Personal growth, community resilience and sustainable livelihoods for adolescents and young people on the move
It was a moment of excitement and personal renewal when 383 adolescents and young people, drawn largely from the Imvepi Refugee Settlement in Terego District, graduated after a six-month training on mentorship and life skilling under the Kingdom of Netherlands funded PROSPECTS programme.
The mentorship and life skilling training programme, implemented by UNICEF-Uganda is a multi-year strategic initiative aimed at empowering young refugees and host community members in countries like Uganda, Egypt and Ethiopia.
The programme focuses on skills development, including foundational learning and digital training, to help youth transition from education to employment. It provides access to life skills, cash mentorship and pathways to education and livelihoods that enhance resilience and self-reliance.
Elizabeth Ropani an 18-year -old mother and refugee from South Sudan with a hearing impairment, together with her cohort, successfully completed the mentorship programme under the Cash Plus Initiative (CPI) implemented within the PROSPECTS framework, aimed at supporting adolescents and young people on the move to build resilience, life skills and self-reliance. The programme was conducted over six months and recognized the participants’ dedication, learning, and commitment to personal and community development.
The beneficiaries received certificates at the Imvepi Tank 65 Multi-Purpose Community Centre (also known as Hope Foundation Community Centre).
The UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Robin Nandy, who was visiting Imvepi Refugee Settlement to assess how the PROSPECTS programme was imparting skills to young people, handed over certificates to a selected group of beneficiaries.
“I’m excited that, with God’s blessings, I was given a rare opportunity to participate in this very important mentorship and skilling programme for my personal growth. I have acquired life skills and I’m now in a better position to support my mother and young family. I also leave with a certificate handed to me by the UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Nandy. It is a big day for me and my family,” Ropani, a young mother of two, said with a smile as she waved her certificate.
Her success story goes beyond merely attending the daily cash plus skilling and mentorship sessions. It is about long-term family survival and sustainable development.
Ropani said that before she joined the programme, she had nothing and faced many challenges including fleeing armed conflict in her country of origin, dealing with child abuse and working under difficult conditions to meet her family’s essential needs such as food and clothing.
“In these six months, I have acquired digital and photography skills. I have been introduced to basic digital and computer skills that have helped me transition to photography and videography while using programmes such as Illustrator and Photoshop. Most importantly, I have learned weaving and sewing. I now own a small tailoring business with a sewing machine which was given to me under the Welthilfe (WHH) project,” she explained.
At Point J Market in Imvepi Refugee Settlement, Ropani’s tailoring business is blossoming. “I used part of the UGX 202,500 (US$56) I received from the PROSPECTS project, with support from UNICEF Uganda, to buy 10 rolls of Batik fabric that I use for dressmaking. I sell the dresses I make and earn a profit to sustain my family. I’m grateful to UNICEF for this support, which has helped me offset some of my family’s immediate needs while also boosting my financial growth,” she added.
The young mother has also joined the Goodwill Village Saving Group (VSG) where she saves UGX 5,000 (about US$1.2) weekly and has bought two chickens to start a poultry project. There are many other adolescents and young people in Ropani’s cohort with similar testimonies of growth and personal empowerment.
Why PROSPECTS?
As part of the broader PROSPECTS initiative, UNICEF Uganda is implementing an unconditional cash transfer programme to support out-of-school adolescents and young people, with a specific focus on forcibly displaced persons and host communities in four refugee-hosting districts. The districts include Terego, Madi-Okollo, Isingiro, and Kampala for urban refugees.
This is because many forcibly displaced adolescents and young people like Ropani face heightened vulnerability due to displacement including disruption of education, family separation, exposure to violence and limited access to services. These challenges are further compounded by those with disabilities or from extremely poor households.
As a result, many forcibly displaced adolescents and young people are deprived of opportunities for education, skills development, mentorship, and protection. Participation in such programmes often carries a high opportunity cost, as adolescents and young people are expected to engage in income-generating activities or domestic responsibilities to support their households.
To address these barriers, Stella Ogalo, a Social Policy Specialist at UNICEF Uganda, explained that the social protection component of the PROSPECT programme provides direct financial support to adolescents and young people including Ropani to offset the opportunity costs foregone, thereby enabling them to participate in life-skills training, mentorship and digital skilling offered, without sacrificing their immediate livelihoods.
The project focuses on providing cash support to out-of-school adolescents and young people for six months. Each member of the cohort receives UGX 45,000 per month, but the money is paid in a lump sum of UGX 135,000 (US$37) for three months, with the disabled beneficiaries receiving an additional 50 per cent top-up of UGX 22,500 (US$6) per month. The top-up is also paid in a lump sum of UGX 67,500 (US$19) for three months.
The cash assistance is intended to bridge the burden of accessing skilling programmes provided by UNICEF and partners within the PROSPECTS framework funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Other skilling programs include digital skilling and vocation skilling. i-UPSHIFT and entrepreneurship skilling.
“These adolescents have faced challenges such as transport, childcare (for those with children) and other household demands that affect their ability to participate in the skilling programme. Therefore, the cash provided is not meant to cover skilling costs but to enable these adolescents and young people to access mentorship and other related opportunities,” Ogalo emphasized.
Ogalo further stated that the programme also strengthens linkages to other essential services such as child protection, education, psychosocial support and healthcare provided by the Ugandan Government through established local structures. Beneficiaries are also provided with information on social protection systems in countries of return, helping to prepare adolescents and young people who may eventually choose to repatriate.
“By promoting financial inclusion, enhancing self-reliance and preventing harmful coping mechanisms such as child labour and early marriages, the programme aims to improve the well-being of displaced and host communities and lay the groundwork for long-term resilience and sustainable livelihoods,” she added.
In line with the Refugee and Host Population Empowerment (ReHoPE) strategic framework (2017), Ogalo said the programme endeavours to support both the refugee and host community.
Samuel Rombe, a peer mentor at Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) and ICT trainer at Hope Foundation, was confident that the mentorship sessions that the beneficiaries have attended will go a long way in reducing negative behaviours such as drug use, child abuse and gender-based violence, while fostering peaceful coexistence and economic development through hard work.
Sustainability and scaling up
Ogalo said the programme prioritizes government leadership and ownership by working closely with national and local authorities to advocate for inclusive financing and the integration of adolescent-focused social protection into national planning and budgeting processes. It will also strengthen community engagement and enhance capacity-building of local leaders, service providers and community structures to ensure long-term continuity of services.
The UNICEF Uganda Country Representative, Dr Nandy, hailed the collaboration among diverse international funding partners including the Netherlands Government and the Government of Uganda. He noted that funding for the PROSPECTS programme had transformed the lives of many vulnerable communities. He also urged PROSPECTS beneficiaries to be positive change agents in their communities and to pass on the skills they had acquired to others that are less fortunate.
