USAID South Sudan Youth Empowerment Activity

Challenge

South Sudan is the youngest country in the world, in terms of its independence and its population, of which an estimated 74% are under 30 years old. Protracted crises, including conflict, flooding, and severe drought, have forcibly displaced millions of people, impeded social service delivery, and weakened community cohesion. Youth continue to suffer from limited access to education and livelihoods opportunities.

The EDC-implemented USAID Youth Empowerment Activity aimed to improve access to functional skills so that youth could lead healthier lives, generate an income, and contribute to the social cohesion of their communities. To support this, the activity modeled leadership and peer mentorship that strengthened positive youth development and youth-responsive service supports.

Key Activities

The USAID Youth Empowerment Activity implemented the following activities:

• Strengthened the capacity of national and local youth-led and youth-serving organizations to support greater youth-responsive services at state, county, payam, and boma levels
• Established a Youth Corps Service Model, led by 500 youth leaders who supported their peers in developing functional literacy, numeracy, and soft and life skills, thereby promoting social cohesion and reinforcing mentorship within and across communities
• Built stakeholder engagement that strengthened enabling environments, reinforced local ownership, and ensured sustainability of best practices
• Ensured all interventions created supportive and effective environments that helped youth reach their full potential

Our Impact

• 20,500 youth accessed learning, soft, and life skills development.
• 2,350 youth accessed entrepreneurial, employment, vocational, and work-based learning opportunities.
• 4,700 youth received technical support to improve agro-pastoral practices.
• 2,500 youth participated in civic engagement and social cohesion activities.