Project Objective: To empower women and youth through capacity building for CSOs/YIs, economic empowerment, hotline services, advocacy, and legal support, enhancing their participation in social, economic, and political life.

Project Duration: March 2025 – February 2027 (24 Months).

Target Group: 200 Civil Society Organizations & Youth Initiatives (400 members), and 390 direct community beneficiaries (women and youth).

Targeted Areas: Aden and Taiz Governorates.

Implementing: Youth Leadership Development Foundation (YLDF).

Partner & Donor: Funded by the European Union (EU), ZOA (Partner), Yemen Women Union (YWU - Strategic Partner). 

Project Details:

Grounded in the core belief that structural development begins with empowering society's most dynamic demographics, and with generous strategic funding from the European Union (EU), the Youth Leadership Development Foundation (YLDF), acting as the implementing organization, in alliance with ZOA as a primary partner and the Yemen Women Union (YWU) as a strategic partner, is driving the project: "Enhancing the Economic and Social Empowerment of Women and Youth in Aden and Taiz Governorates". This ambitious structural intervention spans 24 comprehensive months, anchoring its field operations directly within the governorates of Aden and Taiz. The project is systematically designed to create a paradigm shift in the realities of women and youth by refining their capacities, financing their economic initiatives, and providing critical hotline services, advocacy, and legal aid, ultimately cementing their active leadership and representation in social, economic, and political spheres.

The project deploys a dual-track strategy that seamlessly merges institutional fortification with direct grassroots community empowerment. On the institutional front, the project builds the capacities and structural efficiency of 200 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Youth Initiatives (YIs), strategically mapped to enhance 125 existing organizations and incubate 75 newly established youth entities. This includes training 400 active members (both men and women) at a rate of 2 members per entity, while revitalizing 2 existing CSO networks to foster a highly collaborative civic eco-system. Concurrently, on the community front, the intervention directly supports 390 vulnerable women and youth through targeted economic empowerment pathways. The ultimate impact of this model is realized through two key results: strengthening the immediate capacity of youth and women to successfully run economic ventures, and reinforcing the wider civic space through partnerships with the Yemen Women Union, thereby ensuring that women and youth permanently reclaim their rightful, leading roles in society.