Building Skills that Businesses Need

Creates Opportunities for Young Yemeni Job Seekers

“The Youth Capacity Building Program was a lifeline. It guided me out of the maze of uncertainty that I was living in and led me through the skills and experiences that I needed to get a great job opportunity.” — Doaa Omar al-Habashi

For Doaa Omar Al-Habashi, the end of September 2020 was marked by great excitement. As a newly minted graduate from Hadramawt University for Sciences and Technology, she celebrated with pride the achievement of her completed bachelor’s degree in English Translation and Literature. However, mixed with the elation was an equal measure of apprehension. “I worried my efforts would prove to be in vain,” she explains. “I had only a blurred vision of where to go next to look for a job or gain more skills. I wondered if I would end up just adding to the ranks of the unemployed.”

Thanks to her participation in USAID-funded youth capacity-building activities, however, Ms. Al-Habashi is not only gainfully employed but also solidly launched onto the path of a rewarding professional career. With skills honed for work in Yemen’s growing humanitarian relief sector, she now holds a position that is fulfilling a role well beyond her expectations. “I am practicing an occupation in the field of my dreams,” she says proudly.

Nearly a quarter of young Yemenis, ages 15-24, are unemployed, with women twice as likely as their male counterparts to struggle in the job market. The effects can fan frustration and disenfranchisement among youth, which may lead to political and social unrest. At the same time, employers complain that they cannot find qualified candidates for the job openings that they do have, citing a mismatch between the skills they see and the ones they need. The problem points to training approaches that have not adjusted to contemporary employment demands, and fail to equip young job seekers with the tools they require to transition successfully into the labor market

USAID’s Economic Recovery and Livelihoods Program (ERLP) applies a demand-driven strategy that tailors job training to the requirements of the growth-oriented business sectors that are leading new job creation. The training sessions incorporate skills-building in required technical areas as well as in the soft skills, such as good communications or adaptability, that define an effective employee.

USAID targets industries that are on the rise, report skills shortages, and are most likely to offer sustainable employment opportunities based on labor market trends. In Hadramawt, representatives from the expanding humanitarian aid sector in the region identified a widespread need for project officers and project managers within their organizations. To fully ascertain the specific skill sets that were required to fill these positions effectively, USAID, through ERLP, partnered with the Hadramawt Foundation for Human Development and its Alumni Club to conduct interviews and focus group discussions with recruiters from the local humanitarian organizations.

The feedback was then incorporated into the design of a tailored and intensive 25-day workforce development training program. There were 25 participants, selected in collaboration with the Hadramawt Foundation, based on their motivation, area of specialty, English proficiency, and communication and interpersonal skills. The training sessions covered theoretical and methodological frameworks of humanitarian action and social needs assessments, project management and soft employment skills, and job-hunting techniques.

Following the training sessions, ERLP organized a career fair in Mukalla, including all the trainees and recruiters from 10 humanitarian organizations. Ms. Al-Habashi, who says she would have been satisfied simply to be interviewed, walked away with two employment offers. She accepted a position as a proposal writer, which led to the funding for her current project and position. Of the experience, she says, “Yesterday, I was a scared, distracted graduate, and now here I am in the labor market negotiating with big name organizations.”

Nearly 70 percent of people in Yemen are under age 30, and they are the drivers of hope for their country – for its economic growth and for a sustainable exit strategy from reliance on foreign aid. USAID is expanding employment options and economic opportunities for young Yemenis, helping to build a more stable, secure future for the country. 

USAID’s Economic Recovery and Livelihoods Program (ERLP), addresses critical economic stabilization challenges in Yemen. At the macroeconomic level, it restores economic stability, enhances fiscal management, and increases international trade flows. At the microeconomic level, ERLP helps small producers create their own businesses, strengthens private sector performance and competitiveness, and creates jobs and new market linkages for sustainable livelihoods.