Vision: To experience meaningful change in the lives of vulnerable youth, women and children in Sierra Leone and increase access to education for all.
Mission: To promote education and skills training among marginalized and dropout youth, especially women and girls, and empower them through education to gain a sustainable livelihood and speak up for themselves and their rights.
objectives
1. To promote education amongst disadvantaged youth.
2. To conduct informal education programs for those youths interested in going back to school
and/or interested in pursuing further vocational training.
3. To provide youth with a safe place to learn and study productively
4. To provide IT and media training to disadvantaged youth
5 To advocate with and behalf of marginalized Sierra Leonean youths
The Education and Skills Training Youth Empowerment Programme at YDC-SL is designed to motivate dropout and marginalized youth, children and women to further basic formal education and/or learn a skill of their choice for sustainable livelihood and resilience.
THE NON-FORMAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME (NFEP)
The Non-Formal Education Project (NFEP) reaches out to youth, women and children who have never attended school or have dropped out of school by giving them the opportunity to acquire skills and confidence in various key school subjects. The experience of YDC-SL is that especially girls and women are marginalised in relation to the public educational system in Sierra Leone and YDC-SL therefore strives to reach out to this group with the NFEP. The NFEP is one of the primary components of YDC-SL’s work and aims at re-integrating dropouts into formal education and introduce marginalised young people to mainstream learning, which will empower the youth to gain a more sustainable livelihood.
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) AND MEDIA TRAINING COMPONENT
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Media Training tries to target marginalized youth and give them access to computer and media training that is otherwise inaccessible for most in both the public schools and within the community. This training appeals to young boys, and girls in gaining ICT and media skills. This training empowers the youth on the job market, and also motivate and build up their skills.
YDC-SL currently operates in Freetown, Makeni and Kono three districts in Sierra Leone reaching more than 1000 young people women and children in the country.
Over the years we have mainstreamed the following projects
SPACE FOR YOUTH WELLBEING PROJECT
Localizing youth-led community transformation in urban informal settlements and low-income communities in Sierra Leone. The project is geared towards inclusion and active youth participation in community development on matters affecting them in all aspects of their lives. Public space: Public space can be defined as “all places publicly owned or of public use, accessible and enjoyable by all for free and without a profit motive” (UN-Habitat, Charter of Public Space, 2015).
SAFE IN THE CITY PROJECT-GENDER BASE VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Violence is a major problem for young women living in poor urban areas. Key problems faced include: Domestic violence; sexual assault and harassment; forced marriage; school-related sexual abuse; female genital mutilation (FGM); violent intimidation; psychological abuse, forced prostitution and police abuse. The project aims to increase the safety, inclusion and empowerment of vulnerable young women (15-35 years) dwelling in fragile urban areas across Freetown, Makeni and Kono, through the enhanced capacity, collaboration and engagement of non-formal education institutions, youth groups and government authorities. Mitigating Gender Base Violence Against Women and Girls).
The step is conduct a baseline assessment to understand the problem and identify solutions active participation of duty bearers, the direct youth, women and children that are affected by the problem. The approach should be a bottom top so that they will own the innovation for sustainability purpose.
