The IRC Helps Young People Find Work in North Caucasus

The program, called Vperyed or Go For It!, helps young people from the Republics of Dagestan and Chechnya find work in a variety of in-demand jobs including manicurist, bookkeeper and office equipment repair technician. The courses were organized with two local youth groups and designed to impart practical skills rather than theoretical knowledge as is the norm for such training in Russia.

War and instability in the region has decimated the economies of Chechnya and Dagestan. Unemployment in both regions is between 50 and 80 percent. A key reason for the high unemployment is that schools do not prepare students for the local job market, largely ignoring skills in demand by employers.

From the time the IRC launched the training program in 2006 it engaged local authorities and businesses to help young people get apprenticeships. Graduates are also given an opportunity to apply for business training and start-up grants. So far, nearly 200 budding entrepreneurs have received the training and some 80 will get grants.

To date, 52 percent of the programs graduates have found work or have gone on to further training.

“Graduates are in demand because we worked to increase the practical component of courses,” said Tamil Musaeva, the IRC’s learning and livelihoods coordinator in the North Caucasus. “We are going to continue working with our graduates to help them find work. We’ve worked with the government employment agency which is so impressed with the quality of graduates that they are recommending them to employers in the region.”

• The Chechen Beauty School
• Working Toward a Better Life