YouthSeeding
Because vocational training can be the most powerful shield against extreme violence.
In fragile contexts in Africa and beyond, the lack of professional prospects exposes many young people to the risk of joining violent armed groups. Youth Seeding is Graines de Paix’s response:
An innovative training program that provides out-of-school youth with the skills, tools and confidence to build their future. The program aims not only to enhance their employability, but also to actively engage them in the transformation of their communities, making them actors of sustainable peace.
About the program
Objectives?
YouthSeeding ‘s aim is to provide out-of-school and out-of-school young people with valuable training that will enable them to build themselves up, train, find a job and even become entrepreneurs.
The training courses will comprise 12 experiential modules providing the cross-disciplinary professional skills needed to work, engage in entrepreneurial activities and protect oneself from violent acts. The proposed professions focus on future-oriented fields – digital professions and social professions – co-constructed with local experts, already trained by Graines de Paix. The training also includes digital skills for self-training and using social networks responsibly and securely, while exploiting them to optimize professional advancement.
The ultimate aim is to reduce the incidence of extreme violence and its many negative consequences: destruction, population displacement, school closures, impoverishment and insecurity.
The program is designed for easy replication.
Approach
Drawing on Swiss expertise and the achievements of the APEV program, our YouthSeeding program is based on a resolutely innovative curriculum built around three pillars:
- Cross-disciplinary professional skills – self-esteem and self-regulation, communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, reflection and discernment – to promote sustainable integration into the workforce and protect against violence.
- Digital skills – to enable young people to continuously develop their skills, access jobs that artificial intelligence will not replace and to navigate responsibly and safely.
- Work integration skills – to create and manage your own entrepreneurial ventures or become fully integrated into an organization.
The approach adopted is a systemic one, fully in line with the Training-Peace-Security nexus, in order to make progress on MDGs 3, 4, 5 and 16.
Implementation
- YouthSeeding
The first implementation in Benin is planned for 2026, targeting 800 vulnerable young people in the 4 northern departments most at risk (Alibori, Atacora, Donga, Borgou). The vulnerable young people will be identified by religious leaders and social workers already trained by Grains of Peace through the APEV program. - Strengthening the FORCE program
A collaboration with the NGO Swiss Contact will enhance the FORCE program by incorporating a comprehensive range of cross-disciplinary skills to help young learners succeed professionally.
Design
Graines de Paix offers professional training courses based on an experiential approach that combines Learning by Doing and Learning by Dialog. The skills acquired are permanently anchored and consolidated throughout life.
Expected impacts
Impacts will be monitored in terms of job retention/self-entrepreneurship, reduction of incidents of violence and changes in community perceptions. These will be measured through both internal and external evaluations.
The program also aims to have an economic impact: it is designed to generate a high return on investment through local revenues and savings made on security and infrastructure costs.
The future is being shaped today: let’s equip young people to become the architects of a world without violence.
Subscribe to your
newsletter
Follow our initiatives to train young people as agents of change, ready to build a world free from violence.