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Missions

OSEER : Promote youth access to employment and support their civic engagement.

Date

2025

Localisation

Senegal

Plan International France has been awarded the Transition Fund 2025 by the Setec Foundation for its project “OSEER: Promoting youth access to employment and supporting their civic engagement.”

Context

The Sahel region is facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis and complex challenges, including migration, conflict, and climate change, compounded by rapid population growth. The impact of these stresses and shocks hits young people, women, adolescent girls, and girls the hardest, exacerbating gender inequalities and eroding their resilience. To address these challenges, the OSEER program is being implemented at a regional level, both in Burkina Faso and Senegal.

In Senegal, women are particularly affected by unemployment, with a rate of 27.6% compared to 8.6% for men. In addition, Senegal is a country with significant population growth and a predominantly young population: in 2019, the average age was 19. The age group 15 to 29 is the most affected by unemployment, with a rate of 18%. One of the main issues identified is the mismatch between the skills young people acquire and those sought by employers. Training programs are often limited in scope and poorly aligned with labor market needs.

OSEER in Senegal aims to provide sustainable integration solutions for young people living in the urban and peri-urban areas of Dakar and Saint-Louis—regions with some of the highest youth unemployment rates and significant gender barriers.

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Project Objectives

The OSEER program aims to support the sustainable integration of vulnerable young women and men in the Sahel, while promoting a transformation in gender relations and encouraging youth engagement as drivers of change.

The first objective is to support the integration of 1,000 young people (70% of whom are women) through vocational training, internships, entrepreneurship, the creation of Youth Civic and Economic Associations (AJECs), and access to financing. Job fairs, company exchanges, and awareness-raising media programs will promote employment, entrepreneurship, and gender equality.

The second objective is to strengthen the legal and policy framework for youth integration and gender equality by supporting 125 youth groups in advocacy efforts on themes such as access to credit, training in future-oriented careers, and combating gender stereotypes.

Project Impact

The OSEER program promotes the holistic integration of young people by guiding them toward socio-economic, civic, and environmental autonomy through a gender-transformative approach. It prioritizes vulnerable young women, particularly mothers and heads of households, as well as young people with disabilities.

OSEER seeks to break down gender barriers, offer concrete opportunities, and create an enabling environment for empowerment. Young people are actively involved as agents of change, including through participation in the program’s governance.

By the end of the program in Senegal:

  • 1,000 young people will have gained professional skills aligned with current challenges;

  • 2,500 will have access to savings and credit through community-based mechanisms;

  • 1,000 will be supported in launching sustainable and equitable income-generating activities;

  • 125 will be trained in advocacy on youth integration and gender equality.

A Regional Center of Expertise will also be established to strengthen capacity across the region.

The Role of the setec Foundation

The Setec Foundation is supporting the project with a grant of €20,000. This funding enables the training of around thirty young women and men aged 16 to 28 in Senegal—70% of whom are young women—in high-potential trades and sectors identified beforehand, or in self-entrepreneurship.

Oumou Diakhoumpa, Setec’s representative in Dakar, is the project’s sponsor and ensures local follow-up and coordination.

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Expertises

Transition Fund

Key figures

20 000 euros