UPSHIFT

The UPSHIFT Program in Tunisia is a national youth empowerment initiative led by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in collaboration with UNICEF. It aims to equip young people, particularly NEET youth (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), with essential life skills, entrepreneurship training, and project development support to enhance their economic and social integration.

Objectives:

• Developing life skills for young people.
• Encouraging youth to take initiative, launch projects, and pursue self-employment.
• Training 2,400 young men and women on developing and presenting project ideas for funding opportunities.

Duration of the Initiative:

From the year 2024 to 2026.

Positive Impact (Indicators and Outputs of the Initiative):

By December 2024, after the completion of 24 training courses with the participation of 600 young men and women, 240 viable project ideas were developed.

Preparation Phase:

In alignment with the National Youth Strategy, approved by the Tunisian Prime Ministry in May 2024, the youth sector’s focus has been directed towards its key areas, particularly the third objective: the social and economic integration of young people. In this context, the project was launched to encourage youth to take initiative and launch projects through UPSHIFT technology. The target group consists of young people outside all NEET systems (not in education, employment, or training), estimated at over one million in Tunisia.

The second phase involved identifying key partners, resulting in an agreement with UNICEF to support the initiative.

The action plan for the project included the following steps:

• Organizing 4 training courses for 100 young instructors in UPSHIFT technology.

• Coordinating with regional youth administrations to select trainees for summer 2024, focusing on the NEET youth category.

• Delivering 12 training courses for 600 young men and women between July 9 and August 9, 2024, with 25 participants from each governorate.

• Developing 120 viable project ideas.

• Selecting the top 12 project ideas for the final round, to be held from August 11 to 15, 2024.

• Choosing the top 3 projects for future support and financial backing.

• Holding an evaluation meeting from October 8 to 12, 2024, with all youth trainers to assess strengths and weaknesses and plan improvements for upcoming training courses in December 2024.

• Organizing 12 additional training courses for 600 young people between December 19 and 31, 2024.

• Developing another 120 project ideas.

• Selecting the top 12 project ideas for the final round in February 2025.

• Choosing the top 3 projects for future support and financial backing.

Implementation Phase:

• Young people wishing to receive training register for this program by contacting their nearest youth center.

• The performance of trainers is monitored daily by specialists in initiative and project launching from a company in Morocco. They attended all the training courses and submitted detailed reports on their observations and assessments.

• All program details are documented through regular posts on the program’s Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as through extensive press coverage that highlighted the program’s achievements.

Post-Initiative Phase:

This program is evaluated periodically at three stages: before implementation, during the training courses, and after the activity is completed.