Advancing social justice, promoting decent work
ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations
English
Caribbean trainers successfully complete ILO Youth Entrepreneurship Academy
The Academy, held from 30 November to 6 December 2022, was conceived to build the capacity in supporting youth entrepreneurship in the areas of business planning, general entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship for young women, digital innovation and inclusion and green business.
Business Trainers and Youth Development workers from Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Curacao, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago participated in the online Academy designed and delivered by The Development Alchemists and associates and ILO Office for the Caribbean. The Academy, held from 30 November to 6 December 2022, was conceived to build the capacity in supporting youth entrepreneurship in the areas of business planning, general entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship for young women, digital innovation and inclusion and green business.
The Academy was opened by the ILO Enterprise, Cooperatives and Rural Development Specialist, John Bleik, who explained that this was created to cater to the strong need for new training tools and methodologies to support (vulnerable) youth who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. The tools will aid these young entrepreneurs in creating more sustainable and successful enterprises, creating Decent Work in the seven focus countries.
The Academy contained two online modules: Module One addressed business planning and general entrepreneurship; and Module Two comprised of three electives which ran concurrently: AWE - Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs, GEM - Green Enterprise Module and DIG - Digital Innovation Group.
The modules provided participants with additional skills and information to better support young entrepreneurs using modern and interactive methodologies. The electives provided access to ILO tools and approaches that foster entrepreneurship and addressed both the practical elements of starting one’s own business, such as financing and planning, and the necessary support systems needed, such as coaching. The ILO Office for the Caribbean will continue to work on strengthening the capacities of these business trainers, particularly in attending the multiple needs of vulnerable groups and will create an Business Trainers Network with continuous access to updated tools and approaches to increase the effectiveness of training and business coaching for vulnerable groups.
