Sri Lanka: Youth in Transition

Teenagers are known everywhere as people in a state of flux: no longer children, but not yet adults; unsure of who they are, or of what the future holds; and often confused as they strive to come to terms with their evolving identities. So you can imagine how a teenager could slip through the cracks in a developing country like Sri Lanka, weakened by two decades of ethnic conflict and reeling from the effects of the 2004 tsunami.

Even before the tsunami, there was a growing mismatch between the educational programs and job opportunities available to youth. The disaster widened the gap, boosting the ranks of "unemployable" youth. Although the international community rallied to provide emergency relief after the tsunami, these efforts tended to ignore Sri Lankan teenagers.

WUSC's Tsunami Youth in Transition Project (YITP) directly targets this overlooked group, offering them the skills and guidance they need to successfully make the shift from school to work and become productive members of society.

Understanding the context
According to Sri Lankan tradition, when teenagers finish school, they continue to live with and depend on their parents - an arrangement that is often a hardship for struggling families. Compounding the problem is the fact that so few Sri Lankan teenagers are eligible to attend university. Of the 160,000 or so students who sit for entrance exams annually, only 12,000 are admitted. Nationally, some 400,000 youth leave school every year with no clearly defined plans for their future.

The tsunami worsened this situation. The disaster dislocated many parents, making them dependents themselves, robbing them of their ability to provide the necessary supports for their adolescent sons and daughters.

The YITP helps teenagers from displaced families to better understand their own abilities and skills. It teaches them about social responsibility, encourages them to work for positive change in their communities and helps them to recognize their own potential.

How we're getting results
The YITP is reaching out to approximately 900 young men and women between the ages of 16 and 19 in tsunami-affected areas of Sri Lanka, with a focus on those who have been displaced and are under- or unemployed.

The teenagers attend seven-day training sessions in groups of approximately 25. The sessions teach them leadership skills, team-building and self-motivation, and offer information about gender awareness, health issues, first aid and safety, and child rights. They provide career orientation and skills training, and create awareness about the enormous potential inherent in entrepreneurship.