Economic Inclusion, Employability & Youth Entrepreneurship

Overview

Strengthen youth employability and economic inclusion by improving job-ready skills, expanding access to opportunities, and supporting entrepreneurship pathways that can lead to decent work and sustainable income.

Context & rationale

Youth unemployment and underemployment remain major barriers to social stability and inclusive development. Many young people face limited access to quality jobs, inadequate career guidance, insufficient practical skills, and weak connections to employers and markets. These constraints can fuel discouragement, informality, and risky livelihood strategies.

Axis 2 positions employability and entrepreneurship as key levers for translating youth energy into productivity. It promotes skills development aligned with labor market needs, career orientation, and stronger bridges between youth leaders/coordinators and opportunity ecosystems. It also emphasizes entrepreneurship as a viable pathway when supported through mentorship, business skills, and access to networks and enabling structures.

The axis is designed to support youth leaders and coordinators—who often serve as multipliers in their regions—with tools to mobilize youth towards economic opportunities, build employability mindsets, and facilitate access to information on programs, internships, and initiatives.

Strategic importance

Employability and economic inclusion are directly linked to peace, social cohesion, and national resilience. When young people see real pathways to decent work and income generation, they are more likely to engage constructively in society and less vulnerable to manipulation and destructive behaviors.

Axis 2 strengthens the foundations for other thematic areas by reinforcing practical skills, opportunity navigation, and youth-driven initiatives. It also helps channel youth leadership structures into engines of economic mobilization and local development.

Key focus areas

• Employability competencies: communication, teamwork, reliability, time management
• Practical orientation: CV basics, interview readiness, professional conduct
• Local opportunity mapping: programs, initiatives, business support actors
• Entrepreneurship basics: idea-to-action, validation, simple business models
• Mentorship and guidance: linking youth leaders to experienced resource persons
• Partnership and networking: structured collaboration with opportunity stakeholders
• Information access: clear channels to publish opportunities and youth calls

Scope

• Job readiness and employability skills development (soft skills + work habits)
• Career orientation and coaching for youth leaders/coordinators
• Linking youth to internships, apprenticeships and entry-level opportunities (where available)
• Entrepreneurship awareness and enterprise mindset (problem-solving, initiative, resilience)
• Basic business skills: planning, budgeting, marketing, customer value, record-keeping
• Mentorship networks and peer learning for youth-led initiatives
• Partnership building with employers, private sector actors and opportunity platforms
• Opportunity intelligence: communicating programs, calls, and pathways to youth networks
• Promotion of productive civic entrepreneurship and community value creation
• Strengthening the capacity of youth coordinators to guide local youth to opportunities

Target groups

• Youth leaders
• Youth coordinators

Stakeholders

• CNJC (National Youth Council)
• MINJEC (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education)
• CONEP
• Cameroonian youth

Expected outcomes

• Improved awareness of employability and entrepreneurship pathways among youth leaders/coordinators
• Stronger capacity to mobilize youth networks around opportunities and work readiness
• Better access to information on programs, calls, and initiatives related to youth economic inclusion
• Enhanced skills and mindset for youth-led initiatives and productive engagement
• Increased collaboration between youth structures and private-sector or opportunity actors (where applicable)
• Improved youth motivation and clarity on pathways toward decent work and sustainable livelihoods

Indicators of success

• Participation levels in employability and entrepreneurship sessions
• Evidence of improved youth guidance practices by leaders/coordinators (where documented)
• Number of opportunity items shared through youth channels/platform (where tracked)
• Quality of participant feedback and reported usefulness of tools shared
• Emergence of youth-led initiatives or collaborations (if documented)

Example activities

• Employability clinics: soft skills, workplace culture, and professional behavior
• Career orientation sessions for youth leaders/coordinators (guidance toolkit)
• Opportunity mapping workshops: how to identify and communicate opportunities
• Entrepreneurship awareness sessions: turning problems into solutions
• Basic enterprise planning exercises (simple business plan canvas)
• Mentorship roundtables with private-sector and experienced youth leaders
• Networking and partnership sessions with CONEP/private actors
• Showcase of opportunity platforms and how youth can navigate them

Call to action

Strengthen your role as a youth leader/coordinator by actively sharing opportunities, promoting work readiness, and supporting youth initiatives that create value in communities.

Axis summary

Axis 2 focuses on youth employability, economic inclusion and entrepreneurship: job readiness, opportunity access, partnerships, mentorship and youth-led initiatives.