He is a rare sight – one of only two boys bent at the sewing machine in a class of 22. Quiet, the only sound one hears is the squeaking of the machines as the young people’s hands and feet work them.

Today the class is making babies’ dresses, and every now and then he lifts up, as if to appreciate his efforts, the piece of white cloth that is slowly taking the shape of a dress big enough to fit a two-month-old baby. 

This is 23-year-old Jacob Akoy, a refugee from South Sudan. A few years ago, Akoy would never have imagined himself at a sewing machine, learning tailoring. He was a first year student at Juba University, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He hoped to become a successful businessman but the onset of the war in South Sudan in 2013 did not let these dreams become a reality. The family of seven children had to flee to Uganda with their mother but not their father, who had been killed during the fighting.

Accessing university education when you are in a refugee settlement is almost impossible, so for the last four years Akoy has not gone to school. 

“Everything changed when I heard on the radio an announcement for training courses at Siripi Skills Training Centre in Rhino Camp refugee settlement,” he says. Akoy submitted his application, and luckily was shortlisted and invited for interviews. Interviews are carried out by a selection committee made up of a wide range of representatives that include members of the private sector, the Office of the Prime Minister, UNHCR as well as refugee welfare committees. This committee selects entrants basing on set selection criteria. 

Akoy sailed through the interviews and has therefore enrolled for a tailoring course at the Welthungerhilfe-run centre in Siripi, Rhino Camp refugee settlement. 

“My dreams did not end with the war,” he says with a soft smile. “I chose to study tailoring because it is a marketable trade. I hope to use my skills to earn money and help my mother take care of the family.”

Early this year (2018), Enabel, the Belgian development agency, signed a grant agreement with Welthungerhilfe, an NGO, under the European Union Trust Fund’s (EUTF) Support Programme for Refugee Settlements in Northern Uganda, to train 300 young people, women and girls, in market-relevant skills for six months. 

In Northern Uganda, where the majority of refugees from South Sudan are resettled, the absence of vocational skills forms a major barrier for personal development and increased livelihoods. Furthermore, formal employment in the region is often scarce, so Enabel, through the EUTF, provides the necessary funding and expertise for skills training and entrepreneurial know-how for the targeted beneficiaries. 

The training at Siripi Skills Training Centre uses three models: institution-based training (100 trainees), apprenticeship (50 trainees) and training through Farmer Field Schools (150 trainees).

The centre offers five courses under the institution-based training – Bricklaying and Concrete Practice, Welding and Metal Fabrication, Carpentry and Joinery, Catering and Hotel Management and Tailoring and Garment Cutting. Although he is now learning tailoring, Akoy still nurses the dream of becoming a university graduate. 

“I will save some of my earnings and hopefully those savings will help me return to school and complete my university education. I encourage my friends to take up skills training instead of staying idle in the settlement,” he says.

Besides skills training, the students also learn agriculture. Each has a plot of land that they have developed and planted crops in. Welthungerhilfe also has the mandate to deliver soft skills training to the youth, and under this category they learn life skills and entrepreneurship. 

Adolescents and youth are generally more vulnerable to protection and health risks, including early marriage, teenage pregnancy, unsafe sexual relationships, violence as well as HIV/AIDS. “Schools and places of informal learning can provide life skills training in a safe and protective environment, and help these adolescents maneuver through the challenges of life,” says Freda Anek, Skills Development Fund Manager at Enabel.

Welthungerhilfe is only one of five organisations that Enabel has signed training agreements with. The others are BRAC (360 trainees), Cheshire Services Uganda (200), OXFAM (350) and Action Africa Help International (270). The five grant agreements are worth 1,000,000 Euros and intended to ultimately benefit 1,480 young people (685 males and 795 females).