Summary

• Through a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme and the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the CAWEP programme is helping youth in Binga gain skills and build sustainable livelihoods.
• 207 young people in Mbilizi were trained in trades such as tailoring, welding, building, cosmetology, and solar installation.
• Beneficiaries like Early Mudhimba have moved from unemployment to stable income through tailoring.
• Welding trainees such as Khumbulani Muleya now manufacture boats and scotch carts, greatly increasing their earnings.
• The programme also promotes entrepreneurship, with 136 participants trained in business skills and 22 receiving loans from a US$35,000 revolving fund.

Full story

For years, many of Binga’s youths have lived suspended between schooling and employment, between hope and inertia. Skills were scarce, capital scarcer still, and agriculture was not an option as the climatic conditions of Binga meant droughts year in, year out. Fishing, which was the only alternative, was heavily regulated and already congested and the nearest cities were hundreds of kilometres away. In this context, doing nothing was not a choice so much as a condition.

That situation has started to change for 207 young people in Mbilizi following the launch of a vocational skills initiative under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)’s Climate Adaptation, Water, and Energy Infrastructure Program, known as CAWEP. The project is being carried out by UNDP and is funded by the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).
On paper, the intervention appears modest. Training was offered in tailoring, welding, building, cosmetology, and solar installation. In practice, it has redrawn the contours of daily life for its beneficiaries, turning idle hours into income, survival into planning, and dependence into self-reliance.

Early Mudhimba (32) was selected for training in cutting and designing, as well as basic building skills. She had completed her O’ Levels, but like many young women in Binga, education did not translate into employment.
“Before the training, I was someone idle who would spend the day doing nothing in the village,” she said. “But ever since the training by CAWEP, I have significantly transformed my life, and I am now able to sustain my livelihood.”
The change reached beyond earnings. Early supports her child and younger siblings who depend on her. Before the training, illness carried a particular fear.
“At one point, during my idle life, I fell sick, and with no revenue stream, I was unable to seek the health services that were needed,” she said. “The stress levels made me deteriorate.”

Today, she speaks of stability not as comfort but as relief. “I am now able to seek health services at any time because I am financially stable, and this was made possible by the training I received to be a professional tailor.”
The transition was neither immediate nor easy. After completing her training, Early rented a sewing machine from a relative and worked wherever she could find space. She later made a strategic decision to relocate her work to a busier area with higher foot traffic.
“With more clients, I managed to save up,” she said.
She now owns two sewing machines, one plain and one overlocking machine, expanding both her output and income. She continues to refine her craft by learning new designs, and a practice she says has helped her attract more customers and steadily increase her monthly earnings.

The impact of the training has not remained with her alone. Early now trains others in her community, including students on industrial attachment and individuals who missed out on the CAWEP program due to age limits.
“I feel obligated to help others so that they do not miss out on their dreams,” she said.