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Skills are only the beginning: Building real pathways to work for East Africa's marginalized youth

What labour market assessments in Rwanda, Tanzania and Somaliland reveal about moving adolescent girls and young women into safe, stable and dignified livelihoods

Written by World Vision Editorial

on October 27, 2026

Written by: Vongaishe Changamire, Education Technical Specialist and Jennifer King, Gender Technical Specialist, World Vision Canada

The International Labour Organization’s 2026 report, Global Employment Trends for Youth, shows that for millions of young people, the first step into working life is getting harder. In 2025, 67 million people aged 15 to 24 were unemployed, while 257 million were not in employment, education, or training (NEET).

Even for those who find work, stable jobs with room to grow are scarce. Nearly nine in ten young workers in low and lower-middle-income countries, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa, remain in informal employment.

Why young women face the biggest barriers to work

Behind these figures are adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) trying to turn a skill into an income while managing:

  • Unpaid care responsibilities
  • Unsafe travel
  • Limited access to finance
  • Labour markets often shaped by who can vouch for them

More than two out of every three youth in NEET status are young women. A lack of interest or ability does not hold them back; systems shaped by gender expectations do.

BLOOM Africa: Economic opportunity for marginalized girls and young women

The Building Leadership, Opportunities and Options for Marginalized Women and Girls ( BLOOM Africa) project starts from this reality. BLOOM is a five-year, $20 million CAD initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada. It is implemented by World Vision Canada, World Vision country offices, and local partners in Rwanda, Tanzania and Somalia (Somaliland). Its goal is to strengthen economic opportunities and agency for marginalized adolescent girls and young women.

Young women hold hands.

Change starts with working together. Families, communities, employers, and men and boys all have a part in shifting the norms that young women currently navigate alone. (Tanzania, 2026 | Photo Credit: World Vision)

What the labour market assessments reveal

To understand what it takes to move from skills development to sustainable livelihoods, BLOOM conducted labour market assessments in Rwanda, Tanzania and Somalia (Somaliland) this year. The assessments sought to identify viable local labour-market entry points for skilled AGYW, including sectors and pathways with potential for employment and self-employment. Opportunities vary across East Africa, but one lesson is common: training alone is rarely enough.

Rwanda

Priority sectors include agri-food, construction and technical trades, and hairdressing and beauty services. They were selected based on district-level value chains and demand.

Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Accessible sectors include beauty and hairdressing, street food and catering, and tailoring and garment production. Construction, mobile phone repair and transport offer higher-value opportunities, but they require safer, supported entry routes for young women.

Somalia (Somaliland)

Opportunities span digital services, solar energy, climate-smart agribusiness, construction, light engineering, tailoring, beauty and recycling. Access largely depends on trusted networks and intermediaries.

Traditional trades and future-facing sectors: Not either/or

Some prioritized sectors, such as hairdressing and beauty, may appear to reinforce traditional gender patterns. The assessments do not suggest channelling young women only into women-dominated occupations. They reflect the realities of the local informal labour market, where many young women already earn a living, with low barriers to entry. They also recommend supported pathways into higher-value technical and emerging fields where women remain underrepresented.

The priority is not to choose between traditional trades and future-facing sectors. It is to raise earnings in traditional trades while also opening supported routes into occupations from which women have been excluded.

The informal economy: A real pathway to work for young women

The informal economy is not a temporary waiting room for formal jobs. For many young women, it is the first, and sometimes only, labour market within reach. Apprenticeships, master craftspeople, and family and local businesses give young women experience, customers and income.

These pathways can also keep young women in low-paid, insecure work when:

  • Harassment or gender-based violence goes unaddressed (in Rwanda, three out of every four assessment respondents named this as a major obstacle to work).
  • Skills are not recognized
  • Tools, finance, or links to buyers are missing

Social capital: The missing link between training and income

Technical training alone does not fix these gaps. Social capital can. Women mentors, sponsors, relationships with employers, and trusted community connections can connect young women to information, work experience, and customers.

Youth facing deeper exclusion, such as young mothers or displaced youth, will need different supported pathways.

A young woman raises her hand.

Young women are ready to take part. What they need are pathways that go beyond training, including finance, networks and safe, supported entry into work. (Tanzania, 2026 | Photo Credit: World Vision)

Digital and green jobs for young women

Digital and green sectors can expand opportunities, but only with preparatory learning, equipment, safe placements, and employer support for young women to enter and progress in training and employment.

What it will take: Changing norms and investing differently

This can work if young women don’t carry these changes on their own. Families, communities, employers, and men and boys will need to shift norms, too.

Governments, donors, employers, partners, and training institutions should invest in:

  • Inclusive training matched to local demand and sector choices
  • Informal apprenticeships and work experience
  • Social and employer connections
  • Youth- and gender-responsive finance
  • Support that continues after graduation

Success should be measured not only by training completion, but by whether young people gain safe, stable and sustainable livelihoods.

Building pathways that lead to income and agency

BLOOM’s goal is not to help young women enter the labour market as it is. It is to help change the conditions they enter under, so skills lead to dignified work, agency, and income they control.

Explore what these findings mean for inclusive youth employment investments in Rwanda, Tanzania and Somalia (Somaliland), and how we can build pathways to opportunity, income and greater agency. Read more: