What we do
"Empowering Youth for a Brighter Future" – A prosperous Ethiopia is driven by empowered, skilled, and employed youth.
Youth in Action (YIA), founded in July 2024 and based in Addis Ababa, is a non-profit board-led organization dedicated to strengthening Ethiopian youth. It provides employability skills training, employment opportunities, access to finance, and digital technology to help the youth gain social and economic opportunities. YIA is a newly founded organization, legally registered on July 26, 2024 (ACSO/1700/240726/1) in response to youth challenges exacerbated over time to operate nationwide.
Core Values
Inclusion
Creating spaces where all voices are heard
Integrity
Accountability in all actions
Inspiration
Igniting youth potential
Innovation
Solving challenges creatively
Impact
Measuring what truly matters
ICT & Digital Economy
We leverage technology and strategic partnerships to deliver results
Strategic Focus Areas
Economic Empowerment
We provide vocational and entrepreneurship training tailored to key sectors:
Agriculture (climate-smart agribusiness)
Manufacturing & Construction (industry-level certification)ICT & Digital Economy (coding, fintech, e-commerce)
Creative Arts (indigenous crafts and cultural entrepreneurship)
Skills Development
Skills Development Market-aligned digital and soft skills training:
Market-aligned technical training
Digital and soft skills development
Apprenticeships and job linkages with the private sector
Access to Finance
We support youth-led startups through:
Microloans and capital access
Digital finance platforms (like eBorsa)
Training in financial literacy and business management
Innovation & Partnerships
We leverage technology and strategic partnerships to deliver results:
Co-design with youth
Collaborations with government, NGOs, and the private sector
Digital tools for monitoring and evaluation (e.g., Koboo)
Social Inclusion
Social Inclusion: Youth participation in policy-making
We ensure all youth — regardless of gender, ability, or background — have equal opportunities:
Promoting gender equity and disability inclusion
Enabling youth voices in policy-making and governance
Advancing rural-urban equality and minority rights
Apprenticeship linkages
Apprenticeship linkages with the private sector;
These partnerships provide real-world experience, improve job readiness, and strengthen workforce development in meaningful ways.
Sector-specific priorities
Agriculture: Climate-smart agribusiness
Manufacturing/Construction: Industrial skills certification
ICT/Digital Economy: Coding, fintech, e-commerce
Creative Arts: Indigenous craft commercialization
Advocacy & Systems Change
Advocacy & Systems Change: Rural-Urban Opportunity Balancing refers to the strategic efforts aimed at reducing disparities in access to economic, educational, health, and social opportunities between rural and urban populations — by influencing policies, shifting institutional practices, and creating inclusive systems.