Events

The Making Financial Services and Business Skills Development Available to African Children and Youth project, known commonly as Youth Financial Services (YFS), was a pilot program proposed for 3 ½ years, but funded for about 1 ½ . It was the fruit of a grant from the Swedish International Development Agency through Plan Sweden to Plan International’s West Africa Regional Office. Implementation occurred through Plan Country Offices in Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Niger. The project formally began in August 2007 and ended in February 2009 after a two-month no-cost extension. A final three-month extension was granted for the period August through October 2009.

With project end, SIDA, Plan Sweden, and Plan WARO all wanted a thorough assessment of the project experience, all the more since it had been designed as a pilot endeavor. The specific objectives of this assessment were:

• Produce an analytical report on the YFS project to date, highlighting achievements and shortfalls relative to objectives and implementation plan and explore the reasons for successes or failures.
• Provide insight into whether Plan and its partners have made progress in identifying effective approaches and methodologies that result in sustainable and replicable program models relevant to youth.
• Make recommendations designed to improve the technical content and management of the project in its next phase.