YOUTH EMPOWERMENT FINAL REPORT

Youth development and capacity building are always an agenda of JDPC Benin, and this led to the project which involves training youths on various vocational skills, With the goal of empowering youths in skill acquisition

This report gives an overview of the project from the opening to the project closure with relevant data and also outlines the major successes this project had.

PROFILE OF JDPC BENIN

Justice Development and Peace Centre, Benin is a faith-based Non-Governmental Organization that carries out programs and interventions in the Edo South Senatorial district. Our thematic areas include; Women Empowerment and youth engagement/ capacity building, Sexual and gender-based violence awareness campaigns and Survivor rehabilitation, Prison welfare programs, Anti-Human trafficking campaigns, Environmental Protection, Conflict resolution, Good Governance/ Democracy monitoring, and Loan Facility (PROMIC).

VISION STATEMENT

To Champion the cause of humanity through advocacy Justice, and social development to create an inclusive society.

MISSION STATEMENT

To evolve and execute development programs through implementing people-oriented policies with available resources to achieve the desired result of an inclusive society.

CORE VALUES

        Dignity and equality of the human person

        Every person has basic right and responsibilities that flow from our human dignity

        Man is social in nature and best actualizes his potentialities in communion with others

        The existence of a basic human good within every human community

        Concern for the needs of weak and poor in any social creed

        The imperativeness of accounting and stewardship on the part of those who hold all levels of power in trust.

INTRODUCTION

The need to build the capacity of youths in skill acquisition was the reason this project YOUTH EMPOWERMENT IN SKILL ACQUISITION was carried out. The project which got the backing of the Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City which JDPC Benin implemented in collaboration with Doodle world academy took place in the month of November 2021-December 2021. The project saw youths from Oredo, Ovia South West, Orhionmwon trained on skills like Baking, Event Planning, Hair Wigging, Soap making, Makeup, web development, and other top demand skills.

EVALUATING THE PROJECT

Before the project implementation stage, there was a meet and greet session held in August 2021. This activity was carried out in order to describe the project to prospective beneficiaries. Youths from the three deaneries of the Archdiocese of Benin City were present at the event. During the event, the youths were introduced to the skills available, and they were registered by the organizers. At the end of the event, 90 persons were successfully registered for the various skills available

The project kicked off in November 2021. The venue for the training was the old Chancery Building, Airport Road Benin City. The training was done daily and it lasted for 30 days. During the training exercise, activities like lectures, practicals, and demonstrations were carried out during the course of the training exercise. Various Training materials for the different skills were available to aid various lectures. The following major skills were taught during the course of the training:

        Baking / Cook craft

        Hair wigging / Revamp

        Brows/Nail tech

        Web development

        Professional Makeup

        Event planning

        Soap Making

The last phase of the project was the project closure which was also the graduation ceremony of the trainees which took place in the month of December 2021. At the event, graduating students demonstrated what they had learned from the various skills available in the last 30day to the admiration of the organizers. A certificate of completion was presented to the students during the event.

PROJECT BENEFICIARIES

The major beneficiaries of the project are youths from the various Local Government Areas which are Oredo, Ovia South West, Orhionmwon.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Monitoring and evaluation were very key in the course of implementation of the project. This was done to track the progress of the project and know how well the project meets its goals. The M&E activities involved daily visits to the project site, and also regular distribution of attendance sheets to the trainees, with pictures from the various activities during the training exercise. From Data gathered through the use of attendance sheets, it was discovered that the project had a high project participation rate as 80% of the youths who registered for the training attended the training program during the duration of the project.

Also, during the visits, it was discovered that based on the demonstrations given by the instructors, the trainees were able to catch up quickly as they were able to carry out some tasks with little or no supervision from the instructors which indicated that the project had a positive impact.

SUCCESSES

The project recorded the following achievements:

        108 youths were successfully trained in vocational skills and certified

        Youths who completed the training were given linkages and networked to opportunities that would further create opportunities for them through the skills learned.

CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION

The goal of empowering youths in skill acquisition was achieved by this project as 86 youths through the training were empowered with the knowledge of various vocational skills.

For future projects, the beneficiaries should be open to all youths irrespective of Denomination so as to extend its Impact.