Published on Jobs and Development

Promising Results from Uganda's Youth Opportunities Program

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Timothy Lubanga is the Assistant Commissioner for Monitoring and Evaluation, Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda.

In 2006, Uganda launched the Youth Opportunities Program, which provides cash transfers to groups of young adults (ages 16 to 35) for self-employment in trades. It is part of the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund, a decentralized development program that is the centerpiece of the post-conflict recovery plan. We spoke with Timothy Lubanga, Assistant Commissioner for Monitoring and Evaluation, Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda, about the mid-term results from an impact evaluation conducted in 2010 (covering about 2,600 individuals).

A marketplace in Kampala, Uganda. Photo: Arne Hoel / World Bank

Lubanga reports that the program is working well, with beneficiaries — especially women — experiencing higher employment and incomes than the control group. However, much more progress is needed on improving social cohesion, and the program is being tweaked to make it even more effective on job creation.

This post was first published on the Jobs Knowledge Platform.


Authors

Timothy Lubanga

Office of Prime Minister, Uganda

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