SANOP’s Youth Entrepreneurship drive
Re-Integration of Ex-Prisoners
SANOP’s Youth Entrepreneurship drive
SANOP initiated the ‘Youth Entrepreneurship’ component under its programming, aimed at equipping the young offenders with business training and start viable small businesses as a sure way to reduce chances of reoffending.
“It is SANOP’s belief that if Youth Entrepreneurship is actively supported by key ministries such as Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs-Correctional Services, the Youth Entrepreneurship program can help solve some of the teething challenges being faced by young offenders, and will significantly reduce chances of reoffending,”
SANOP Youth Entrepreneurship Advisor, Edson Musiwa.
During the project implementation it was worthwhile to learn that some ex-inmates who had been trained on entrepreneurship had put their training to use and successfully launched some income generating projects. To further render this support to inmates and ex- inmates, SANOP successfully launched the first Inaugural Regional Entrepreneurship Youth Conference for ex-offenders to further strengthen its Youth Entrepreneurship drive.
Inaugural Regional Entrepreneurship Youth Conference for ex-offenders
In an effort to facilitate a common regional approach to support young offenders with entrepreneurial skills and opportunities during and after incarceration, SANOP hosted the first-ever Regional Entrepreneurship Conference for Young Offenders in November 2021, which brought together young ex-offenders, partners and stakeholders to share experiences and learnings within the Southern African context on challenges faced by the youths who are in conflict with the law when it comes to Entrepreneurship.
The Regional Youth Conference focused on Business and Entrepreneurship, Service Provision for Youths and Resource Accountability and engaged the youths to identify prevailing opportunities and how to mitigate the challenges they continue to face, among them being the continued reluctancy by both private and public entities to offer employment to young ex-offenders.
Even though governments are making efforts to come up with frameworks and strategies for job creation, there is an urgent need for the policy makers to look specifically at the needs and challenges of young ex-offenders. Specific needs to create a favourable environment for young ex-offenders to find work and start business ventures would include:
- Enforcing policies and continuing to lobby for the inclusion of ex-offenders in both private and public workplaces
- Creating an entrepreneurial model for the prison population
- Facilitating positive community reintegration and eradicating recidivism
- Developing re-entry programmes
- Collaboration with the government, e.g. in removing the offenders’ criminal records.
Youth Entrepreneurship and Business Skills training
Because of the stigma faced by offenders, the possibility of finding a job after incarceration is still one of the major challenges faced, and without addressing it, there is a high chance of reoffending. SANOP continues to advocate for community reintegration and eradicating recidivism. Progress on this is slow for many reasons, and thus the need to explore other income-generating activities.
SANOP supported several entrepreneurship and business skills training for the youth to facilitate improvement of ex-inmates’ welfare and equip them with the skills and knowledge required to start and manage their own small business projects.
A youth club entrepreneurship and business skills training was held in Samfya district of Luapula Province from 29th March to 2nd April, 2021 at Samfya District Teachers Resource Centre. The training benefitted 30 members of Self-Help Youth Club, a recently formed youth club targeting youths who have been in conflict with the law, to ensure they come together, work together and sustain their living through engaging in a variety of income generating activities and act as agents of change among fellow youths from committing criminal activities and other bad vices.
SANOP supported 15 young offenders based at Whawha Young Offenders to complete their vocational training by paying their theory trade tests fees, examination fees to be certified by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and facilitate a training partnership between Whawha Young offenders and Kaguvi vocational training centre.
Southern Africa Network of Prisons
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