Skilling & Vocational Training

Our Skilling and Vocational Training strengthens youth and community resilience by equipping children, adolescents and young adults with marketable skills while ensuring their protection from all forms of exploitation, including child labour.

Our Skilling and Empowerment Model

Prevention → Withdrawal → Skilling → Placement → Livelihood Support

At PLA, we use a holistic, step-by-step model that empowers vulnerable youth and communities to move from risk to resilience. Our approach ensures that every person we support has the opportunity to rebuild their lives, gain skills, and secure dignified livelihoods.

1. Prevention

We work with communities to stop vulnerability before it begins. Our prevention work includes awareness on safe migration and labour rights, community sensitisation and outreach, identifying at-risk youth and offering early support, and strengthening family and community protection networks.

Outcome: People are informed, protected, and less likely to fall into exploitation or unsafe migration pathways.

2. Withdrawal

When someone is already in danger or exploitation, we ensure safe removal and protection. This includes extracting individuals from harmful or high-risk environments, providing immediate safety and stabilisation, and assessing risks, needs, and support required for recovery.

Outcome: Individuals regain safety, dignity, and a foundation for healing.

3. Skilling

We equip individuals with market-relevant, future-ready skills. Training opportunities include technical and vocational skills, digital skills (web development, video production, AI-supported content, marketing), entrepreneurship and business development, and soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and work ethic.

Outcome: Learners are confident, capable, and ready for work or enterprise creation.

4. Placement

We support graduates to transition into decent and meaningful work. Our placement pathways include internships and apprenticeships, job matching with partner employers, connecting youth to diaspora mentorship and remote work, and supporting start-ups through micro-enterprise development.

Outcome: Skilled individuals step into real opportunities that match their talents.

5. Livelihood Support

We ensure long-term success by helping individuals build sustainable livelihoods. Support includes start-up kits and tools, seed capital or small grants, business coaching and mentorship, financial literacy and savings groups, and follow-up and aftercare to support growth.

Outcome: Graduates achieve stable income, resilience, and economic independence.

Why Our Model Works

Our five-stage model ensures that no one is left behind. It meets people where they are — whether in crisis or seeking opportunity — and accompanies them all the way to sustainable, dignified livelihoods.

What We Do

• Enrolment into accredited vocational training institutions
• Industrial training and internships

Community Skilling Initiatives

• Local apprenticeship placements
• Practical skills sessions led by artisans and tradespeople
• Peer-to-peer learning for out-of-school youth
• Entrepreneurship and micro-business training

Household Economic Empowerment

• Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)
• Income-generating activities
• Business start-up kits
• Livelihood strengthening programmes

PLA Training and Skilling Centre

All our skilling and apprenticeship initiatives are anchored in the PLA Training and Skilling Centre, offering vocational courses, digital skills, technical programs, and entrepreneurship sessions.

Visit the PLA Training Centre →