HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Welcome to the December Edition of the Best Practices Monthly Feature. UN-Habitat wishes to thank our readers and partners for their continued support throughout the year. We look forward to further engagement and knowledge sharing next year.
This month’s feature highlight’s UN-Habitat’s Project in Somalia launched in collaboration with the federal and regional levels of the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing in Somalia. ‘Project Rajo’ which means ‘hope’ in Somali, is a market driven skills training programme for youth to address the high levels of unemployment in the country.
Impactful storytelling has gained popularity over the years and is considered a Best Practice in project implementation. Project Rajo launched a podcast initiative, to produce engaging four episode series. This initiative narrates the story of the project, its successes in capacity building and skills enhancement of young women and men in Somalia’s booming construction sector. This initiative was also recognized by the UN Department of Global Communications in New York.
“If people come together, they can even mend the sky”
A popular Somali proverb rings especially true for the next generation of young Somalis who are rebuilding the country in the aftermath of a decades-long civil war. In the face of an environment of violence and poverty, with nearly two-thirds of young people unemployed, the opportunities to obtain quality education and meaningful engagement in political, economic and social life are weak or non-existent.
In August 2018, UN-Habitat, in collaboration with the federal and regional levels of the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing in Somalia launched the three month training programme which consists of 4 key components;
- Life Skills
- Construction Skills
- Entrepreneurship
- Information Communications Technology
“We have a vision of a world where urban youth have better opportunities to thrive and reach their full potential,” explains Sharmaarke Abdullahi, Programme Management Officer at UN-Habitat’s Youth and Livelihoods Unit.
“We are working to improve the livelihoods of these youth, especially those in conflict and post-conflict situations, by including them in the governance and socioeconomic life of their cities,” he said.
In a country where youth comprise half the total population, this constitutes both a significant challenge and an important opportunity for future development. The Rajo training program brought together young women and men aged 15-35 from three major cities including Mogadishu, Kismayo and Garowe to learn soft and transferable job skills-training with an emphasis on training in the construction sector, entrepreneurship and business start-up support. To date, 580 young people have been trained and the Project has supported the launch of 12 start-ups.
One of the graduates, 23-year-old Jamila Abdilaqadir Adan, has since found work in a home design and decoration company in Garowe. “Now I am able to support myself and help contribute to my family’s income,” she said.
The project is part of the youth component of the Somali Strengthening Institutions for Public Works and was supported by UN-Habitat, in collaboration with the federal and regional levels of the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing in Somalia, and UNOPS with funding from the African Development Bank.
Re-building Somalia means deconstructing stereotypes
As a result of deeply entrenched gender roles in a patriarchal society, it is extremely rare to see a woman working on construction sites in Somalia. Women generally face disproportionately high rates of unemployment in the country (close to 75%) and they make up just 11% of the workforce in construction. Young women face even greater challenges accessing skills training and employment within the construction sector.
“Women have a strong role to play in the reconstruction of Somalia, despite the barriers that exist,” said Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat. “Programmes such as Project Rajo are essential in breaking down some of these barriers and advancing young people’s full participation in rebuilding their communities,” she added.
In Somali society, women are often celebrated for their resilience and strength. Their enthusiastic participation in all aspects of the Project Rajo training program was a true testament to this. In fact 60% of the first group of trainees completing the program in Garowe were women. One of the women graduates, Anfac Adan Abdi, said: “Project Rajo has given me important skills to succeed in the construction industry – but more importantly it has given me a chance to feel empowered and confident in a male dominated industry.”
The Puntland Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Mr. Abdirahman Barkhadle Warsame, noted: “The strong participation of women in the project is a remarkable milestone which creates role models for other women interested in pursuing a career in the construction sector across Somalia.”
Local ownership for a sustainable future
To ensure knowledge transfer and sustainability, Rajo partnered with state and federal governments to develop a construction training manual. This allows future administrations and future participants to benefit from the project. Rajo also collaborated with two local implementing partners: the Success Institute for Human Development (SIHD) and iRise Innovation Hub. SIHD led the entrepreneurship component of the training, equipping youth with skills to bring their business ideas to life. iRise led a Hackathon to support youth in developing ICT-based solutions to various challenges in the construction sector.
Both SIHD and iRise continue to offer support to the start-ups that have launched as a result of the training. Mohammed Omar, the CEO of SIHD, said: “We’re interested in being part of their journey. We’re not satisfied to only do the training. We will only be happy when we see these young people change their lives, their families’ lives and their country.”
Local government officials in all three cities also stressed the importance local ownership. The Minister for Public Works and Housing, Honourable. Ismail Ahmed Garas said it is very relevant to the demands of the market and is intended to narrow the skills gap. It will be more affordable to use locally available skilled human resource instead of outsourcing them from neighboring countries,” he said.
IMPACT OF STORYTELLING
In recent years, impact storytelling has emerged as a popular and important strategy for capturing and communicating the results of a programme or project to various audiences around the world. Traditional approaches to programme evaluation that rely on structured questionnaires and statistical data fail to give programme participants, donors and implementing partners the chance to tell their stories in their own words. Stories have the power to uncover the social reality of a certain problem, empowering participants through providing information not captured in traditional data-gathering strategies and can help formulate more localized and bottom-up informed actions to solve those problems. More importantly, incorporating impact storytelling in traditional qualitative and quantitative approaches to evaluating programmes can be a powerful tool for inspiring action, change, influencing thought leaders and also provide donors with a sense for the micro-level dynamics of their impact.
Recognizing the increasing popularity of impact storytelling combined with technology and traditional approaches to programme evaluation, UN-Habitat launched the Somali Strengthening Institutions for Public Works “Project Rajo” podcast series, the first of its kind for UN-Habitat on World Skills Day in 2019.
As a direct result of the training, 580 youth have been trained with 78% employment rate and 12 startups in the constructions sector were launched across three cities, which range from sourcing local construction material, to construction site management. It features both the individual and collective voices of beneficiaries, UN-Habitat colleagues from the field, as well as implementing partners and other key stakeholders. The project’s challenges, key successes are highlighted, and the voices and experiences of female participants are emphasized.
Episode 1 provides context of the current situation in Somalia regarding youth unemployment and the opportunities within the construction sector. Against this backdrop, Project Rajo is introduced as a fitting intervention to address the skills gap in the country and provide youth with meaningful employment opportunities.
Episode 2, two programme participants share their experiences taking part in the training and the work opportunities they have found upon graduating. This episode describes training modules 1, 2 and 3 (Life skills, construction, business and entrepreneurship training).
Episode 3 describes the Hackathon and some of the start-up businesses that have launched. It also paints a picture of the larger tech ecosystem in Somalia and the need for capacity building.
Episode 4 explores the future of Project Rajo and looks at UN-Habitat’s work at scale.
To listen click here.
Credits:
UN-Habitat; Shutterstock