USAID Youth Actively Create Opportunities Activity Quarter 4 Performance Report FY2023

The Activity aims to combat youth unemployment and encourage youth civic engagement and economic growth. During the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023), the Activity made significant progress towards initial activities. The YACO team established a Youth and Private Sector Advisory Group, which will create a forum and effective space for youth organizations, private sector companies, startups, and youth to discuss important issues affecting youth employment and find creative solutions. The Activity strengthened collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP) and the Employment Services Agency (ESA) by signing Memoranda of Understanding with both institutions. The YACO team, in collaboration with MLSP and ESA, started working on a youth research aimed at conducting a thorough analysis into professions that are highly attractive to young people in North Macedonia. To ensure youth get specialized skills-development and better employment placements in companies, YACO began developing a youth-employment pipeline together with the private sector. As a part of the collaboration with USAID's Partnerships for Economic Growth Activity, YACO supported the specialized Training of Trainers (ToT) for Amphenol company employees and students of the secondary school Gosho Vikentiev in Kocani. The trained staff will transfer the acquired knowledge to their colleagues, as well as to the youth in the region utilizing the training center in the school. YACO expanded its offerings to youth to improve upon their skills and learning opportunities in high-demand sectors. This quarter, YACO launched several training courses for youth, including a social entrepreneurship training, and digital skills training for 3D printing, scanning, and modeling. The YACO team met with a total of 13 training providers, companies, and organizations, and familiarized them with the Activity's plans to support specialized and innovative training programs. Topics included ICT, STEM, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, VR technology, marketing, among other subjects. To promote entrepreneurship and innovative skill sets development, YACO organized the Green Solutions Hackathon, a two-day collaborative venture with GIZ on September 15-16, 2023, in Tetovo. This hackathon engaged 65 participants to develop creative real-world solutions to environmental challenges in their communities and connected them with sponsors or organizations interested in investing in their ideas. To expand the Activity's reach to youth throughout North Macedonia, YACO is developing Local Youth Councils and has contacted six promising municipalities where the team can coordinate with the Agency for Youth and Sports as well as local non-profit organizations to engage youth in activism and community service. The Activity supported youth-led events such as the International Youth Day and International Day of Sign Languages that gathered diverse youth. Additionally, Youth Activism Clubs were established in 10 municipalities across the country (Skopje, Tearce, Delcevo, Strumica, Struga, Chair, Veles, Mavrovo Rostushe, Ohrid, and Gostivar). The Activity also achieved several other milestones, including training over 150 youth on soft skills/life skills, including social entrepreneurship and green skills, filling over 750 available MLSP/ESA training spots and internship opportunities with YACO's outreach support, and registering over 250 potential applicants for the virtual info sessions for YACO's grants program.