforce Development Program has made significant strides in improving the quality of vocational workforce readiness programs, enhancing sustainable linkages between TVET institutions and employment providers, and strengthening job placement, retention, and advancement services.