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| Project Name: | Youth Initiatives to Enhance out-of-school Learning for Development (YIELD) Project |
| Project Description: |
The site of the YIELD project, Umutara Province, is located in Northeastern Rwanda and presents a unique case within Rwanda. It is Rwanda’s newest province, established to settle returnees in what was previously a conservation area and wildlife reserve. In 1996, an estimated 400,000 returnees from Uganda and other neighboring countries moved into the area, until then sparsely populated. Approximately 80-85% of the resettling population are agro-pastoral, old-caseload refugees who left Rwanda mainly between 1959 and 1973.Adult literacy in Rwanda is low, especially among women (60% men / 49% women). Considering that a large percentage of the adult population is illiterate, that many children in Rwanda lack the opportunity to enter school, and that others drop out of the formal system prematurely, the provision of non-formal basic education is key to addressing the problem of low literacy in the country. Moreover, incorporation of a life skills component will assist economic development opportunities, especially for young unemployed people.The YIELD Project's overall goal is to improve access to and use of quality basic and life skills education by disadvantaged youth in new, predominantly pastoral communities in three districts of Umutara Province, Rwanda. The objectives leading to this overall goal are as follows:
 To increase value placed on literacy, numeracy and life skills (attitude change) among new communities, especially youth
 To increase quality, relevance and sustainability of non-formal basic education system for youth
 To increase responsibility for and ownership of non-formal basic and life skills educational initiatives by youth
 To increase gender equality in organization of and participation in basic and life skills educational activities for disadvantaged youth The Project will work, over a three-year period, with 8000 out-of-school youth, especially girls and young women, 15 youth and women's councils and associatons, and 150 local authorities to achieve the above objectives.One key challenge for the project will be nurturing change in Umutara’s agro-pastoral communities, who, due to tradition, cultural norms and tradeoffs, attach little value to education. The pastoral community in particular has deeply set cultural inhibitions affecting women, which often prevent them from having access to education, information and resources. The project seeks to change mindsets and behaviors that compromise gender equality in communities generally and among parents in particular. The project will support girls and women from associations, councils, and PTAs/schools in the targeted areas – and the boys and men from their families and communities – to craft a culturally-sensitive, socially appropriate campaign making the case for basic and life skills education for all.The main project activities revolve around the establishment of Community Knowledge Centers for integrated literacy-life skills education and for exchange on key development challenges and opportunities (e.g., HIV/AIDS, water scarcity, corrupt governance, etc.). Community knowledge centers, or CKCs, will resurrect and expand upon the Ibigo byo Guhugura Abaturage (IGA) literacy centers that have been operating in Rwanda since the 1970s with the aim of improving literacy levels in the general population.The proposed CKC will have an enriched, appropriate curriculum that offers more than just reading and writing alone. These centers will be closer to the people and courses will be offered at a time of their choice. The centers will be well equipped for modern learning that facilitates and motivates people to put into practice what they learn. These centers will also tap the human resources available in the community and put them to full use for the benefit of the illiterate population Such resources include teachers/PTAs, women’s and youth councils, a range of grassroots organizations, and graduates of the formal school system at all levels. The centers will bring together resource people and community members, each one playing a particular role for interactive teaching/learning and mutually beneficial exchange. Through networking facilitated by the project, they also will be a link to other well-developed, higher-level resources, such as national training centers like IWACU and INADES. |
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