USAID Youth, Advocacy, Women, Work and Alliances (YAWWA) Niger Progress Performance Report, Year Two, Quarter 01

The project aims to develop social entrepreneurs and innovators to increase civic engagement and people-to-people resilience in the Maradi, Zinder, Diffa, Agadez, and Niamey regions of Niger. The project's goal is to support the development of social entrepreneurs and people-to-people resilience, with a focus on building the leadership capacity of local entrepreneurs and "change agents" and establishing networks to help innovators improve the quality of life and shared sense of belonging in the five target regions. The project's objectives are to support and scale up indigenous knowledge innovation and create a platform of social innovators/entrepreneurs. Within the first objective, YAWWA seeks to build the leadership capacity of local entrepreneurs and "change agents" and establish networks to help innovators improve the quality of life and shared sense of belonging in the five target regions. This will be achieved through focused leadership trainings and mentorship networks, with a focus on building the capacity of current entrepreneurs and leaders and identifying and developing those with emerging potential. The project's implementation is focused on several key areas, including trainings, follow-up on the implementation of a Journalists Network (RJPES) in Niger, further identification of youth structures and social entrepreneurs, sub-award disbursement process, organization of the First annual Social Enterprise fair, and strategic meetings. The project team has relocated to Niamey, which is considered the ideal location for discovering talent and scaling-up for potential beneficiaries in all target regions. The relocation of the project team was effective on December 31, 2015, and required the relocation of several project staff members. The project has also recruited a new Deputy Project Manager, Haoua Oumarou, who joined the team on January 12, 2016, after USAID approval. The selection committee has organized the recruitment of consultants/trainers for several trainings, including the development of business plans, project folders, and funding requests, and the creation and implementation of a database. Local implementing partners have taken over the activity of replicating trainings in the five regions, with oversight by members of the YAWWA project team. The project has achieved several key milestones and achievements in Year 2, Quarter 1, including the relocation of the project team to Niamey, the recruitment of a new Deputy Project Manager, and the selection of consultants/trainers for several trainings. The project has also made progress in implementing its activities, including the replication of trainings in the five regions and the organization of the First annual Social Enterprise fair. The project's success stories include the achievements of several social entrepreneurs and innovators, including Josef Garvi, Abdou Adamou, Alfari Yacouba, Abdoulkader Mamadou Lamine, and Azara Touma Touma Ibrahim. The project faces several challenges and lessons learned, including the need for improved communication and coordination between the project team and stakeholders, and the importance of building the capacity of local entrepreneurs and "change agents" to improve the quality of life and shared sense of belonging in the five target regions. The project's performance monitoring of objectives and tasks has shown that the project is on track to achieve its goals, with a 27% increase in household income among program participants compared to the control group.