Onward Resources promotes efforts that integrate gender and youth in productive economic engagement, bearing in mind that approximately 70% of Africa’s population is below the age of 30. We also recognize that the economic contribution of men and women varies often because of the roles that each plays, and that understanding these differences and designing approaches that help to generate the best outcomes can be an important strategy in achieving faster development and social change. As it is, women and girls suffer the greatest exclusion from economic participation and have, for example, a higher probability of rights abuses. With targeted empowerment, women have an enormous potential to impact on social and economic outcomes, from health and nutrition, to education and economic productivity.
Youth Economic Empowerment
We design and manage youth projects around entrepreneurship, local economic engagement and agribusiness. We identify opportunities for youth to improve their chances of leadership, employment; and where appropriate, to start small businesses. This enables the youth to become productive participants in their local and national economies. We design and implement Youth in Agriculture Projects by working with others to better understand the root causes of their low participation in agriculture, and to explore ways of reversing the trend. We carry out Youth Employment Studies that help our clients to identify job and small business opportunities for potential resource allocation. We assess potential business opportunities, develop business cases and match those found viable with local youth capacity and interest; and provide start-up support and handholding through business counselling and links to business incubation services.
Women in Business
We partner with development agencies, private and public sectors to implement interventions that eliminate gender inequalities between women and men, across our services and practice areas. We identify opportunities for women to improve their chances of beneficial participation and leadership, and where appropriate, to start and manage small businesses, through provision of financial literacy and business management training. We facilitate relationships between women business associations, mentor networks, and local authorities so as to foster enabling business environment.