Baltimore, MD: Disadvantaged youth who are provided a comprehensive package of training, mentoring, and job placement support are finding success in the job market, according to Entering the World of Work: Results from Six entra 21 Youth Employment Projects: An Executive Summary. Released by the International Youth Foundation, the Executive Summary, drawn from the final “Meta-Analysis” report, documents the progress being made to secure employment by graduates of entra 21, a regional job training program aimed at addressing the soaring unemployment rates among young people in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Among the reported findings:

• Six months after graduating from the program, 54% of entra 21 participants were working, and 80% of those jobs were full-time
• Salaries for those who were previously working doubled or better after graduation from the program in three of the six projects studied.
• Employers surveyed reported being highly satisfied with entra 21 graduates and considered their job performance to be equivalent to or better than that of other employees in similar positions.
• The levels of education improved among participants, with the rate of re-enrollment in formal education more than doubling among entra 21 graduates.

Entra 21 is cited by the World Bank as one of ten promising employability programs now operating around the world in its recently published World Development Report 2007: “Development and the Next Generation.”

A $29 million employability initiative of the International Youth Foundation, entra 21 is supported through the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank as well as local and global companies. Entra 21, which is currently active in 18 countries, offers IT and life skills training, internships and job placement assistance to unemployed youth ages 16 to 29. The program is projected to reach more than 19,000 young people across Latin America and the Caribbean, and place 50% of them in jobs. Supporters include global companies such as Gap, Lucent Technologies, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Nike, Nokia, Shell, and Unocal, as well as USAID and local governments.

“Entra 21 is an economic development strategy that is having a significant impact on the employability of jobless youth who have historically faced enormous challenges as they seek to enter the job market,” says Donald Terry, Manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund. “This is a program that really delivers benefits to the region’s youth, and is now in the process of expanding its programs,” he said.

According to the meta-analysis, successful elements in the program include:

• Delivering an integrated package of services – that includes positive attitudes and employability skills development as well as IT training
• Understanding and responding to identified needs in the labor market
• Providing internships and effective job placement services
• Building alliances with businesses and other sectors to increase the quality of services provided.

The Full report or “meta-analysis”, entitled Entrando al Mundo del Trabajo: Los Resultados de Seis Proyectos entra 21, from which this Executive Summary is drawn, was written by Javier Lasida, an experienced evaluation consultant who is Director of the Department of Education and Professor of Social Politics at the Catholic University of Uruguay, and Ernesto Rodriquez, a sociologist and Director of the Latin American Center on Youth (Centro Latinamericano sobre Juventud: CELAJU). It is based on six external evaluations of entra 21 projects conducted in 2005 in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru.

To download a copy of the Entering the World of Work: Executive Summary, the English version go to http://www.iyfnet.org/uploads/learningseries2.pdf For the complete version of the meta analysis in Spanish, Entrando al Mundo del Trabajo: Los Resultados de Seis Proyectos entra 21, please go to http://www.iyfnet.org/uploads/entra21Learning%20Serie2SpanishFull.pdf

Please note: A second publication in the entra 21 “Learning Series,” entitled Collaborating with the Private Sector: A Case Study of an entra 21 Project in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, has also recently been published. This report provides the background, implementation strategies, and lessons learned of a highly successful entra 21 project that has dramatically expanded its program within the hospitality sector of Brazil to train 4,000 youth in ten cities across the country. For more information on entra 21 and a listing of all its publications go to www.iyfnet.org

Read more about entra 21 at http://www.iyfnet.org/section.cfm/5/24/800

About the International Youth Foundation
Currently operating in 70 countries and territories, the International Youth Foundation is dedicated to preparing young people worldwide to be healthy, productive, and engaged citizens. Established in 1990, IYF works with companies, foundations, governments, and civil society organizations to strengthen and scale up proven programs that are making a positive and lasting difference in young lives. Together with its partners around the world, IYF concentrates on four key areas of activities: education, employability, health, and leadership and engagement. For more information visit www.iyfnet.org

Contact:
Jim Peirce, Vice President, Planning and Communications
Tel.: +1-410-951-1606
Email: jim@iyfnet.org