EFA Initiative:
The Education for All (EFA) Youth Challenge Grant Program, supported by USAID through EQUIP3/Youth Trust and USAID country Missions, was created to build the capacity of organizations and agencies to provide relevant skills training for out-of-school youth. This program aims to assist USAID Missions and implementing organizations to:
- Analyze and strategically address basic education and livelihoods issues among youth, and
- Build partnerships (among USAID Strategic Objective teams, national government Ministries, private sector, local NGOs) to address youth issues in an integrated and creative manner.
Click here for more information about EQUIP3/Youth Trust program, a USAID program designed to prepare and engage out-of-school children, youth and young adults for their roles within the world of work, civil society and family life.
The EFA Youth Challenge Grant Program created a co-financing mechanism with country USAID Missions to support innovative and strategic youth projects. After a rigorous selection process, USAID Missions in Jamaica, Uganda, and South Africa were selected to implement the following projects:
- Jamaica: Addressing urban boys' education and employment challenges in a community with high rates of violence.
- Uganda: Using sports as a convening mechanism for education, healthy living, and peace building among in and out-of-school youth.
- South Africa: Adapting a viable US youth service model to a South African context in order to address employment, civic engagement, and education issues.
The projects implemented in these three countries cut across education, health, life skills, and livelihood issues that youth face on a daily basis.
