The First Professional Experience program provided internships and hands-on work experience to its participants who were placed into a business where they worked for up to four months. Each participant was accompanied by a professional tutor who motivated them and guided their professional development and specialized training within the company. Many of the most well-known companies in the hospitality and tourism industries participated in the program including Meliá Hotels International, Hilton Madrid Airport, Grupo Vips, Parques Reunidos, KFC and the Accenture Foundation.

Javier Llorente, president of the Pinardi Foundation, noted that the program has proved to be an effective way of ending youth unemployment. He also explained that the foundation began by focusing its efforts on students and their individual goals and educational needs and then matched them with the most suitable company.

Pedro Boada, managing director of JP Morgan in Spain, spoke at the presentation of the program about how the successful results demonstrate that collaboration between companies and social organizations ensures youth have access to a better future. He also noted that the program will help to provide better growth prospects for Spain.

Hard hit by the current economic troubles in Europe, Spain now has the greatest inequality of the 27 countries of the European Union. According to the World Bank, close to 25 percent of Spanish workers are unemployed and a growing number of them can’t afford to buy enough food to live. One in five citizens are living below the poverty line and poor youth with too few employable skills struggle the most to find and retain stable employment.

“With so many young people out of work and facing conditions of poverty in Spain, it is vital for Salesian workforce development programs to respond to market demand,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Students in these programs have a real opportunity to enter the workforce prepared both in terms of the skills they have learned and in their social development, ensuring a lifelong ability to retain livable wage employment and escape poverty.”

Since its inception in 2001, the Pinardi Federation has been developing programs to help poor youth between the ages of 12 and 16 and is currently operating close to 40 projects aiding more than 2,000 youth. Projects focus on promoting the quality of children’s lives, helping youth retain employment and supporting migrants through family mediation. Other community projects work to raise awareness of volunteerism.

For its youth employment projects, the Pinardi Federation develops training programs that collaborate directly with the business sector so that students learn marketable skills and make an easier transition from coursework into employment. It encourages the business community to take an active role in program development as well as meeting with students to help shape standards and students’ academic and social development, ensuring greater opportunities for employment after graduation.

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Sources:

ANS – Spain – First Job, more than just an opportunity

World Bank – Spain

The post SPAIN: Salesian-run Pinardi Federation’s First Professional Experience Program Placed Close to 75 Percent of its Participants into Employment first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian missionaries have been working to bring hope, particularly to poor youth in South Africa. From empowering girls and young women to building schools and teaching trade skills, Salesian missionaries have a long history of affecting change in the country.

Since 1910, the Salesian Institute has been helping homeless, unemployed and impoverished youth in Cape Town, the second most populous city and legislative capital of South Africa. Through the Institute’s Youth Projects program, Salesian missionaries provide shelter, education and workforce development services in an effort to meet the basic needs of the youth they serve while helping them break the cycle of poverty.

The Institute’s Youth Employment Skills (YES) project provides training and job placement assistance to 320 disadvantaged, unemployed youth each year. Young people between the ages of 18 and 26 complete an intensive three-week life skills course before undergoing a five-week employment skills course. Students are taught employment skills in much needed industry sectors including bricklaying, tiling and laminated flooring, computer maintenance, computer literacy and office management. The Institute’s goal is to place every graduate into a job once courses have been completed. More than 80 percent of graduates have found employment to date.

“Salesian missionaries living and working in South Africa know the local economy and are able to tailor educational programs to ensure the best employment opportunities for students after they graduate,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “The addition of life skills training helps students make good life choices and be better employees.”

Most recently, the project has secured a partnership with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to ensure ongoing employment opportunities for youth in the program. To date, more than 100 youth have initiated their work experience at KFC. Because of the growing local demand for employment skills training, the YES project fills to capacity within a few hours of registration opening. As a result, Salesian staff are looking for avenues to expand that can offer additional employment training and job opportunities.

“The YES project has been very successful and continues to grow. The training is a win-win for the local economy and the students. Students receive the employment training they need to lead productive lives while employers gain access to highly skilled employees,” adds Fr. Hyde.

The Salesian Institute’s Youth Projects consist of five main programs that include the YES project. In addition, there is an outreach program, a hostel for homeless youth, a learn-to-live education program and two workforce development programs. The projects are managed by a diverse group of individuals, some of whom live on the premises to support youth in the hostel and outreach programs.

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Sources:

Salesian Institute Youth Projects

UNICEF – South Africa

The post SOUTH AFRICA: Salesian YES Project Provides Employment Opportunities to More than 300 Youth Each Year first appeared on MissionNewswire.