Around the world, more and more young people are getting involved in projects that can bring about change in their communities. Aflatoun’s mission is “to encourage socially and financially mature young people to lead responsible lives and become agents of change” by educating them socially and financially.
Aflatoun’s program is designed as a journey that allows young people to reflect on their lives and on social issues, enabling them to acquire life skills that will help them become committed citizens who work and carry out projects for their community with other young people.
One of the most important specificities of Aflatoun’s approach is its five interdependent fundamental elements, which feed into each other to benefit the young participants in a holistic way:
- Understanding and personal exploration
- Rights and responsibilities
- Saving and spending
- Planning and budgeting your business
- Social and financial enterprises
All these actions will contribute to improving the employability of girls and women, giving them better access to the job market and better management of their finances.
Objectives
- Encourage socially and financially mature young people to lead responsible lives and become agents of change” by educating them socially and financially;
- Acquire life skills that will help them become engaged citizens who work and carry out projects for their community with other young people.
Prerequisites for implementing the approach
- Existence of a framework for bringing together a target group (children, young people, adults, women) for training and learning purposes related to entrepreneurship.
Implementation process
- Set up social and financial education clubs with 20 to 30 members in education or training centers.
- Aflatoun training for center coordinators
- Club activities focus on the following themes
- Creation of savings and credit groups;
- Creation of income-generating activities;
- Demystification of financial institutions and financial management concepts;
- Encourage visits to banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other financial service providers (FSFs);
- Facilitating access to credit by setting up solidarity guarantee groups, through collective savings;
- Encouraging targets to invest their savings in micro-projects.
Stakeholders in the implementation
- Teachers and facilitators at education and training centers;
- Life skills and financial education clubs;
- Financial and microfinance institutions (MFIs).
Direct beneficiaries
- Children, young people, adults in formal and non-formal education, training and learning situations
Indirect beneficiaries
Benefits
- Equips targets with the social and financial skills to ensure their autonomy and transform them into agents of positive change in their communities.
- Improves the social and economic situation of girls and women, giving them more power and influence in decision-making within the household and the community.
