Evaluation Learnings Search

Learning Description

Initially, the program sought alliances or collaboration with micro and small enterprises. By the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019, the project approached large firms and the insertion rate to labor markets registered an important improvement. Learning from this experience indicates that working with firms of all sizes may be more effective than focusing only in micro and small enterprises. Late in the program, employment specialists had to intensify relationships with large businesses to improve access to employment results.

Learning Description

Most participants of Youth Build (YB) component do not have any work experience and are looking for their first job. Additionally, they have not reached the academic level required for many positions in formal businesses. The program has proven that a successful way to insert most youths with no work experience in local labor markets is to target jobs that do not fall under the category “decent” jobs—namely, informal jobs. The longitudinal study provides evidence that after gaining some experience and demonstrating their skills and abilities, graduated youth scale up to better jobs, including decent work positions. Youth Pathways - Central Amefica (YPCA) should be credited for soliciting the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) to include the informal sector in the definition of access to employment jobs created.

Learning Description

Develop an initial diagnosis of the geographic areas where it is expected to implement a project similar to that of Youth Pathways - Central America (YPCA) as recommended by the project methodology. Failure to do so may affect the efficiency in the use of financial and human resources, as well as reaching the project goals, as there may not be the required number of beneficiaries or the insecurity so high that it is necessary to search for another implementation site.

Learning Description

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) brought with it the support of their Home Office and Latin America and the Caribbean regional office (LACRO). LACRO supplied various specialists that provided support on topics as methodologies or strategies for employability, the design of the Comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (CMEP) and the cohort study, administrative and financial procedures, and methodologies and strategies to create security protocols within the project. Getting this type of higher-level staff involvement and support was key for the project’s implementation, and the Team considers that it positively influenced efficiency in both administrative and technical execution.

Learning Description

Planning toward sustainability was part of Youth Pathways - Central America (YPCA) since inception and start-up. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) designed the plan and implemented some activities, mainly focused on establishing agreements or collaboration with a reasonable number of stakeholders in Honduras and El Salvador. Several alliances were established by 2017 through agreements aimed at collaborating to improve services supporting at-risk children and youth. In the first semester of 2018, the midterm evaluation of the project recommended to prepare a more detailed workplan to ensure sustainability. In late 2019, CRS reported that the full update of the plan was still pending. Despite this, YPCA transferred methodologies of Clubs, YouthBuild, and Strong Families to select stakeholders. While transferring knowledge and experience is important for sustainability, such measures alone do not ensure a holistic implementation of the project Theory of Change (TOC) and its activities. Therefore, although there may be some long-lasting results, the probability of success of future replication of the project is uncertain. Most stakeholders from El Salvador and Honduras will implement or are implementing modified or reduced versions of the YPCA approach.

Learning Description

Youth Pathways - Central America's (YPCA’s) approach of having a municipality from Honduras implement the Youth Build (YB) component while piloting the same component with a government agency in EI Salvador was reportedly successful. This pilot activity is built around working with youth with detention penalties and has secured replication of such component. Both entities stated to the Team that they will continue carrying out the corresponding services side by side.

Learning Description

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and implementing partners briefed key stakeholders on the progress made by Youth Pathways - Central America (YPCA) over time, which might have helped establish widespread awareness, support and foundation for sustainability of the program components and methodologies as seen even before project closeout.

Learning Description

Sufficient staffing and the provision of adequate oversight are critical. Maintaining a field presence in countries is essential to building and sustaining relationships with key stakeholders and addressing issues that arise during the course of a project in a timely manner. Most technical cooperation projects rely on external consultants; the quality of research, training and technical assistance depends primarily on the experience and expertise of the particular individuals assigned to the task. While recruitment of qualified consultants is very important, good technical backstopping from regional offices is still needed to ensure quality and maintain consistency across International Labor Organization (ILO) projects.

Learning Description

Projects need to be tailored to conditions within each country, recognizing the specific political situation and capacity of existing institutions. The ability to effect needed reforms is dependent on the strength of political support and the absorptive capacity of relevant institutions. Projects need to be shaped to fit each country. While country-level activities draw on the same body of knowledge on international best practices, the process of interacting with constituents as well as any recommendations need to be adapted to the existing situation.

Learning Description

The commitment of implementing partners is key, extending beyond ministries of labor. While the ministry of labor often serves as the focal point for International Labor Organization (ILO) projects, it is important to note that the support of other ministries may be needed, particularly ministries of agriculture or public works in countries where those sectors are targeted. Sustainability and scale are dependent on forging relationship with implementing partners that are committed to the same objectives and have the requisite reach and resources to effect change.