Labour Market Development in Yemen: Impact Assessment

IMPACT Consulting conducted an impact assessment for an International Labour Organization (ILO) project in Yemen, aimed at developing the labor market to promote economic empowerment during the ongoing crisis. The assessment evaluated two key components: Upgrading Informal Apprenticeships and Business Development Services. The impact assessment concluded with the following objectives:

• Conduct a study on the beneficiaries of the upgraded informal apprenticeship and comprehensively analyze empirical data regarding the beneficiaries and present the findings and recommendations in a clear and logical report.
• Conduct an assessment on the end-user beneficiaries of the Business Development Services (BDS) and document the impact of the training provided to the end-users and the correlation between
  training provided and business start-up, business plan development and survival rate and present the findings and recommendations in a clear and logical report.

Enhanced Rural Resilience in Yemen (ERRY) is a Joint Programme funded by the EU and implemented by FAO, ILO, UNDP and the WFP. ERRY’s main goal is to enhance the resilience and self-reliance of crisis affected rural communities through support to livelihoods stabilization and recovery, local governance and improved access to sustainable energy. Implemented in four governorates (Hajjah, Hodeidah, Lahj, and Abyan) and targeting the most vulnerable groups affected by the crisis (young people, the unemployed, women, minority groups, IDP’s and host communities), the three-year programme started in March 2016.

The study findings highlighted valuable lessons and best practices that can enhance the future implementation of the project. The study’s methodology encompassed beneficiary coverage and documented success stories related to the intervention.

The ILO components work towards Output 2.2. which focuses on “increased capacity of local actors and strengthened partnership of private sector to enhance economic recovery.” The ILO is currently implementing ERRY program. The main components of the project are upgrading informal apprenticeship and business development services. The upgraded informal apprenticeship model is based on a dual training delivery i.e., practical on-the-job training in industry/enterprises for a specified number of weeks and classroom training (off the job) in a training center. A minimum of two thirds of the entire training time is devoted to practical training at the workplace while the remaining training period is conducted at suitable training institutes in the targeted governorates. So far, the project has trained 240 apprentices in the four target governorates in five priority occupations.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) provided two Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions as part of the business development services subcomponent. These sessions focused on the business training packages “My First Business” (MFB) and the semiliterate business package “I Too Have a Small Business.” A total of 52 trainers participated in these sessions, enabling them to deliver training to approximately 2,693 final beneficiaries. In addition, the ILO conducted an impact assessment on the Upgrading Informal Apprenticeship (UIA) and Business Development Services (BDS) under the ERRY project.