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II. RESEARCH FINDINGS

6. Adolescent girls aged 10 19

8.2 Entrepreneurship

In general, the period between 13 and 15 years old appears to be a critical one for girls, particularly in terms of building self-efficacy and livelihood capital: social, human and economic. Most girls are still in school at the age of 12. Many are not by the age of 16. This is a key period for intervention.

The  prevalence  of  “under-education”  mirrors  the  critical  issue  of  “under-employment”  among  youth   in Rwanda, particularly young girls. Discussions with young people reveal that they have a keen desire to  ‘be  their  own  boss,’  but  generally  lack  the  capital  and  the  skills  to  make  this  a  reality  (World  Bank   2012a). Our research shows that 13-15 year old girls who were out-of-school seemed to lack confidence for ‘Plan A’ (finding a suitable job), and by 16-19 - realising that there educational lives were over - found  it  difficult  to  shift  to  ‘Plan  B’. Girls aged 13-15 years ranked  ‘entrepreneurial  spirit’   as the biggest enabler to success. The fact that adolescent girls themselves are prioritising a lack of enterprise and employable skills, inadequate training, and a lack of capital, highlights the extent of

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one of the few ways that girls can work around school hours, save enough to invest in their secondary education, and purchase the supplies they need to feel confident and secure.

There are a number of entrepreneurship schemes for young adolescent girls, some of which have expressed interest in tailoring their programmes for the 13-15 year old cohort. IRC, for instance, could

be an interesting partner in the area of micro franchising. Utilizing an economic and social franchise model, tailored to the abilities, needs and interests of girls in middle and late adolescence, IRC propose reaching an estimated 2000 girls, aged 13-19, in Kigali and selected rural sites in Rwanda. The micro franchise model enables low-income individuals to open a ready-made   “business-in-a-box,”   utilising proven strategies and an established brand to initiate new enterprises with minimal risk. This approach is particularly appropriate for 13 – 15 year old adolescent girls who may have the interest, but lack the skills and capital, to start their own businesses.

As adolescent girls stated themselves, building an entrepreneurial spirit is as important as providing opportunities to engage in self-employment. TechnoServe is interested in partnering with Girl Hub

Rwanda in building both business skills and self-esteem/personal  skills  of  adolescent  girls.  TechnoServe’s   Strengthening Rural Youth Development through Enterprise (STRYDE) Programme delivers employment and entrepreneurship training to youth in rural communities. By modifying the curriculum from the existing STRYDE programme to fit a younger target audience, TechnoServe would aim to provide business skills, entrepreneurial opportunities, and personal skill building to girls through two major components:

 Savings groups aimed at providing training in decision-making skills, self-esteem, group dynamics, and basic financial literacy, with an emphasis on savings, for young adolescent girls.  Youth business groups aimed at providing more advanced savings and financial literacy education, as well as basic entrepreneurial skills, and personal empowerment and self-esteem building activities.

It should be kept in mind that while self-employment gives girls the opportunity to work flexible hours and utilise the support of their household in managing their enterprise, self-employment is not for everyone. Some girls, with the right skill-set and available opportunities, may benefit more from linking

up with a flexible apprenticeship programme that can lead  to  a  steady  job.  TechnoServe’s  programme, therefore, must be geared towards transferring skills for both employment (vocational, technical skills) as well as entrepreneurship. The partnership should also ensure that TechnoServe connects girls with employment opportunities, and that girls pursue vocations that are in demand. Interviews suggest that a mismatch between skills and available opportunities is a major constraint to girls finding suitable employment (see Box 13, below).

Box 13

Girls work mostly in handicrafts, tailoring, culinary arts, and livestock, they are rarely in businesses like construction or car mechanics. But for the few who are in those options employers stated that they are the best in doing quality work, more than boys. They do work with precision and good finishing. For things that require high precision trainers always say that girls are the best.

- Interview, WDA Representative. Employers are looking for girls in some areas, they trust them. They think that they never steal. Like in the automobile industry or in construction industry employers will prefer to hire a girl as a storekeeper rather than a boy.

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Plan’s Economic Security and Youth Empowerment Programme is a two-month training module

delivered to 14 – 35 year olds. While it provides training to only one cohort, with no specific attention given to gender or age issues, it does focus on building the technical skills necessary to graduate young people into formal employment, and connects them to wider employment opportunities. Given that entrepreneurship suits relatively few girls, exploring ways to support them enter formal employment is important, though it may be more suited to girls in urban than rural areas and older girls (16 – 19).

While there are other organisations and programmes that focus upon self-employment opportunities and   creating   a   sense   of   ‘transformation’   among   young   girls,   none   of   them   have tailored their programmes for the 13-15 age cohort. This is a challenge, as middle adolescents (13-15) have very

different needs from younger and older cohorts. For instance, The World Bank supported Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) implemented by the Workforce Development Agency and the Imbuto Foundation provides technical and enterprise skills in food processing, agriculture, poultry and farming, culinary arts, as well as assistance in setting up cooperatives - but only for the 16-24 age group. Other initiatives, such as Akazi Kanoze, are used quite extensively in Rwanda, but are largely for the 15-25 age cohort, and are not at all cognizant of gender issues. Babson Rwanda provides entrepreneurship training, but this targets English-literate secondary school students, again with no focus on gender issues. As a result, these options are not recommended as potential partnerships.

The table below outlines a range of the potential initiatives focused upon self-employment and building entrepreneurship skills, with associated risks and benefits outlined. Shaded boxes show

programmes where we recommend Girl Hub Rwanda explore partnership further.

Table 4: Analysis of potential self-employment/skills training partners

Programme Summary Benefits Risks

IRC Micro franchising tailored to the age 13-15 age cohort

Innovative self-

employment model that can benefit adolescent girls

Still nascent in Rwanda, so no evaluation results to draw upon

TechnoServe Savings groups and youth

business groups

Focuses on major tenets of self-employment: financial literacy, business skills, and building an enterprising spirit. Savings groups can be utilized as safe spaces

Proposal must be tailored to also providing vocational training and setting up girls with

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adolescents to participate in

VSLAs

Plan Seeks to economically

empower disadvantaged youth through capacity building and access to employment opportunities. Two-month training programme with courses in Life Skills, English, Computer Skills and specialty courses, e.g. Hospitality, Customer Service and Sales.

Focuses upon vocational training and employment, which other potential partners are not focusing upon.

No attention to age or gender issues

Babson Rwanda

Partnership between Babson College and the Private Sector Federation of Rwanda. Babson College students, alumni, parents and staff teach

students about entrepreneurial thought and action, while also training teachers of

entrepreneurship to be more effective.85

Only for English literate students enrolled in secondary school

Akazi Kanoze

Youth in TVET schools trained in entrepreneurship vocational training (sewing, mechanics and carpentry). Also receive saving services provided by mobile agents.

Only for the 15-25 age cohort

World Bank AGI

Technical and enterprise skills; assistance in establishing cooperatives.

Only applicable to the 16-24 age group

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