Grantee:  Partners of the Americas.

Local Sub-Grantees:  St. Kitts & Nevis: Community Achievers Project; St. Kitts & Nevis Football Association; Caribbean Healthy Lifestyle Program; and the Ministry of Education. St. Vincent & Grenadines: Marion House; Liberty Lodge Boys Training Center; Adult and Continuing Education Center; Casper Maria Marshall Tomorrow Women and Men Center.  Dominica: Center where Adolescent learn to Love & Serve (CALLS); Dominica Youth Business Trust. 

Duration:  6 years (September 2009 to September 2015)

Funding to date: $2.0million (CBSI)

Total Projected investment - $2.4 million.

Beneficiary Countries:  St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Dominica, and Suriname.  

The program is part of a wider LAC region Global Development Alliance (GDA) initiative which combines the expertise and financial resources of others including, the Inter-American Development Bank/Multilateral Investment Fund, the Nike Foundation.

Objective:  The program uses a sports based focus to impact youth (17-24 years)

employment and youth engagement for youth at-risk as a result of dropping out of school or not achieving the requisite school leaving certification with training opportunities to enable them to become employable and contribute positively in the region.  Assistance is provided across several areas of the youth development process including:

●      Life skills, technical and vocational skills for out-of-school youth through a sports-based approach,

●      Numeracy and literacy,

●      Strengthening the capacity of partner institutions to implement a focused sport-for development model that is replicable and addresses areas of greatest need including youth employment, crime prevention, leadership development, educational supplement and the promotion of a healthy life-skills and life choices, and

●      Strengthening of partnerships between training institutions and users of labor including the private sector to ensure greater relevance in skills to match market demand.

Program Targets:

●      Training 1,920 youth.  400 graduated to date.

●      At least 40% are placed in quality jobs, either in dependent jobs or in their own business start-ups.

●      At least 50% go on to further their education.

●      90% of employers report satisfaction with their entry-level employees.

●      Partner organizations strengthened with improved curriculum and greater linkage with external partners including the private sector.