Presentation to Joint Committee on the Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of

Youth and Disabled Persons

Umsobomvu Youth Fund

Friday, 28 February 2003

Feb 1998 Budget Speech - Minister of Finance announces a levy on the demutualisation proceeds establish the UYF 

Sep 1998 Government Gazette - Demutualisation Act  

Oct 1999 Monies are transferred from SARS to the Umsobomvu Youth Fund account and placed a deposit with CPD 

Oct 1999 National Treasury begins the process of appointing the Board of Directors  

Nov 1999 Articles of Association drafted 

Jan 2000 Board of Directors appointed 

Feb 2000 Board of Directors meet for the first time 

Mar 2000 Board begins the process of appointing the CEO 

History

Jul 2000 Government Gazette amending the Demutualisation Act to exempt the UYF from income tax 

Aug 2000 Consultative Forum  

Dec 2000 CEO and COO are appointed 

Jan 2001 Strategic planning session between the Directors and Management to establish four key result areas for the UYF Mar 2001 Bankers, auditors and asset consultant are appointed 

Mar 2001 Work commenced on the internal structure, policies, procedures and systems to administer the UYF 

Mar 2001 Board of Directors approve the focus areas of the UYF 

Apr 2001 Recruitment process to fill 10 strategic posts begins 

History

Young people today

• Lack of skills that are in demand (both technical and life skills);

• Few employment opportunities in a slow economic growth environment. Despite large number of vacancies, the no of unemployed is still high

• Lack of access to finance for study and business purposes

• Lack of access to valuable economic information and counselling support regarding employment/ self-employment; and

• Access to basic health services and awareness regarding healthy living

Strategic guiding principles

• Government’s mandate– Create a platform for job creation and skills

development transfer for youth

• Strategic guiding principles– Vision: “To enhance the active participation of

youth in the mainstream economy”

– Mission: “To facilitate and promote the creation of jobs and the development of skills for the South African Youth”

Policy

Strategic guiding principles• Key Performance Areas

– Skills development

– Job creation

– Prudent resource management

– Communication of information

• Core competencies- Co-ordinating ability- Access to networks and resources- Being a catalyst for youth development

Policy

Target group

• 18 - 35 years• Predominantly out of school• Catering for different cohorts

– Skilled/ unskilled– Rural/ peri-urban– Women– Disabled– Hiv / Aids

• Not to duplicate the education’s sphere

The structure of UYF

Umsobomvu

Employment Programmes Division

Youth Entrepreneurship Division

Capacity Building, Research, Evaluation, Education & Training Unit

Finance, Administration & IT Unit

Communication Unit

Human Resources Unit

Support

Business

Units

Youth employment programmes

Youth Line

Youth Portal

Contact, Information and Counseling

Youth Advisory Centres

School To Work

Career Development

Bridging Programmes

Community Youth Service

Building & Construction

Home-based Care

Agriculture & Conservation

Employment Programmes Division

Contact, Information & counseling

YouthAdvisoryCentres

Youth LineInternetPortal

Content ServiceProvider

CIC Model

Radio & TV

Youth entrepreneurship programmes

Youth Entrepreneurship

FundingBusiness Development

Services*

Micro Finance

SME Finance

Entrepreneur support

Enterprise support

* Support provided using voucher scheme

The model informing our focus

Provide information & counselling

Provide a platform to acquire skills

Enhance employability

Provide support for self -employment

For effective practice

• Intergrated approach to youth development

• There is no single model

• Leverage resources through collaboration

• Provide extended service: Support & follow-up

• Hire and develop quality staff

• Adult support and structure

• Commit to continuous improvement

• Treat youth as a resource

• Make use of work (including community service)

Policy

Investment philosophies

- Always have a policy of diversifying its exposure by syndicating projects with other funders/donors and by forming linkages;

- Neither be a tag along or a Fund for departments nor should it aim to displace existing programmes;

- Each project must specify outcome measures for on-going monitoring and evaluation;

- Pursue a strategic (narrow) focus in order to achieve sustainable impact;

- Endeavour to attain national coverage; and- Not intending to build a huge bureaucracy.

Policy

How UYF will function

Support

Service

Providers

e.g.

- Auditors

- Treasury

- Research

- IT

- Consultants

UYF

- Finance

- Management

- Board

- Committees

- Monitoring &

evaluation

Core Functions

Service

Providers

& Partners

- NGOs & CBOs

- Academic institutions

- Private sector

- DFIs

- Government

- Labour

Focus Areas

-Contact, info, counselling

-Skills dev.& transfer

-Entrepreneur support

Promises

• Presented May 2001

• R123 m to R172 m per annum

• Implementation of focus areas as described

• Building of instituional capacity

How UYF has / will evolve (phase 1)

1st 6 months 6 to 18 months 12 to 24 months

Business plan, benchmarks

Implementation of pilot programmes

Pilot grass-roots programmes

Infrastructure & systems

Exploring linkagesGenerate policy parameters

Human capacityCapacity building programme

Strengthen linkages

Consultations Brand awarenessIntegration of UYF programmes

How UYF has / will evolve (phase 2)

Year 2-3 Year 3 - 5

National planning integrates Youth dev.

Implementation of pilot programmes

Capacity at provincial and local level

Share experiences in Africa

Best practice modelAll nodal points have youth programmes

Comprehensive review

Targets: Youth employment programmes

Contact, Info & Counselling

Youth Service School to Work

150 000 young people have accessed & used info each year

600 young people (’02); 1500 (’03), 3000 (’04) in prog each year

500 young people (‘02/03); 1000 (‘03), 2000 (’04) in prog each year

15 youth advice centres (‘02); 30(’03); 70 (’05)

Youth-line (’02)

Youth Portal (‘02)

Targets: Youth entrepreneurship

Funding Business Dev. Support

Job creation impact (5 yrs)

10 000 youth owned SMMEs have access to finance (’06)

5 000 young entrepreneurs have received BDS support

20 000 jobs created

2500 sustainable businesses (’06)

9 000 youths provided basic entrepreneurship orientation training

Voucher scheme (’02)300 BDS service providers and mentors trained

100 providers accredited

How much?

Programme Funds Committed Funds Approved

Youth Advisory Centre 60,213,343 22,625,493

Call Centre 1,010,640 1,010,640

Internet Portal 5,612,000 5,612,000

School to Work 89,904,711 31,185,847

Youth Service 35,437,553 24,691,370

Business Development Services 8,800,000 8,800,000

Enterprise Funding 254,616,931 254,616,931

Research and Development 1,866,086 1,866,086

Communications 3,877,815 3,877,815

TOTAL 461,339,079 354,286,182

Challenges

• Capacity– Govt. support (line managers)

– Private sector support

– Funding not sufficient

– NGOs/CBOs (institutional and individual capacity)

• Policy & strategy– Consensus (e.g. with organised labour)

– Co-ordination(Intergrated youth, rural, H.R. develoment)

Policy

Challenges

• Information– Access to right channels– Alternative channels of communication

• Youth– Participation– “Unrealistic” expectations– Lack of capacity amongst youth structures

• Risk management– Monitoring and evaluation

Policy

Key milestones

• Integrated Sustainable Youth Economic Participation Programme linking with other developmental projects using the experience– Public works– Skills Projects with DoL and Setas– Youth diversion– Youth Service

Policy

Key milestones

• Youth Service– Infrastructure to manage project and

volunteer based projects

• Mainstream micro finance (Systems, etc)

• Provincial coordination

• Youth Card

Policy

Sustainability

• Good and effective practice (management) • Focused approach - not everything to every one• Form linkages (e.g. National Skills Fund)• Donor funding• Government’s on-going funding• Youth entrepreneurship

Thank you