The AYEDI Pathway Model: Reducing Child Labor through Compassionate Support and Skill Building

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Tuesday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Creating global citizens amongst vulnerable populations: an exploration on the role of empathy and social connection

Proposal

In Uganda, school drop rates remain a challenge for reasons familiar in similar contexts across the continent. Intertwined issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, lack of caregiver support, and other vulnerabilities result in thousands of adolescents falling out of school , contributing to high child labor participation. Between 2014 – 2018, WEI/Bantwana implemented the Adolescent Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative (AYEDI) with the government of Uganda and community partners in 4 highly vulnerable districts in eastern and northern Uganda aimed to reduce child labor and increase decent work among 4,200 out-of-school adolescent youth (aged 14-17). AYEDI’s support package was anchored in goal setting and integrated life skills that prepared youth to enter and succeed in their chosen livelihoods pathway. Trained facilitators guided youth through reflection and critical thinking experiences, engaged respected community guest speakers, and mentored youth across the life of the program. This approach helped youth develop confidence and expanded thinking, which enabled them to begin to trust themselves and think differently about what was possible for their lives.

The youth enjoyed tremendous success: at the close of the program, 90% of AYEDI youth had graduated from the rigorous program, 82% of youth were engaged in decent work, and 100% of caregivers were able to meet at least 3 basic needs of their children . Across the life of the program, WEI/Bantwana made intentional shifts to engage youth and their caregivers directly through joint learning in modern agriculture, joint savings groups, and, joint investments in livelihoods activities. Across several external and program evaluation exercises, consistent themes of ongoing mentorship and encouragement from a range of influencers – caregivers, peers, community leaders, local government staff, and program staff – emerged as strong influential factors in youth success. This was true of youth’s caregivers as well. Both youth and caregivers began to experience positive feedback from one another – and other community members – they began to see alternative options for their lives, which in turn shifted the way that they made decisions, replacing the sense of urgency associated with severe contexts of scarcity, with longer term thinking and planning that came from the social and emotional connection and supports they received from improved relationships with one another – and with other community members through savings group and more active community participation. As children and their caregivers began to see themselves differently and make different choices, attitudes from adults also began to shift creating a positive and mutual beneficial feedback loop that youth suggested was as foundational to their livelihoods success as the technical skills they learned. As youth strengthened their sense of self and belonging in their families and communities, they in turn, felt a deeper responsibility to others. Through its human-centered design, the AYEDI model helped to address fundamental issues of isolation, despair, and disconnection through re-connection to self, family, community, and society, reinvigorating a sense of social responsibility that is fundamental to active citizenship in a rapidly globalizing world.

Author

• Moriah Bauman, World Education, Inc.