Empowering Youth Through Digital Development

About the Project:
To improve economic participation of youth in East Jerusalem, MENACatalyst launched Empowering Youth Through Digital Skills Development, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The program featured two main components: self-employment to help participants become ready for the labor market and entry-employment to provide participants with the training, mentorship, and networks of support needed to launch lucrative home-based businesses.

Target Audience:
Fresh graduates exploring entry-employment opportunities; emerging self-starters working on developing personal income-generating projects.

Methodology:
The project featured the launch of a virtual incubator which provided participants in both tracks with the opportunity to take part in specialized capacity building training, mentorship, and networking with industry experts and business enablers from inside and outside of Palestine. 

Participants in the entry-employment track were matched with internships to gain on the job training and explore potential long-term employment opportunities. Participants in the self-employment track were guided through the process of ideating, developing, and launching their digital based projects, complete with business and financial plan, marketing strategy, branding, access to markets, and outreach support. 

Results:

• 28 participants, 17 females and 11 males joined the virtual incubation program.
• 14 participants developed their business ideas into a workable entrepreneurial project.
• 14 entry-employment participants were placed in jobs that suited their backgrounds and professional development needs.