This year’s World Youth Skills Day on 15 July marks the resilience and creativity of young people throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

We recently celebrated the graduation ceremonies of our 2020 trainees. These trainees saw their classrooms closed due to lockdown, adapting to new and unfamiliar distance learning programmes. They incurred delays to their work placements, and disruption to their employment opportunities. Despite all the challenges caused by the pandemic, they continue to show their strength and determination.

The impact on young people

The International Labour Organisation highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected labour markets around the world, but has negatively impacted on young people more than other age groups. It states that global youth employment fell by 8.7% in 2020, compared with 3.7% for adults.

It paints a bleak picture – not only of losses of jobs and income, but also deterioration in the quality of employment. Young job seekers are facing more difficulties in finding work, and young people continue to face disruption across education and training.

Skills to build brighter futures

Build It remains firmly committed to creating new opportunities for young people through our Training into Work programme.

With your support we can:

• Expand our skills training programme to reach at least 350 trainees each year by 2023, becoming one of the largest entry-level training providers in Zambia to help more young people into work
• Diversify the range of training programmes we offer to meet the evolving needs of our trainees and their potential employers
• Develop our new ‘Women’s Empowerment Programme’ to economically and socially empower disadvantaged girls and young women
• Employ our trainees to deliver our community building programme, helping to provide essential services in disadvantaged communities
• Advocate for improved access to quality skills education across Zambia beyond our training programme

Now more than ever, young people need skills and support to build and rebuild their lives.