Supporting young people : Concept’s working methods
Working methods and support for young people towards empowerment through the FAJA project
The FAJA project (Training and Empowerment of Young Apprentices) is a project led by Concept since 2019, focused on the socio-professional training and empowerment of young people and women in the communes of Parcelles Assainies and Grand Yoff in Dakar.
This project specifically targets young people between the ages of 16 and 35 who are in the process of learning a craft. In total, nearly 100 young artisans have been supported by the FAJA project between 2019 and 2023.
Find a presentation of the project by Laurent Diène (strategic advisor at Concept) and Bigué Ndao (coordinator of the FAJA project) in the video below :
The training and other activities offered to young people as part of the project aim to provide holistic support, encompassing various aspects of their lives (personal, professional, and community) :
- Training to help them improve their skills in their trade (technical training in their trade, a "hygiene, risks, health, and safety" training that complements the technical training, and computer training)
- Literacy and life skills training
- Individual coaching sessions every four months with a mentor
- Citizenship training combined with citizen actions collectively implemented by the young people
- Entrepreneurship training and the provision of a fund to support young people organized into "entrepreneurship groups"
- AJEC : association of young people for savings and credit
A capitalization was conducted by Salimata Thiombane (youth mentor for the project) and Anne-Marie Mendy (literacy facilitator) to highlight and share the support methods and best practices implemented by the team to adapt to the challenges encountered in supporting young people.
As part of this capitalization, a booklet was written to serve as a reference document for the team. Find the complete capitalization booklet in the document below :
A documentary was also filmed during a mixed workshop to gather testimonies from the young people in the project, as well as from their parents, their master artisans, and the Concept team. Find an excerpt below :
