USAID Huguka Dukore Akazi Kanoze

USAID Huguka Dukore Akazi Kanoze was a 5-year youth employment project (December 2016-December 2021) that provided 40,000 out of school youth—34,000 new youth and 6,000 Akazi Kanoze alumni—with market-relevant employability skills by scaling up successful Akazi Kanoze interventions across 25 districts countrywide, using a series of innovations that enabled more youth to participate in Rwanda’s continued economic growth.  There was a strong focus on female participation in the training and an emphasis on women’s empowerment and gender integration. The representation of women in HDAK reflects both success from HDAK in intentionally targeting female participants, as well as interest from female youth in participating due to the lack of wage- or self-employment opportunities relative to men. Around 60-70% of training participants were women, thus benefiting more from the HDAK activity because they comprise a larger percentage, but there was a 7% difference in employment by sex, with more men employed after HDAK training. Anecdotally this is affected by motherhood and gendered cultural norms.