I4DI presented at the Knowledge Event Addressing Youth Unemployment and Ethnic Fragmentation in Kosovo: Lessons from 11 years of World Bank Engagement & A New Study on Northern Kosovo held at the Pristina National Library.

Since 2005, the World Bank and the Kosovo Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports have worked together to implement the Kosovo Youth Development Project (KYDP) to build bridges between youth of diverse backgrounds in Northern Kosovo and to empower them through strategic investments in their knowledge and skills so that they may secure meaningful employment and implement their own promising business ideas. Dr. Azra K. Nurkic, the Co-founder and CEO of I4DI, was a part of the World Bank evaluation team and presented on findings and lessons learned from the past 11 years, as well as new information on inter-ethnic collaboration and current opportunities in, and barriers to, youth employment based on a recently conducted large socio-economic study.

The evaluation team found that the program has effected change in all its key activities: 1) Provision of Entrepreneurship Training and Vocational and Educational Training to youth, 2) Provision of mentoring and coaching to start-ups, 3) Provision of Business, Tools and Equipment Grants to youth, and 4) Development of Apprenticeship and business networking activities).

• A total of 216 new jobs were created by the small vocational business that were created by the Tools and Equipment grant recipients
• A total of 629 new jobs were created by small vocational business that were created by business grants
• Of the 95 respondents, 93 of them started their business as new with the support of KYPD.
• 5% of businesses funded are currently still functional one year later
• Of the 95 respondents, 84 of them considered their business to be fully functional.
• 51% of the 200 participants engaged in apprenticeships were hired at the business of their apprenticeship placement at the end of their placement.

I4DI team also performed, and presented on, an Impact Analysis and Return on Investment analysis,

comparing the effects of the earlier years of the KYDP (KYDP2) program to thelater years (KYDP AF).

Some Key Findings Include:

• The average direct beneficiary salary for KYPD 2 grew by almost 200%, considerably larger than the comparable KYPD AF subgroup.
• The average employee salary of KYDP 2 grew by 566%, a considerably larger relative amount compared to the KYPD AF growth.
• The median growth in this group was $350 after intervention comparing to $200 for KYDP-AF, meaning that the growth was better spread out than in the comparable KYPD AF group.

For additional data and more info about the project, please visit: Kosovo Youth Development Project  website.