The overall objective is that through being employed or self employed, young vulnerable women and men in 4 French-speaking African countries generate a decent income for themselves and their families. This is reached by three main pillars of the program: Ensuring that young people acquire relevant labor market skills; facilitating access to financial and equipment resources and creating linkages for self-employment; and finally strengthening the TVET systems in the mentioned countries.

Skill Up! is a multinational program with the objective of enabling vulnerable young people to become self-employed or employed and thus generate a decent income for themselves and their families. To provide holistic and sustainable skills development interventions, Skill Up! follows a systemic approach: we aim to improve (non-formal) technical and vocational education and training (TVET) by strengthening TVET institutions and structures at local and national levels. Collaboration between local governments, the private and non-profit sectors, and local communities is enhanced in the Skill Up! program, thus creating better conditions for economic growth and the generation of necessary jobs. The Skill Up! The program is based on the specific “Skill Up! Approach” which defines certain quality standards and guiding principles and ensures a high context orientation and quality of the interventions.