In the Kinshasa and North Kivu counties of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), youth-led and youth-serving organizations are convening to address a central learning question: How might we strengthen the inclusion of under-represented and marginalized youth in education and workforce development programs?
As the second-largest country in Africa, plagued by instability, conflict, limited infrastructure, and low levels of educational access and outcomes, the DRC is home to a young, diverse population. Vulnerable youth – including ethnic minorities and indigenous populations, young women, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI+ youth – face compounded forms of exclusion from education and workforce programming and are more likely than their peers not to access, advance, or complete education nor to access dignified work.
Youth Excel engages diverse young Congolese leaders in North Kivu and Kinshasa to pilot-test innovative interventions, generate actionable information and recommendations, and prepare knowledge products to mobilize the Congolese education and workforce sectors. Led by Search for Common Ground/DRC, Youth Excel:
- Identified and engaged 6-8 youth-led and youth-serving organizations and groups in each county; to strengthen their capacity in practical implementation research1 skills and in other areas;
- Has conducted a youth-led and youth-informed rapid intersectional gender analysis, protection assessment, conflict analysis and stakeholder mapping;
- Is working to identify barriers and opportunities for marginalized and vulnerable youth in education and workforce programming;
- Is supporting youth-led/youth-serving organizations through training, mentoring, and micro-grants to pilot-test innovative solutions to address the barriers and leverage the opportunities that they identify; and
- Create and share actionable knowledge products for youth and the development community, including youth personas, summaries of the gender, protection, and conflict assessments, data summaries, and an assessment report. Youth Excel will engage relevant local development stakeholders and allies with youth organizations to share knowledge, data, and perspectives and strengthen its recommendations.
Learn more about Youth Represent DRC:
- Youth Represent DRC Factsheet
- ICON Learning Questions Factsheet.
- Conflict, gender, social inclusion and protection assessment in North Kivu and Kinshasa.
Youth Represent DRC is led by Search for Common Ground. Business Investment Management and Centre de Recherche sur l'Anti-Corruption are the local implementing partners in the DRC. Youth Represent DRC is part of the activities conducted under the USAID's Youth Excel Global Program led by IREX.