As part of its thematic funds, the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation travelled to Brazil to monitor projects on the theme of education and employment of disadvantaged young people, in collaboration with WISE – philanthropy advisors.
The organisations supported by the Foundation help young people in precarious situations, thanks to projects facilitating their social and professional integration while offering a real impact on the communities they come from.
At a time when the demand for qualified employees continues to grow, the work of these organizations is particularly crucial and important considering the current political and social context in Brazil, where public policies are less focused on vocational training.
“The agility and dynamism of the organizations, always looking for better solutions in a difficult context, is impressive, as is the willingness and personal development of the young people supported, who are gaining in confidence and skills and are finally seeing a professional future take shape. This is also impressive in terms of the willingness and personal development of the young people supported, who are gaining in confidence and skills and finally seeing a professional future take shape,” explains Sabrina Grassi, Director of Operations of the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation.
This field trip enabled us to meet the young beneficiaries as well as the future employers, who both expressed their satisfaction with the professional training courses that had been set up.
This is notably the case of the project set up with the Spectaculu organization in February 2019, which aims to offer vocational training in the arts and culture to disadvantaged young people in Rio de Janeiro, with support on the job market.
Since the launch of the project to date, 318 out of 400 young people have been employed in the field of arts and culture.
The Gastromotiva organization trains young people in the catering industry. The project supported by the Foundation since 2019 aims to offer on the one hand vocational training in the gastronomy sector for disadvantaged young people, and on the other hand to train and support micro-entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro.
The results are positive, six months after their training, the young entrepreneurs have increased their income by 30%.
The trip was also an opportunity to visit former projects supported by the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation within the framework of the Social Impact Thematic Fund, such as the Santa Fe organization, which offers tailor-made medical and social care to abandoned teenage mothers in a precarious situation in Sao Paulo.
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