Youth- Vocational Development and Transformation (Youth-VDT)

We promote youth employment, employability and SMEs in Tanzania.
Tanzania is experiencing economic growth; despite robust economic growth in the past decade, the country remains low income, with high poverty levels, especially for youth in rural areas.

Tanzania’s long-term development plan, Vision 2025,
seeks to transform the country from a least developed to a semi-industrialised middle-income country with a modernised economy and high quality human capital by
2025.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is expected play a crucial role in the transformation in terms of job/employment creation, income generation and social justice.

“Youth- Vocational Development and Transformation (Youth-VDT)” and its partners aim at increasing youth engagement and tap the full potential of MSMEs despite constraints hampering the development of the sector. We will continue empowering youth to access income and enhance them to engage and participate in decision making processes at Local Government levels.

The “Youth- Vocational Development and Transformation (Youth-VDT)” is an initiative intends to support young people to create employment, increase youth independence and income by establishing micro enterprises for making school shoes, wallets, belts, school and handbags from Tanzania’s leather. The initiative connect s the young people to networks and programs that accelerate the growth of their businesses and empowerment (skills, voices, confidence, independence).

Overall goal: Youth (with a focus on those most at risk) become active citizens, entrepreneurs and ultimately contribute towards reduced unemployment and subsequent income poverty through handcraft, training and mentoring.

The initiative plays facilitation and referral pathway roles in supporting local governments to implement national youth policy, small and medium enterprise policy, agriculture and livestock policy, leather trade Act and the Leather Sector Development Strategy in an integrated approach.