CYCI: From Design to Implementation – Lessons Learnt

CYCI: From Design to Implementation - Lessons Learnt

The Commonwealth Youth Programme Regional Centre for Africa (CYPRCA) began the roll out the Commonwealth Youth Credit initiative (CYCI) in the African Region in 2001, following the completion of the pilot phase in 2000. The delivery of the CYCI has involved different approaches and delivery methods in the various implementing countries.  To date, the CYCI programme has been delivered in Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique and Lesotho.  Within the broader Youth Enterprise Development (YED) initiative, CYPRCA has also supported the development and/or training of officers in business enterprise skills in Botswana and Ghana as well as the provision of seed capital to young people in Uganda.

During the past six years, CYPRCA has since completed the pilot phase of the CYCI in Malawi and Namibia whilst Mozambique has just commenced delivery of it's pilot phase.  Lesotho is in presently finalising the set up phase to commence delivery and Botswana is yet to come on board. CYPRCA has also provided business enterprise training to youth officers in Ghana as well as seed capital to the Northern Uganda Development Centre to support the establishment of business enterprises by grandaunts of the training Centre.

Owing to the different models that have evolved over time, CYPRCA considered it important at this stage, to engage in a series of activities aimed reviewing the CYCI programme strategy and delivering mechanisms with a view to enhancing programme effectiveness and consolidating on best practices.

Thus a CYCI review meeting was convened from July 10 - 17, 2007, in Windhoek, Namibia. The meeting was officially opened by the Namibian Deputy Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, Hon. Pohamba Shifeta. Other officials gracing the occasion were CYP Africa Regional Director, Mrs. Valencia Mogegeh, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Namibia, Dr. Perngondjambi Shipoh, and Commissioner of National Service, Namibia, Mr. Onesmus Upindi who is also a member of the Namibia CYCI Management Advisory Board (MAB).

"Youth unemployment is a serious development challenge among the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. It contributes to widespread poverty and desperation among our young people, contributing to their disempowerment and weak participation in the economic affairs of the state. It is therefore important for policy makers to come up with initiatives to address the challenge. In this connection, I wish to pay tribute to the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) for driving the process that came up with the Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative (CYCI),"Hon. Pohamba said.

The Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative (CYCI) in Namibia which started as a pilot project in March 2005 to September 2006 and later extended by six months was initially limited to the Northern Regions. Its positive results have prompted This Ministry to encourage the CYCI to spur on this initiative into a fully fledged small business soft loan granting initiative.

"To this end, I wish to inform those gathered here today that the Ministry has developed a five-year programme that will be rolled out to all parts of the country. The name of the broader programme will change from Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative to Namibia Youth Credit Scheme," Hon. Pohamba added.

"The Commonwealth Secretariat is proud of the partnership with the Government of Namibia - which has greatly facilitated many youth development initiatives. The hosting of this CYCI review meeting is a living testimony of Namibia's commitment,"Mrs. Valencia Mogegeh said.

The purpose of the meeting was to: 

• Provide a forum for dialogue on the CYCI implementation;
• Explore and develop mechanisms to enhance implementation strategies and tools;
• Identify strategies to integrate good practice and experience in the field and to plough this back into implementation frameworks and for scaling up/down programmes;
• To identify opportunities for replicating what works;
• Identify and develop mechanisms for accessing technical, human and financial resources to support CYCI implementation; and 
• Develop recommendations for further national and regional actions.  

The workshop participants included technical officers and practitioners directly involved in the delivery of the CYCI in their country as well as young men and women benefiting from the programme.  In all, thirty five participants were invited to participate in the eight-day workshop comprised of a multi-partner group of 5 persons from each country (ideally two from government, including the directorate of youth and the National youth Council) representatives from the implementing agency and at least one youth beneficiary.   Invited observers included UN Habitat, ILO, academic institution representatives and other agencies.

The meeting outcomes were; CYCI Best Practice Document: A desk review/analysis was undertaken to review the different implementation strategies and models in the various countries drawing on success and challenges in order to document best practices; Revised framework:  Based on the meeting outcomes, it is expected that the current framework for delivery of the CYCI programme will be reviewed and a much more comprehensive framework developed; and Standardised tools:  It is expected that a standardised Management Information System (MIS) will be developed to support programme delivery across commonwealth countries to enable cross referencing and reporting.