StanChart launches Sh2.2 billion programme to skill youth with disabilities

Dar es Salaam. Standard Chartered has today launched a Futuremakers initiative – Ready for Inclusive Sustainable Employment and Entrepreneurship (RISE/E) Project to improve employment prospects for young people with disabilities and support youth-led micro-businesses for young people with and without disabilities.

The launch took place at Serena Hotel and was presided over by Dr Elizabeth Mshote, Administrative Secretary from Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner’s Office who represented Hon. Patrobas Paschal Katambi, Deputy Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office (Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability).

With an investment of Sh2,2 for a duration of 3 years, the programme targets to support 270 young people with disabilities (50 percent women) to access employability skills development, in alignment to labour market demands and their aspirations, targeting 108 young people with disabilities to gain sustainable employment.

The project also targets 90 microbusinesses, providing expert business development advice and supporting those microbusinesses to grow and create 144 job opportunities.

This Futuremakers’ Phase 2 RISE/E project builds on Sightsavers’ existing collaboration with Challenges in other countries bringing their extensive expertise to Tanzania. Sightsavers the strategic partner will lead on the employability pathway and youth voice and bringing expertise and experience of implementing a standardised, holistic model to support people with disabilities to build employability skills and confidence, and transition to employment.

 In Tanzania, Sightsavers work with Youth with Disabilities Organisation (YoWDO) who are an implementing partner in the current economic empowerment programme. Challenges Worldwide as the implementing partner bringing their extensive expertise to the entrepreneurship pathway of RISE/E providing expert business development advice to microbusinesses, facilitating access to markets and regulated business finance, and fostering talent pipelines for job creation.

To reach more young women the project will collaborate with women and gender focused partners such as Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), an implementing partner to the RISE/E project to mainstream gender throughout our activities.

While addressing the event, Dr. Elizabeth Mshote representing Hon. Patrobas Paschal Katambi, Deputy Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office (Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability) painted a picture of the current situation of persons with disabilities in Tanzania stating that;

“Tanzania is a home to a large generation of young people, and most are not in education, training, or employment, today we face a range of risks and shocks across the lifecycle, and person with disabilities and their families often have less ability to withstand these shocks and risks for a variety of reasons. Even further young women are more likely to be unemployed than young men according to the Global Employment Trends for youth 2022, International Labour Organization. The drivers of poverty among persons with disabilities include: lack of literacy with the current illiteracy rate for persons with disabilities in Tanzania being 47.6% compared to 25.3% of the persons without disability according to Tanzania Human rights report,  limited access to economic, extra cost of living with a disability for example, additional household expenses, health, rehabilitation and medical related costs and; other indirect costs of disability such as loss of education and employment opportunities driven up mostly due to stigma and discrimination.

My government and I therefore warmly welcome this project and highly commend your efforts as partners. I appeal to more private sector players to join hands with government in empowering youth as well as persons with disabilities,” he concluded.

Head of Consumer & Investment Banking of Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania, Jerry Agyeman- Boateng representing the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered in his remarks stated, “In Tanzania youth entrepreneurship has the potential to positively impact local communities through the creation of economic opportunities. Despite holding much promise, youth entrepreneurs face barriers ranging from limited access to capital, access to market information, poorly designed technical assistance, and lack of support. Young entrepreneurs with disabilities and women face additional hurdles that further impede their entrepreneurial aspirations and the potential for impact and upwards mobility.”

He added: “We are happy to collaborate with Sightsavers & Challenges Worldwide on this innovative and pioneering project which will make a real difference for the young entrepreneurs with (and without) disabilities to grow their businesses as well as strengthen small businesses. Through Futuremakers, we will continue to develop a talent pool of skilled, employment-ready young people, focusing particularly on youth with disabilities.” 

This programme is funded by the Standard Chartered Foundation as part of Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, a global youth economic empowerment initiative to support disadvantaged young people, especially women and people with disabilities, to learn, earn, and grow. It will have an employability track and an entrepreneurship track, both of which seek to open up opportunities for people with and without disabilities.