Employment for Empowerment: Youth in ICTs Program

In 2019, national unemployment stood at 10.5 percent according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) in Colombia. For the youth population, it reached 18.9 percent, which shows that those most affected by unemployment are young people between the ages of 14 and 28. Young people have the greatest barriers when entering the labor market, specifically due to their gaps in skills and abilities against the needs of the productive sector.

On the other hand, according to the National Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MinTIC), 2,000 software development companies generated a profit of approximately USD$1 billion in 2011. By the end of 2020, Colombia expected a shortage of 100,000 of job positions in technology, resulting in a higher demand for new technological skills, employability skills, and new roles.

In August 2019, ACDI/VOCA and Citi Foundation partnered to implement the program Employment for Empowerment: Youth in ICTs in Medellín and Bogotá until August 2021. In November 2020, a second phase project was initiated to include Barranquilla, Cali, and Cartagena, which lasted until April 2022. In order to continue to broaden the impact of the program, the alliance began implementing a third phase project, beginning in November 2022 and lasting through April 2024, which will generate economic inclusion opportunities for 200 youth in vulnerable conditions, prioritizing ethnic Afro-descendant or indigenous youths, through the strengthening of technical labor competencies, socioemotional skills, and labor intermediation strategies that enable them to secure formal employment in the cities of Cali and Buenaventura.

Project Objectives

The overall objective of the program is to provide workforce development training in ICT areas and generate economic opportunities for at-risk youth in Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena and Medellín.

Project Activities and Approaches

Outreach activities and selection processes to choose project participants (at-risk youth from diverse groups between the ages of 18 and 29).
Identification and assessment of qualifications required for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, in articulation with companies of prioritized sectors.
Tailored technical and employability skills training on market-demanded sectors, as well as psychosocial support for project participants and follow-up at the workplace.
Articulation with partner organizations at the national and local levels to contribute to the decrease in youth unemployment rates in intervention cities.
Strategic partnerships with companies interested in implementing diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Transfer of the ACDI/VOCA psychosocial methodology DecidoSer® to training centers and participants.

Anticipated Project Results

By the end of the CITI III grant period in April 2024, 200 at-risk young people from Cali and Buenaventura will have received workforce development training and employability skills in formal technical programs of sector ICT, 65% of them will have secured internships and obtained employability skills through hands-on work experience, and 60% of the latter will have effective and formal job opportunities.

In addition, over 20 companies will be employing program participants and giving income opportunities to them. By the end of the program, there will be at least 4 stakeholders involved, including non-governmental and private organizations, job training centers, and international cooperation organizations. More broadly, over 400 people will be indirectly benefitting from the program, including participants’ nuclear family members.