Vietnam is a dynamic and rapidly developing country. While some reap the benefits of economic development, others are left with little support in the face of growing inequality between the rich and poor. Young people account for roughly one-third of the Vietnamese population, and many of these youth face unemployment. Because the problem is more severe in rural areas, urban centers have become magnets for youth migrating in search of work to support not only themselves, but also their families back home. Despite their hopes, however, many find themselves in low skilled, low paying and physically grueling jobs, as they lack the skills and knowledge to find better paying jobs with a future.
Migrant youth are often at a greater disadvantage than their local peers, as they lack strong social networks and support systems (such as family and friends), and cannot afford to enroll in vocational training programs. At the same time, employers are facing a shortage of highly skilled employees.
What's being done about it?
IOM, in partnership with local NGOs and businesses, seeks to provide the necessary training to disadvantaged migrant youth to ensure that they secure fulfilling and well-paying jobs. The skills obtained by the youth will be based on practical market needs, with support and follow-up to help them find employment.
Through its experience, IOM Vietnam knows that life skills are critical for migrant youth, particularly when moving to a bustling urban city from a rural province, often away from family and friends for the first time. Through the formation of youth groups, safe spaces will be created to learn about and discuss the importance of life skills such as communication, self-confidence, and health. Other social issues such as violence against women and workers rights will also be addressed.
Story of Thach Quang Tuan
When Tuan first came to join the program, he was working as a shoe shiner on the streets of Hanoi. However, one day, he came across Minh, a radio journalist, who decided to help Tuan secure a brighter future. That is when Tuan was introduced to REACH, one of IOM’s local NGO partners.
REACH provides vocational and life-skills training to adolescents, as well as follow-up activities, to assist not only their beneficiaries in getting hired, but also securing work in the long-term.
Knowing Tuan had only completed schooling up to the 5th grade, the REACH staff members were unsure of his ability to complete the course. At first, Tuan was awkward and shy. Finding it hard to trust others, he avoided eye contact, close interaction and often found it difficult to open up to others.
Tuan’s insecurity around others was a reaction to surviving a history of extreme hardship, with no one to turn to, even his family.
At the age of two, Tuan’s parents divorced. Both parents soon remarried but were reluctant to care for him. Instead, Tuan was sent to his grandmother to be raised. Soon after, Tuan learned that his father was a heroine addict.
At the age of 12, to escape from an environment of crime and deprivation, Tuan took matters into his own hands and did what he could to live independently. He dropped out of school and worked as a janitor and parking officer at a small bar for two years. Working around the clock, his salary was a meager $20 per month. Wanting to return to school, Tuan worked on the streets as a shoe shiner for one and a half years to support himself. By the 8th grade however, Tuan could no longer afford his schooling, and was again forced to drop out.
That’s when Minh, the journalist, found him, believed in him, and introduced Tuan to the vocational training program.
Tuan’s destiny was forever changed. In just three months, Tuan graduated from the program having secured a full time sales clerk position with a well-known supermarket chain offering a salary four times his earnings while shining shoes.
Prior to joining the vocational training program, Tuan felt trapped and thought a better life was beyond his reach. Now at 24, he is optimistic and enthusiastic about his future:
“In the past I felt that many jobs were impossible for me to do but after the course, I feel like nothing is impossible and anything is possible.”
He says that without their help, he would still be wandering Hanoi’s streets as a shoe shiner.
“Many of us haven’t finished high school yet but there are no work places which will accept people without at least a high school degree. This program creates opportunities for people like us,” he said.
Please support us in our efforts to empower this neglected group of young people to reach their dreams and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
