Generation Kenya- Youth Employment and Decent Work

Results for the 11407: Generation Kenya - Youth employment and Decent Work (2019-2024) Objective 1: Equip youth with the technical skills, mindsets and behaviors to enter a fulfilling career Between 2019 and 2024, GPK enrolled 19,906 youth and graduated 18,514 exceeding the project's revised target of 17,628 graduates (61% were female learners) but below the baseline target of 32,454 graduates initially projected. The Sewing Machine Operators (SMO) Program achieved significant outreach, training 8,238 individuals. The Financial Services Sales (FSS) Program followed with 5,280 graduates, while the Digital Customer Service (DCS) Program successfully trained 2,301 learners. The Digital Freelancing (DFP) Program empowered 1,739 participants, and the Retail and Restaurant (RRS) Program supported 553 individuals. Additionally, the Distributed Sales (DS) Program reached 363 participants, and the Food and Beverage (F&B) Program trained 40 individuals, collectively graduating 18,514 youth 61% being female. Overally, 326 employers were engaged across the country from different sectors for placement of young graduates. The evaluation report findings highlighted the significant socio-economic benefits that have accrued beyond employment of GPK graduates. In the medium and long term, 78% of alumni reported an improvement in their quality of life and that of their dependents. Notably, 61% supported family members with education and healthcare, while 64% purchased essential assets. Furthermore, 21% experienced career growth with their employers, and 36% were able to start and grow their families. During the program implementation period, GPK was encouraged to include the vulnerable groups like people living with disabilities (PWD) and refugees to some of its programs. in 2023, GPK trained seven deaf women on the sewing machine operator program where the women obtained job opportunities at Nashipai Leather a private company in the textile industry. GPK also trained 25 refugees on the digital freelancing program in partnership with UNHCR and Danish Refugee Council. We hope that for its future programming GPK will grow the number of learners among the PWD and marginalised communities. GPK established a robust learner and alumni support system for mentorship and psycho-social support, for ongoing on-the-job training. GPK also created strong alumni networks to ensure continuous professional development and training. Objective 2: Provide skilled labour for both the formal and informal sector in Kenya During this period 2019-2024, 76% of the Gen-K graduates transitioned to employment within the 90 days after graduation (3-months placement) with an increase to 83% after 180 days (6-months placement) of completion. This is against a target of 75-80% placement. The income earning bracket indicated that youth placed in various job categories earned 3x higher compared to previous earnings prior to GPK programs. In the 2023 employer survey conducted by GPK, employers expressed satisfaction with the return on investment , with 79% noting access to a large candidate pool, 74% reporting reduced hiring costs and time, and 70% highlighting shorter on boarding and training periods. Additionally, 76% of employers stated that Generation graduates performed at the same or higher level than their peers, and 79% observed equal or better job retention. This combination of benefits leads to a positive return on investment, with 79% of employers willing to work with Generation again and 63% likely to recommend them to others. Objective 3: Create a sustainable and replicable model for skills that can be applied globally, adjusting for local context to solve youth unemployment. GPKs strategy for scalability and replicability is centered on three key pillars: partnerships, sector expansion, and cost-efficiency to ensure the long-term sustainability of its training programs. Partnerships: GPK actively collaborated with institutions and industry stakeholders to enhance its scalability. The public sector, at the national level, GPK engaged the different State Departments including Youth Affairs, TVET, Labour and ICT. In particularly, TVETs were offered both technical and non-technical programs, centers of excellence were created within TVET institutions and engaged in policy dialogues regarding foundations for competency-based education and training. Additionally, partnerships with private sector employers, where they contributed to training costs and played a crucial role in the sustainability of GPKs initiatives. GPK also signed 21 MOUs with employers between 2019 and 2023 and 11 MOUs with the county governments. These partnerships have been fundamental in reaching a broader audience of learners as well as improving the sustainability of the program. Sector Expansion: GPK broadened its program portfolio from five (5) programs in 2018 to eight (8) by 2024 under the Sida partnership. The 3 new programs were the food and beverage steward, digital freelancing program and digital customer service. This increase in number of programs enhanced access to wage employment in different sectors as well as to youth with different skilling opportunities. GPK has been encouraged to continuously seek new opportunities in line with the dynamic global workforce demands. Cost-Efficiency: To reduce expenses and increase accessibility, GPK explored cost-effective approaches like online training for programs like DCS. This method not only lowered operational costs but also broadened the reach of the programs. Further, GPK leveraged on in-kind contributions by having training done at the employer premises. This helped in reducing the operational costs and improving the overall financing sustainability of GPK to 20% against the initial target of 60% by end of program. Despite, GPK has been encouraged to diversify its sources of cash revenues from different stakeholders including government, students and employers to ensure self-sufficiency of the program. Comments on overall contribution performance, challenges and lessons learned - Hand holding: At the beginning of the program Gen-K the implementing partner had weak internal control systems which required reinforcement. The embassy commissioned an internal systems audit through Deloitte as part of due diligence during the inception phase for Generation you Employed Inc and Gen - K Formerly CRSIL) . In 2022, The embassy commissioned another internal audit through PWC to further assess the internal controls of Gen-K organisational, people management, procurement and finance. The outcome of these processes led to development of policies (payroll management procedure, guidelines on consumables, risk management policy, whistle-blower policy, updated HR and travel policy and processes which strengthened the internal control systems of Gen-K. This hand holding process has led to Gen-K attracting other funders including USAID, IDH, Ezra Charitable Trust among others - Unused funds: Gen-K notified the embassy of the unused funds on 12 August 2024, 2 months post activity period according to the agreement. Gen-K was requested to provide a business case for utilisation of funds of which they responded that due to the additional admin complexity and reporting costs the extension was not feasible (See communication filed herein). Some of the reasons provided for not fully utilising the funds include the adverse effects of COVID 19 and the subsequent economic downturn which led to reduced training and placement activities. Better planning could have seen these funds being utilised to train more youth - Revision of targets: During the period 2019-2024 the grant targets were revised twice first due to COVID 19 and second due to economic downturn in Kenya. During the appraisal stage Gen-K aimed to train 32,454 learners, In May 2021 the targets for 2021 - 2023 were adjusted downwards to reach between 19,000 and 23,000 youth (from the original target of ~32,500)This was a result of COVID 19 effects. In 2023, the target was adjust further downward further 17,628 (in 2023) due to economic shocks in Kenya. While the targets were revised downwards, the embassy notes that the funds disbursed remained the same. - Anti-corruption efforts: During the program period 2019-2024 the embassy was informed of three corruption cases where Gen-K together with Generation You Employed Inc took lead to resolve the issues with support from the embassy. Some of the resolutions included whistle blowing policy, safeguarding policy, training of staff and learners to mitigate future occurrence of such cases. - COVID-19 pandemic: The program implementation encountered challenges as a result COVID-19. Most of the projects required in person attendance and this was against government directives. GPK quickly shifted their training methodologies to online platforms in response to national government directives restricting in-person sessions. The cost per learner also went up during this period hindering training of more learners. Additionally, there were lay-offs in industries like textile and apparels. Despite, economic recoveries created new opportunities where learners were trained and absorbed into employment.

With the support from Sweden Generation Kenya plans to scale the Generation Kenya program to reach 45 000 marginalized youth, to work for systemic change, influence, capacitate and strengthen the public TVET system, incorporate decent work and gender equality aspects of work into the Generation Kenya program, and to scale its model and make the program 60% self-sustainable by the end of 2023. To achieve these objectives, Generation Kenya aims to: - Equip youth with the technical skills, mindsets and behaviors to enter a fulfilling career  - Provide skilled labour for both the formal and informal sector in Kenya - Create a sustainable and replicable model for skills that can be applied globally, adjusting for local context to solve youth unemployment. Further to the above Generation aims to establish a strong partnership with the Government on both cnetral and county level, focusing on capacity building towards a competency based employer led methodology that supports the creation of centers of excellence across public and private technical and vocational education centers (TVET’s). Considering that TVET is a devolved function, dialgoue and collaboration with the Council of Governors will be important. Developed based on the findings from the Study in 2012 (Annex 6 to project document), Generation uses a seven-step methodology to move youth between the ages of 18-35, from a life in poverty to gainful employment and a career pathway. This model is thoroughly addressed in the project document, page 24-28. The target group is marginalized youth living in poverty (90% earn less than I USD per day, 57% are women, 29% have dependents). The youth are mostly living in under-privileged dwellings in urban and semi-urban centers in 90+ locations across 26 counties in Kenya. A deeper analysis conducted in 2018 shows that the Generation Kenya’s programs have a ~370% positive impact on average income across all programs. Of the 9,692 graduates across Generation in August 2018, 4,951 were unemployed before joining the program. 2,566 did not report their employment status while 2,175 reported having prior jobs (most of them underemployed). Overall, youth who join Generation have an unemployment rate of 51% or 69% excluding not reported students Through programs run across 5 sectors - financial services sales (FSS), distributed sales (DS), retail and restaurant (RRS), customer service agents (CSA) and sewing machine operators (SMO) – Generation has to date graduated over 11,100 youth across 92 training locations in 26 counties in Kenya; with 35 of these centers located in public and private TVET’s. Besides the mentioned five sectors, construction is a new sector under development that is included in the proposal to Sweden. Both sewing machine operators and construction are sectors related to Kenyas' Big Four Agenda. In addition, youth unemployment is a strong priority in the Kenya Vision 2030. The theory of change (page 34-48) is based on the reasoning that an enabling environment allows employable youth to access gainful employment that can lead to a better quality of life. Hence the overarching development impact goal is “Empowered young people with thriving sustainable careers and employers with highly skilled motivated talent”. Generation will be addressing this goal by the following 3 outcomes. Outcome 1: Youth Access Decent Jobs from demand driven skills provided by Generation - Youth with better access to wage employment - Increased income / financial well-being of youth.  - Increased personal well-being of youth.  Outcome 2: Financially sustainable & scalable program from being cost effective and achieve self-sufficiency - Cost effective youth employment program - 100% self-sufficient youth employment program - Stakeholders (government, employers, youth) cost contribution Outcome 3: Employers reducing youth unemployment by hiring disconnected, unemployed and/or underemployed youth trained by Generation - Increase in employers hiring disadvantaged youth - Reduced youth employment rates - High retention rates - Faster promotion for hires - Higher productivity from hires - Safe and health work environment The Theory of Change of the program and its related Result Framework (Annex 7 to project document) will be refined based on the findings from the MSD analysis and the inception phase. Sweden welcomes these refinements. Firstly, because any new findings from the MSD analysis should guide the future strategy (hence the result framework), and secondly because the current Result Framework is somewhat complicated with many indicators per output. A cleared division between outcomes, outputs and their respective indicators would support the program in its implementation and follow up. Sweden will follow this work throughout the inception phase.