Promoting Economic Growth, Workforce Development, Youth, and Trade
Brazil’s Youth Employability Program -- Programa Para o Futuro
AED designed and implemented Programa Para O Futuro (PPF) to develop, test and evaluate new employability training approaches, strategies, methods and activities, focusing on ICTs to enable very poor disadvantaged youth (ages 16-24 years of age) to transform their lives and gain the technical, life and work place skills needed to both secure good jobs and begin careers in the ICT sector.
The program targeted 50 youths (25 girls and 25 boys) in the poorest parts of Recife, Brazil. This world-renowned program used an innovative project approach and learning methodology that integrated a complex mix of academic, technical, social and life, work place and employment skills to create a comprehensive employability curriculum.
Six months following the completion of PPF 88% of graduates were employed and one year after 93% of participants were employed. Based on the PPF experience, ITAC believes this new model for employability can be replicated within Brazil and elsewhere and scaled up to address the growing demand for project based learning initiatives. (More)
Bosnia - Excellence in Innovation
The Bosnia Excellence in Innovation (EI) project uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) as part of USAID’s efforts to generate employment and promote the expansion and competitiveness of Bosnia i Herzegovina (BIH) small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The project focuses on private sector productivity by providing assistance to and collaborating with BIH entrepreneurs and firms to establish and operate sustainable e-BIZ business centers.
The e-BIZ centers will offer “high impact” information and communication technologies applications and services to SMEs in targeted and supporting services in order to improve their capacity to fully utilize the high impact ICT applications and services offered by collaborating e-BIZ centers to improve their competitiveness.
The AED-managed, Excellence in Innovation will focus on three industries: wood processing, agriculture processing and production, and tourism. The EI project will provide supplemental assistance to their supporting sectors in order to support e-BIZ vendors.
This approach has been utilized successfully in a similar type of project in Macedonia, resulting in significant growth in several target industries and sustainable, profitable e-BIZ centers. (More)
FACET - Fostering Agriculture Competitiveness Employing Information Communication Technologies
The Fostering Agriculture Competitiveness Employing Information Communication Technologies project (FACET) is funded by USAID/AFR/SD/EGEA -- the team that oversees the design and implementation of USAID’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative (now named FTF) for sub-Saharan Africa. (More)
Macedonia eBiz - ICTs for Local Economic Activity Development
The e- BIZ Project provides an innovative model for helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use information and communication technology (ICTs) to strengthen their businesses. It partners with Macedonian entrepreneurs to offer “high impact“ ICT solutions that significantly improve SMEs' competitiveness.
The e-BIZ project addresses both supply and demand within the Macedonian and wider global economies by assessing strategies for opportunities facing SMEs within their respective industries; identifying high impact ICTs to maximize on these opportunities to grow business and; partnering with entrepreneurs to create eBiz centers that provide high-impact ICT products and services.
The five eBiz activity areas are: Tourism, Apparel, Footwear, Management Training and Machine Tools. Additionally, the project offers an Online Management Training Center that serves all industries as well as local government agencies. The five industry-focused e-BIZ centers in Macedonia have directly served at least 1,200 SMEs by generating at least 35,000 jobs.
In Macedonia, the project’s $1,000,000 investment into seven Centers has been matched by at least $1,000,000 from local entrepreneurs who operate the e-Biz centers. Additionally, one e-BIZ center has received $200,000 in foreign direct investment from Italy.
AED, dot-ORG, implemented the Macedonia eBiz project in collaboration with the Education Development Center (EDC). (More)
Mongolia Last Mile Initiative
The USAID funded, AED implemented, Last Mile Initiative (LMI) is a global program to expand communications access to rural and poor populations. LMI uses technology as a platform to increase the commerce opportunities for farmers, and small businesses in rural areas that are presently underserved by the world’s major voice and data telecommunications networks.
LMI Mongolia installed low cost community-centric telecommunication services, such as Voice over WIFI (VoWIFI), in four soum (village) centers. These connections gave those living in rural, and at-once disconnected areas, access to family, neighboring citizens, other cities within Mongolia, and the world at large.
AED/ dot-ORG has implemented LMI projects in four countries, Mongolia, Macedonia, Paraguay, and Kyrgyzstan. (More)
Philippines - Using Information Technology for Identity Preservation and Traceability to Transform the Marine Aquarium Trade
Under this preservation and traceability project, AED in collaboration with its local implementer, Marine Aquarium Council, created a pilot scale integration of a real time, web-based information technology system to enhance identity preservation and traceability capacity within the Philippines marine aquarium trade. This project shown that by tracking and monitoring the movement of marine life, value is preserved through the chain to promote better return-on-investment for producers or harvesters, while simultaneously promoting environmental conservation, such as, coastal resource management.
As a result of the Marine Preservation and Traceability project:
1) Marine aquarium fish traders in seven coastal fishing communities, and
representatives of two exporters have been trained to use the “traceability
IT [tracking] system,” including computers and personal digital assistants
(PDAs) as it relates to document management and order processing.
2) Traders and their partners have been trained in basic computer operations,
maintenance, and data entry as well as use of the PDA. The coordinator level
training was equally distributed among women and men.
3) There is increased community awareness and local stakeholder “buy
in” of information technology applications as useful tools in promoting
improved management of the marine aquarium fishery. (More)
Risk and Innovation for Improved Education in the Democratic Republic of Congo
AED’s dot-EDU project, in partnership with the Education Development Center (EDC), has developed models for how to improve the quality and dissemination of education through information and broadcast technology in a country with limited infrastructure and resources. The activities combine teacher training on project and inquiry-based learning with introductions to technology tools to create, adapt, and improve teaching materials.
Working in the communities of Vanga and Luozi, this project has built the ability to break the cycle of rote learning, and help these areas develop creative ways to address the serious lack of educational materials and teacher training, in a low cost environment.
Over the course of the project, AED and EDC facilitated the procurement and distribution of 45,000 school supply kits for students, 400 teacher kits, and 1,937 textbooks for teachers.
Additionally, AED was responsible for enhancing the sustainability of the
Vanga Community Learning and Resource Center by working with Center staff
to:
1) Finalize operations functions, board member rules and policies
2) Complete business plan
3) Reduce power usage and overhead costs
4) Develop new fee structure for internet service and VSAT
(More)
WILpower
The Women in Law (WILpower) Program enhances young Arab female lawyers and law students' professional development and leadership skills. In so doing, this program seeks to enable these local partners to contribute even more significantly to the legal sectors in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Planned activities include mentoring and networking, improving access to legal resources, and training in effective client relationship building and interviewing skills.
Local partners determine the activities suitable
for their professional climate based on expressed need and local realities.
Professionals from all countries may participate in a range of professional
development activities including e-networking, information sharing, and
access to legal information and courses related to the law through the Internet.
Participants will also be able to share information among themselves through
an online portal dedicated to WILpower participants.
WILpower is a collaborative regional information and communication network for young legal practitioners in the Middle East and supported by partnerships between local Arab legal communities, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the U.S. Department of State. For more information visit www.womeninlaw.net
