The idea of the project ‘Youth Empowerment Through Social Entrepreneurship “We Care” (YES, WE CARE)’  is to initiate a network of conscious young activists and social entrepreneurs from Europe and Africa who are working to educate, liberate, and empower the youth in their local communities through spreading of social consciousness and development. Being aware of the difficulties and socio-economic problems that some African regions are dealing with, youth from these countries do consider extremely important the support and encouragement of creating social businesses as new form that can guarantee their own income sustainability.

The idea behind the project ‘Youth Empowerment Through Social Entrepreneurship “We Care” (YES, WE CARE)’ is aimed at developing skills of youth to appreciate the community, the environment and their participation in finding solution on persisting social issues as well as to work on sustainable businesses in the field of social entrepreneurship (SE).  The project intends to inspire youth to build up their network and be engaged in entrepreneurial activities around certain societal issues. Through the project YES, WE CARE 2 we want to empower young people from Europe and Africa to embrace the opportunities of social entrepreneurship and to make a benefit from it by boosting an impact in their communities and in the same time, creating jobs for themselves and thereby, contributing to the solution of the youth unemployment in the countries.

The innovativeness in this project, primarily, is mirrored through the combination of different experiences and views on social entrepreneurship, as well as through the exchange of know-how. Here we understand the social entrepreneurship as a tool for youth empowerment, through which youngsters can become active shapers of their communities. YES, We Care 2 will be a continuation of our previous project, this time focused more on boosting the business potentials of the mapped ideas and enterprises as well as expanding its activities from East to South Africa region.

Aims of the project:

• To increase the capacities of the youth organizations from Africa and Europe to take into consideration societal, environmental, legal, cultural, political and organizational diversity, as well as differences in economic conditions, and to increase the potential for establishing social enterprises;
• To expand the youth work cooperation globally, networking and peer learning activities fostered between strong and experienced organizations in social entrepreneurship field and youth organizations in order to increase the knowledge, expertise, sustainability and internationalization leadership of youth organisations working in social entrepreneurship field;
• To initiate a creation of youth organizations’ network that will use new forms of organizational support among them using the flexible online coaching, virtual collaboration, on field trainings and specific and targeted study visits.

Envisaged activities:

1. Kick off meeting in Zimbabwe;
2. Mapping of social impact ideas and social businesses (on site and online);
3. Contact making seminar in Zimbabwe: meeting social businesses and relevant players, on site needs assessment;
4. Contact making seminar in Namibia: meeting social businesses and relevant players, on site needs assessment;
5. Contact making seminar in Mozambique: meeting social businesses and relevant players, on site needs assessment;
6. Training of Trainers in Ohrid, Macedonia: education on social entrepreneurship, improving the design on social entrepreneurship projects, fundraising and networking, visit of successful social businesses;
7. Multiplier small events in the participating countries: Educating youth on social entrepreneurship, workshop;
8. Evaluation meeting in Ohrid, Macedonia.

The project is based on a partnership between Macedonia: Association for Education Mladiinfo International , Austria: ICT4D, Romania: Risky Businesses-With Us, Zimbabwe: Young Africa Zimbabwe, Namibia: Young Africa Namibia, Mozambique: Young Africa Mozambique.

This project is Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.