Three Asante Africa youth selected to join the World Bank Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) – Youth Advisory Group (YAG)
Three talented youths from Asante Africa Foundation, Emmanuel Katambala from Tanzania, Wevyn Muganda from Kenya, and Prudence Ahimbisibwe from Uganda have been selected to join the 2023-24 World Bank Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) — Youth Advisory Group (YAG), bringing pride to the whole organization.
S4YE stands for ‘Solutions for Youth Employment,’ a coalition initiated by the World Bank to provide a strategic response to the youth employment challenge. It is a multi-stakeholder alliance comprising various organizations and sectors working together to reduce young people’s hurdles in the job market. Asante Africa Foundation has been collaborating with S4YE for 7 years, with a common goal of educating and providing opportunities to the youth. The Youth Livelihood Program provides training and skill building that evolves through employability training, hands-on projects, enterprise gaming, and business enterprise creation. The program equips young people with the tools they need to plan and achieve a successful future. As of 2022, 95% of program graduates have the skills and confidence to start a business, 61% are running small businesses and 68% are contributing to their family income and lowering poverty levels.
As a member of the Youth Advisory Group (YAG), our youth will act as a voice and amplify the concerns and ideas of young people. They will advise on strategies, engage in advocacy, and ensure that youth perspectives are woven into the fabric of S4YE’s initiatives, the World Bank, and the United Nations.
Meet the 2023-24 Winners:
Emmanuel Katambala from Tanzania is a participant and trainer in Asante Africa’s DEEP Program (Digital Employability and Entrepreneurship Program). He is a software developer and founder of 1001Apps and is now a proud member of the S4YE – YAG. His passion for technology and its potential to transform lives drives him, and with this new position, he aims to channel Asante Africa’s collective aspirations into actionable global policies and programs.
For him, the core issue at hand is youth unemployment. His goal is to empower youth to bring their IT ideas to life. Many young minds teem with innovative concepts, yet they often hit a wall due to a lack of coding skills and technical expertise. His platform is involved in tackling this head-on.
The heart of his strategy lies within the Skillforge platform – a vibrant community designed to be a crucible for innovation and learning. At its core, Skillforge is a comprehensive ecosystem designed to nurture young talent. It’s not just a learning space but also a breeding ground for innovation and practical skill-building. Within this environment, they offer community engagement, GPT-4 Enterprise (integrating the latest in AI technology to offer an unprecedented coding experience), and, a resourceful codebase that provides a robust library of frameworks and tools that serve as stepping stones for young developers to build, innovate, and contribute to the tech world.
Wevyn Muganda from Kenya is the Deputy CEO, of Strategic Partnerships and Development at Asante Africa Foundation. She learned about Asante Africa Foundation after speaking on a panel at the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit 2023 hosted by Making Cents International held in Maryland, US. The World Bank is one of the partners of the Youth Economic Opportunities Ecosystem. It was after this that she applied to become a part of the foundation.
Wevyn advocates for the voices of youth and women, particularly those from Africa, on different social justice issues including but not limited to; human rights, women’s rights, peace, security, development, digital inclusion, youth inclusion, and meaningful engagement in decision making
Wevyn’s expertise lies in meaningful youth engagement in decision-making as well as in gender and social inclusion in youth economic opportunities. For her new role at S4YE – YAG, Wevyn looks forward to linking her work at Asante Africa to the World Bank’s employment programs and exchanging knowledge and best practices with other youth practitioners. She is looking forward to using her voice to influence global and regional interventions for marginalized youth.
Prudence Ahimbisibwe from Uganda is the third and final member to join S4YE – YAG! The fifth of ten children, Prudence’s family lived within very modest means in Kyenjojo District, so having enough money was constantly in question. Even so, her parents sacrificed to ensure she completed her primary and secondary education. Prudence soon saw that she was the only one in her family who was able to complete her secondary level and attain a diploma. She knew the dream of higher education was likely out of reach, but when an opportunity came from the Asante Africa Foundation to study in Nairobi, she jumped at the chance.
“My local leader informed me of the opportunity and I immediately reached out to the local Asante Africa office. I was shortlisted for an interview, passed it, and went on to study in Nairobi at Akirachix (a software boot camp founded by female Kenyan software engineers).”
Prudence graduated with a degree in Software Development and has helped develop a mobile application that helps youth manage their anxiety. This application helps the user by giving them access to meditation and a therapy chatbot. She volunteers with the Asante Africa Foundation through their digital transformation program. This allowed her to identify a problem in her community which was that of poor medical care. She was able to develop an application that allows patients to book consultations, be updated about their treatment, and get medicine delivery among other things, bridging the gap between doctors and patients.
The selected members possess a wealth of untapped potential and unique perspectives that can drive positive change in the world. Their expertise, often shaped by resilience and adaptability, can contribute innovative solutions to global challenges. By providing opportunities and platforms like S4YE – YAG for these young individuals to share their knowledge and skills, society can benefit from fresh ideas, diverse voices, and inclusive progress.
WRITTEN BY: Mayuri Goswami