Youth Employment and Business Start-Up (YouLead) Project – Sri Lanka Quarterly Report - Year Six January 1, 2023-March 31, 2023

The program seeks to align the skills demanded by a competitive economy with the skills possessed by its youth. Key objectives include increasing youth employability skills in targeted sectors, improving quality, relevance, and delivery of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), increasing prospects of successful self-employment, and encouraging youth to take more control over their education and career choices through career guidance and behavior change communications. The program is empowered to work nationally but concentrates its efforts in the 12 districts with the highest unemployment among young women and men as identified by the project's market assessment. These districts include Jaffna, Galle, Kandy, Mannar, Kegalle, Badulla, Kilinochchi, Hambantota, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala, Matara, and Matale. In the first quarter of FY2023, YouLead saw considerable increases in the number and depth of activities completed, which directly contributed to substantive results. The program's communications and outreach efforts gained enormous traction with target youth audiences and international travelers. YouLead was able to take advantage of the relative calm following the political-economic crisis and related fuel shortages to finalize delayed programs and re-accelerate activities in other project areas. Impact highlights include YouLead's Career Guidance Services reaching thousands of Samurdhi beneficiary youth. The program collaborated with the Department of Samurdhi Development and the district secretariats of Gampaha, Mullaitivu, Ratnapura, Kegalle, and Hambantota to provide career guidance services to Samurdhi beneficiary youth. Additionally, YouLead in collaboration with the Department of Manpower and Employment (DME) and the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) conducted entrepreneurship trainings for over 500 youth. YouLead also implemented a range of activities to improve the quality, relevance, and delivery of TVET. These activities included the development of new TVET curricula, the training of TVET instructors, and the establishment of partnerships with industry partners to provide work-based learning opportunities for TVET students. The program's efforts to increase prospects of successful self-employment included the provision of business development services to over 1,000 youth, the establishment of a business incubator, and the provision of access to finance for youth-led businesses. YouLead also implemented a range of activities to encourage youth to take more control over their education and career choices, including the provision of career guidance services, the establishment of a career guidance center, and the development of a career guidance curriculum. YouLead's geographic coverage is nationwide, with a focus on the 12 districts with the highest unemployment among young women and men. The program's reporting period is from January 1, 2023, to March 31, 2023.