It has become clear over the course of PROSPECTS that employment and livelihood outcomes can be strengthened if JSC participants are able to access a multiplicity of services.
Here are some examples of how integration took place between JSC and other activities within the PROSPECTS programme:
Business development services
- As young people explored their interests and capacities, some found they were more interested in self-employment than waged employment, in which case, having a pathway to Start & Improve Your Business (SIYB) training or other types of business development services was good practice. The link with SIYB was particularly useful because of the limited formal-sector job opportunities in the areas where PROSPECTS operates. In many cases, entrepreneurship serves as one of the few viable livelihood pathways for young refugees and host community members.
Employment services
- Depending on the country context, JSCs have been implemented as an extension of employment services, as part of youth engagement initiatives and as post-training support to help young people transition into employment. JSCs can help build young people's capacity and confidence to search for jobs.
Work-based learning
- PROSPECTS Iraq introduced JSC after it had already rolled out SIYB and work-based learning (WBL) with the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which produced a natural link between JSC, SIYB and WBL.
Social protection
- The JSC manual includes modules on labour rights and social protection. Links to Work Wise Youth: A Guide to Youth Rights at Work can also be made for future adaptations of JSC modules in new countries and regions.
- Staff within Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres and career development centres in universities who were already trained and familiar with ILO methodologies and so were good candidates to become JSC facilitators. In some cases, SIYB trainers became JSC facilitators, providing a natural link between PROSPECTS activities.
- Establish links to other skills training programmes available in the area through, for example, providing post-training support or directing JSC participants to skill training.
- JSC methodology can be applied in other joint programmes, especially when the situation of young people is a key priority for governments and donors. Its adaptation can be carried out jointly to establish more meaningful collaboration. For instance:
- Making the most of the private sector mandate of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) could be valuable in this context and promote links between JSC participants and larger private sector employers in PROSPECTS countries.
- UNHCR’s refugee networks can also continue to lend themselves to JSC outreach in refugee communities.
- UNICEF can continue to serve as a key partner, exploring joint work and integration beyond referrals, and possibly using its youth networks. For example, the PROSPECTS teams in Iraq and Lebanon had started to work on programming to engage young people that complemented UNICEF’s Generation of Innovation Leaders (GIL).