Youth economic empowerment in China

Our work ensures vulnerable youth, especially young women, are able to engage in decent work of their own choice with enhanced skills and resilience for making the most of the changing work environment.

Adolescents getting financial and life skills training

Life skills help future careers

In Yunnan and Ningxia, through cooperation with local education authorities, we provide training on life skills, financial skills and career guidance for adolescents, especially girls, in 54 middle schools and 2 vocational schools. We support them to practice those skills through youth club activities to equip them with the knowledge and skills for a smooth transition from school to work, to be fully prepared for future studies, to find decent work and live independently.

In 2021, with the support of teachers who received various forms of training, 24,361 adolescents learned about self-exploration, rights and responsibilities, self-defense, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, saving and spending and other financial knowledge and life skills. The activities boosted students’ confidence, improved student-teacher and peer relationships and developed students’ social skills, team spirit, empathy and critical thinking skills.

In addition, this helped students make education and career plans, which boosted their learning potential and prepared them for future careers and personal development. To help adolescents obtain a better understanding of different professions and explore the career paths that best fit them, professionals, especially women from various fields, were invited to share their career stories though WeChat and various online video platforms to inspire girls and boys to explore different career possibilities.

To help students apply the knowledge they learned to real-world settings, the project guided adolescents to carry out independent activities through peer education and youth clubs. It turned their knowledge into actions and turned them into active and responsible members of their families, schools and communities.

Vocational training and life skills support stable employment

Youth having vocational training

In 2021, Plan International worked with partners across training institutions and social organisations to implement a youth employment project in Xi’an City, Yulin City, Ankang City and Shangluo City in Shaanxi Province.

We supported youth, especially young women between 16 and 29 years old, to obtain market-demand oriented vocational skills, and entrepreneurship and life skills training to allow them to obtain decent and stable work.

This year, our project provided training to 682 youth on photography, videography, cosmetics and nursing. Furthermore, we organised life skills training on topics such as communication, teamwork, financial literacy, gender equality, labour laws, interview preparation and workplace etiquette, to improve the ability and self-confidence of youth when adapting to society and the workplace.

By establishing a communication network, the project was able to follow up with trainees after their employment, provide them with guidance, and also create a mechanism for employers and trainees to communicate, to increase employment levels for youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, our project also supported a number of employers in creating an employee-friendly and gender-friendly working environment.

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