YEN Associates 2011

The Global College at the University of Winnipeg and the Youth Employment Network (YEN) at the International Labour Organization are collaborating on a 3 year program to place five young Canadian professionals in YEN Lead Countries to assist in promoting youth employment as a major development issue. YEN Associates will work with partner institutions in Senegal, Indonesia, Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya to develop and implement policy and programmes on youth employment. The program is sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency's (CIDA) Youth Employment Strategy.

Over the next 10 years, the world will witness an unprecedented youth bulge with over 1 billion young people entering global labour markets. Recent economic conditions indicate that the supply of jobs will likely shrink, while many young people will not have the skills and experience needed to attain what jobs are available. Governments and partners in the UN system recognized the urgency of this challenge by setting up of the Youth Employment Network (YEN) in 2001.

While the long term objective of the YEN Associate program is to increase the participation of young Canadians working in international development, the immediate objective is to provide youth employment institutions with a skilled labour force to assist them in delivering their work plans.

Our five interns for 2011 will use this space to post blogs on a weekly basis, in order to participate in broad public engagement, and invite you to comment on their experiences abroad.

Introducing the five 2011 YEN Associates!:

Saskia Knight- Ghana

Saskia was born in Calgary, Canada and raised on the ocean for 6 years, circumnavigating the globe on a sailboat and tallship. Saskia holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Philosophy, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Intercultural Education and Training from the University of Victoria. She has held paid and volunteer positions with civil society and not-for-profit organizations in Canada and abroad. In September 2012, Saskia will pursue her MA in International Law and the Settlement of Disputes at the University for Peace’s Costa Rica campus. She loves to make jewelry, snowboard, practice yoga, and laugh until it hurts. Saskia is returning to Ghana as a YEN Associate with the National Youth Employment Program within the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

Main tasks:
Saskia’s overarching responsibility is to study the effectiveness of the National Youth Employment Program’s regional offices and provide support in the review of projects. A few main tasks include; reporting on the public perception of the program; updating all employment modules currently implemented and providing lead role in the development of the National Action Plan for youth employment in Ghana.

Nicki Ferland- Indonesia

Nicki is from a small Métis hamlet in Manitoba also known as Lorette. She recently graduated with a B.A. in Human Rights and Global Studies from the University of Winnipeg Global College. Prior to her deployment, she was a researcher/writer for a 100% Aboriginal owned-and-operated consulting company. She enjoyed working for accomplished women business owners within Winnipeg’s successful Aboriginal community and looks forward to gaining more professional and international experiences while in Jakarta. Nicki is a closet (not anymore!) Trekkie who loves to read fiction, write about anything and watch science fiction films. She worked in the service industry throughout her university career and both serving and preparing food remain two of her defining passions. Nicki plans to attend graduate school when she returns from her field placement, where she’ll be splitting her time 60/40 between the International Labour Organization Country Office for Indonesia and the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) where the Indonesian Youth Employment Network (I-YEN) is housed.

Main Tasks:

Nicki’s responsibilities include supporting the ILO CO-Jakarta and their existing projects, assisting in the implementation of skills development and various entrepreneurship development activities, as well as aiding with the organization/management of national workshops and conferences associated with youth employment. At BAPPENAS, she will be supporting the IYEN Secretariat on activities related to knowledge management, proposing a road map to harmonize the activities of the various ministries concerned with youth issues, organizing sensitization events and capacity building workshops for IYEN members, developing guidelines for provincial action plans on youth employment as well as compiling a catalogue of “best practices” and recommendations for increasing the impact of youth apprenticeship activities on the school-to-work transition.

Katherine Simonds- Tanzania

Katherine graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from The University of Western Ontario and an M.A. in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. She has held a number of positions with the Canadian Government, including the Canadian International Development Agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Library of Parliament. Currently, Katherine is a Youth Employment Network Associate at the ILO Office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where she is working on youth entrepreneurship programming for East Africa. Her first time on the African continent, Katherine is looking forward to the ocean, learning Swahili, and casual encounters with large animals.

Main Tasks:
Katherine's main focus will be the Youth to Youth Fund, a competitive grants and capacity building scheme which aims to support employment creation by facilitating the emergence of youth-led organizations. She will be working on the implementation of successful 2010 grantee projects and preparing for the upcoming 2011 competition, which will specifically target greater participation of women entrepreneurs. She will also be working on communications for other components of the Youth Entrepreneurship Facility and updating the YEN website.

Sharon Kennedy- Senegal

Sharon Kennedy was born in Singapore and grew up in Canada. She inherited the travel bug from her mother and has lived, studied, or worked in Kenya, Senegal, Peru, and the Czech Republic. Sharon graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in International Development and Globalization. During her studies she volunteered at a children’s home in Kenya, coordinating volunteer projects and building institutional capacity. In Ottawa, Sharon spent two years volunteering on the Executive Board of AIESEC Ottawa, a student-run international NGO that runs a global internship program. Having studied for one semester in Senegal, Sharon’s thrilled to be back as a YEN associate at the sub-regional office in Dakar.

Main tasks:
Sharon is involved in two projects with YEN: the Youth to Youth Fund and the YEN Marketplace. The Youth to Youth Fund is a competitive grant scheme for young innovative entrepreneurs, and Sharon will be assisting with the selection of the grantees and project monitoring, as well as the evaluation of past projects. The YEN Marketplace is an interactive resource and networking website for youth employment organizations and youth entrepreneurs, on which Sharon will be working on the development and promotion.

Salil Shah - Kenya

Salil was born in Nairobi, Kenya but lived and studied in Vancouver, Canada. Salil completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He also holds a post – graduate diploma from Strathmore University in Leadership and Management of the Civil Society Sector. Salil has pursued his passion for international development though several projects and organisations; he successfully helped to set up a borehole for a rural, arid village in Kenya and has lived within rural Lesotho where he designed and delivered HIV and AIDS awareness programmes through a Non - Governmental Organisation. For the last two years Salil has lived in London, England where he worked with refugees and asylum seekers, helping them to seek suitable livelihoods and opportunities. He also encouraged them to integrate better into society through sessions aimed at teaching students about local traditions, localities, and vernacular. He now returns to Kenya as the YEN associate for the ILO. Salil enjoys learning about new cultures, exploring various types of cuisine and sharing his sense of humour! Salil also enjoys listening to music, going to the theatre, playing tennis and hiking.

Main tasks:
His main tasks involve several components. In particular, Salil will assist the Youth-to-Youth Fund Regional Coordinator in administering and monitoring grantees of the annual call for proposals in the 3 target countries: Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. He will also work with the local implementing partner for the Y2Y Fund, the Kenya Community Development Foundation. The objective of the Youth-to-Youth Fund competitions is to promote innovative youth-led employment and entrepreneurship projects with the goal of creating sustainable jobs for their peers.