Global Reach: Past Grantees

Context:

An estimated 26% of the total Indonesia population are young people 10-24 years old (UNFPA). According to the ILO, the youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24) stood at 16.5% in 2020 and 21% of young Indonesians were Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). 41% of young men and 55% of young women were in vulnerable or informal employment. Young women are more likely to be inactive or to be confined to a narrower range of jobs as their male counterparts, and generally offered less pay and/or opportunities. They also face higher unemployment. Young people participants of the Red Nose Foundation programmes are and were highly affected by this situation. They are amongst the most marginalized and they graduated in 2020 under the very challenging COVID 19 pandemic. They are amongst the most marginalised and they graduated in 2020 under the very challenging COVID 19 pandemic situation. Additionally, those who are at school struggle: students score particularly low in maths and reading (OECD, 2018). Based on this OECD report, Indonesia ranked 73rd in mathematics and 74th in reading, among 79 countries measured. With such poor scores, Indonesian children and young people are not only finding it difficult to face 21st century challenges, they also cannot compete with their neighbourhood countries. Low learning outcomes lead to unemployment and/or limited opportunities. 

Organisation:

The Red Nose Foundation (RNF) is a non-profit organisation established in 2008. The organisation equips children and young people with life skills and abilities to achieve their life goals, and motivates them to become positive contributors in their communities. The programmes of the RNF improve educational outcomes by building numeracy and literacy skills and offer job readiness, career preparation and vocational skills to children and young people living at the margins in Jakarta. To boost their life skills and self-esteem, young people also participate e.g. in social circus and art-based education classes. The RNF currently runs three major programmes: 1. Creative Education (which consists of a series of activities including literacy and numeracy, job readiness and vocational training); 2. Formal education system support (which includes tutoring, teacher training and a scholarship program); 3. Social Circus (which empowers young people to show case their talents across the city). The organisation runs two learning centres in Greater Jakarta: 1) The North Jakarta Community Centre for Children (NJCCC, opened in 2016) in the low-resource fishing community of Cilincing on the coast of North Jakarta, and 2) the Jurangmangu Community Centre for Children (JCCC, opened in 2019) in a trash-scavenging slum of East Jurangmangu, South Tangerang, at the southwestern border of Jakarta.

Current Grant:

EMpower's Learning & Partnership grant to the RNF and PVI under the EMpower Capacity Development Initiative 2021-23 co-funded by and run in partnership with Credit Suisse supports cross-sector strengthening through learning from one another with MYE at its center.