Since 2012, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sudan has been spearheading an innovative Youth Empowerment project -
The Youth Volunteers Rebuilding Darfur Project (YVRDP) which places young Darfuris at the centre of development in Darfur, Sudan.
The Project, which was subsequently renamed The Youth Volunteers Supporting Peace and Recovery in Darfur (YoVoReD), trains youth graduates as volunteers in business and environmental management. After the training, youth volunteers, in turn, impart their knowledge and skills to local communities with the aim of accelerating the peace and recovery of Darfur.
In partnership with State Governments and Universities in Darfur, the Project established a Youth-led Volunteer scheme in contribution to the priorities of the Government of Sudan's 25-years Youth Strategy (2002 -2027) ''To establish a National Volunteers Scheme for Private Sector Development''.
Youth (15-24 years) constitute about 19.7% of the Darfur population and youth unemployment across the five Darfur states is estimated to exceed 40%.
Due to the protracted conflict in Darfur, a whole generation of youth has suffered limited access to education, secure livelihood and other development opportunities.
While in particular young people have great potential to help build peaceful and prosperous communities, the pressure to make a living can become a destabilizing factor fueling violence and criminality due to their high propensity to join criminal and violent extremist groups.
For the most disadvantaged group - illiterate youth in peri-urban and rural communities -, agriculture and small-scale business activities can provide suitable income-generating opportunities. However, communities still lack access to infrastructure, productive assets, skills, finance and markets.
UNDP Sudan's Youth Volunteers Project aims to tackle these challenges by harnessing and utilizing the talents and capacities of the youth and empowering them to achieve their full potentials.
UNDP Darfur Livelihoods and Recovery Programme
The Youth Volunteers Project is one of the components of Darfur Livelihoods and Recovery Programme (DLRP) which is UNDP's flagship on Early Recovery in Darfur. DLRP builds capacities and strengthen the resilience and self-reliance of IDPs, returnees and conflict-affected host communities by bridging the gap between humanitarian aid and long-term recovery and development.
Youth Volunteer Rebuilding Darfur Project (I &II)
Project Approach
Step 1 - Youth Volunteer Training
With the help of local Universities, Government Ministries and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Darfur, the Project trains young unemployed Darfuri graduates for four weeks in natural resource management, green business, entrepreneurship, micro-finance and general subjects such as volunteerism, gender studies, conflict resolution and community mobilization which prepares them to work as community development workers as part of preparation for deployment.
Youth Volunteer Rebuilding Darfur Project (I&II)
Project Approach
Step 2- Deployment and Community Activities
After the training, the youth are deployed as Youth volunteers - either as Business volunteers or Environment volunteers - to rural communities.
The volunteers live with their own communities for nine months, sharing the skills and knowledge they acquired with their fellow community members.
The volunteers also help community members initiate savings group/association schemes and develop business proposals to access small grants that enable them to establish, expand or diversify micro-enterprises.
Youth Volunteer Rebuilding Darfur Project
Phase I & II
Achievements
The Project enabled an unprecedented outreach across Darfur which has been affected by armed conflict in the past 10 years and where access to conflict-affected communities and populations remain an issue for international organizations.
Through Phase I & II of the Project, a total of 355 youth have been trained and 289 of them were deployed as youth volunteers to 47 communities in the five Darfur states in Sudan (Phase I: 139 youth volunteers, Phase II: 150 youth volunteers). Of these, 43% of the deployed Youth volunteers are female.
The 289 volunteers supported 26,565 vulnerable community members by improving their knowledge and skills in business management, economic development and environmental management (Phase I: 14,839, Phase II: 11,726, 43% female).
The youth volunteers, among other things, mobilized communities, established and strengthened producer groups and savings associations and assisted them in different areas.
The youth volunteers also trained community members to develop their business plans and proposals, and assisted them to participate in the small grant challenge under the Project. They continually provided technical and mentoring support to groups, associations and individual community entrepreneurs.
As a result, 277 micro-enterprises have been established or expanded in the communities in an environmentally sustainable way. In the small grant challenge, the focus was on women and youth. In total, 500 jobs were created.
After nine months of volunteer work in rural communities, all the 289 Youth volunteers (Phase I & II) were awarded certificates at graduation ceremonies combined with job fairs. Government institutions, NGOs, UN agencies, private companies and banks attended the ceremony and fairs where the Volunteers receive information about job opportunities and orientation about how to access and apply for jobs opportunities.
After completing Phase I & II, 155 youth volunteers (41 % female) out of 289 are now formally employed full time by the State Ministries, UN agencies, and NGOs/INGOs in Darfur. Some youths have started their own businesses, benefiting from the Project's small grant scheme.
"I appreciate this opportunity to work as a youth volunteer. Through this project, I learned a lot and gained excellent mobilizing skills.
The job fair was also very useful because it gave me detailed and up-to-date information about each institution's recruitment system."
Mr. Hamid Ebaid Alnas
Business Volunteer, East Darfur
Advocacy for Youth and Volunteerism
The Project promotes the importance of "Youth" and "Volunteerism" for peace, recovery and development in Darfur.
On the International Youth Days in 2015 and 2016, a series of events were organized in Darfur states in collaboration with the UN Volunteer (UNV) programme Office in Sudan as well as some partner organizations. The events included radio panel discussions in three major states, a community festival, environmental campaigns and workshops on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Poverty and Peace building.
These actions and commitments brought together youth from different social groups and backgrounds which successfully promoted "the role of youth" and “volunteerism” for the pursuit of peace in Darfur.
On the International Volunteers Day in 2015 and 2016, in cooperation with the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), UNV and partner NGOs, the Project organized a total of seven clean-up exercises, which involved approximately 1,500 participants from the communities in Darfur.
A radio panel discussion was also conducted and broadcast for this event. During the debate, two youth volunteers from the Project and UNAMID UN Volunteers discussed the role and importance of volunteerism in promoting environmental protection and preservation in Darfur.
Next phase (Phase III)
Youth Volunteers Supporting Peace and Recovery in Darfur Project
The Project Phase I & II had been supported by the Republic of Korea, UNV and UNDP with their financial contributions.
In 2017, Phase III of the Project has been re-designed under a new title: Youth Volunteers Supporting Peace and Recovery in Darfur (YoVoReD) based on lessons from the first two phases. Phase III was made possible thanks to contributions from Japan and UNDP.
For more information, Find more YVRDP volunteers' stories;
◆Photo-story_Phase I (English)
◆Photo-story_Phase I (Japanese)
◆Photo-story_Phase II_International Youth Day 2016 (English)
◆Photo-story_Phase II_International Youth Day 2016 (Japanese)
◆ UNDP Global website
- Youth volunteers train for a better future for Darfur (Article)
◆ UNDP Sudan website:
- Harnessing Youth Talents to Rebuild Darfur (Article)
- New Beginnings: Building Livelihoods in Otash IDP Camp in Darfur (Article)
- UNDP celebrates the International Youth Day 2016 in Darfur (Article)
- Graduation Ceremony of Darfur Youth Volunteers 2016 (Article)
- Youth Day Celebrations in Sudan 2015 (Press-release)
- Graduation Ceremony of Darfur Youth Volunteers 2014 - Youth Volunteers Rebuilding Darfur (Press-release)
Contact: John Anodam, Programme Manager UNDP Darfur Livelihoods and Recovery Programme, UNDP Sudan john.anodam@undp.org
Edited by Hiromi Amano, Youth and Livelihoods officer, and
Chihiro Bise, Youth Volunteer Coordinator,
UNDP Darfur Livelihoods and Recovery Programme, UNDP Sudan
