About – YEEL

YEEL's objective is to end Somaliland's extreme youth unemployment and give every young man and woman a life of dignity and opportunity.

Creating jobs – improving lives

Since 2011, YEEL has worked tirelessly to give unemployed youth access to better livelihoods. We provide the young people with entrepreneurship training, seed funding, business development and overall mentoring support to help them become self-employed. We provide useful job training and connect them with available job opportunities in close collaboration with our private sector partners.

YEEL have completed over 30 youth interventions across the Somali peninsula. Earlier this year, we implemented the first phase of a cross-regional entrepreneurship and job connection programme funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs that will continue until 2024. In short, YEEL has trained and mentored thousands of entrepreneurs over the years. We also provide consultation and advisory services to international organisations, companies, and public institutions. Some of our more notable partners and donors include The World Bank, UN Habitat, Concern Worldwide and USAID.

Strengthening support structures

YEEL works closely with government and community level partners including key line ministries, civil society organisations, (I)NGOs, youth groups, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders to facilitate the young people’s economic integration and social-political inclusion. We believe that it takes a multi-sectoral approach to solve the complex structural challenges, especially within the private sector, that impede the youth’s access to the labour market.

YEEL also focus on capacity building local community structures including youth organisations to strengthen their self-organisation, capacity and reach. We believe that sustainability and long-term impact including social norm change that addresses ingrained challenges such as gender inequality, SVGB, political exclusion, age discrimination, clanism etc. can only be achieved by engaging and empowering the local communities.

In addition to empowering and creating economic opportunities for the youth, YEEL also works to build strong communities that can collectively voice their needs, advocate for their rights and hold the public authorities accountable.