Economic inclusion of 350 teen mothers, Colombia

The Employment and Opportunities Center of the Juanfe Foundation is responsible for:

• Create partnerships with city businesses to promote labor incersion for vulnerable teen mothers.

• Experiential experience in the facilities of the Juanfe with the directors of the companies, called Juanfe Tour.

• Business breakfasts with potential allies and current allies to achieve an exchange of experiences that motivates the achievement of new alliances.

• Visits to companies with the adolescent’s mothers so that they know the work dynamics and are motivated to redefine their life project and the steps that will come for the achievement of their goals through their formal economic autonomy.

• Lead projects where employability is sought, provide the Foundation with analysis on the work session to make adjustments in planning and training

During 2022, we strengthened our alliances and generated new business contacts, with the aim of generating job opportunities for our young women.

EMPLOYMENT:

Active adolescent’s mothers: graduates who continue to receive the benefits of the Foundation through CEO: employment, training, accompaniment, events, others: 810 young people

Adolescents mother’s employees 2022: 177 (60% have retention longer than 3 months)

Jobs managed: 222

These jobs correspond to:

58% to permanent jobs

11% to permanent jobs

31% to temporary jobs.

COMPANIES:

• Total partner companies:262

• Companies sensitized in the year: 180.

• New alliances: 50

• Vacancies managed: 291

• Jobs managed:222.

• Employer sectors: Jobs are mainly in the service sector in companies such as restaurants, hotels and beauty centers.

• Positions occupied by adolescent’s mothers: waitresses, waitresses, service assistants, manicurists, beauty assistants, among others.

FORMATIONS:

Adolescents mothers trained in complementary areas for employment: 261

Courses taken: 10

Workshops held: 12

Topics covered: Trends to improve the skills directly related to the technical work programs pursued, as well as soft skills that are indispensable when providing each of their services.

• The satisfaction of the adolescent’s mothers in relation to the trainings is qualified from 1 to 10 through an evaluation regarding the thematics and the trainer, it can be evidenced that 90% of the expectations are met and 31% of the trained mothers were employed after completing the trainings.

EVENTS

A business breakfast was held with new companies from the productive sector, interested in social and economic development; 14 employers participated.

We achieved 2 job fairs; where it was possible to keep in mind the active job offers of partner organizations.

In addition, we are carrying out activities aimed at graduates who make an important contribution to their employment and development, including:

2 work closet; participation of 102 young people in the first and 68 young people in the second between graduates and students.

1 annual meeting of graduates; attendance of 161 young people.

On the other hand, it was possible to manage and obtain items to be donated to graduates by allies among whom were: beauty kits by Esika; washing by Maizena; milkshakes donated by HND; antiseptic alcohol donated by Distanco S.A.S; bed linen from the Hotel Almirante; ice cream from Crepes and Waffles, among others.

In Colombia, recently the inclusion of women in the labor market has been a problematic issue. In fact, according to DANE, in the April-June 2022 quarter, the unemployment rate for women was of 14.0% while for men it was of 8.9%. There was an unemployment gap of 5.1 percentage points, with women being the most affected. Also, Cartagena, according to DANE, is consider as the first city in Colombia with the highest gap of unemployment rate.  

 However, among women, there is a weaker segment: vulnerable teenage mothers. Indeed, according to the report Women and Men: Gender Gaps in Colombia written by DANE and UN Women, the number of children that women have significantly affects their Global Participation Rate (TGP). Among non-mothers, 74.0% participate in the labor market. With a daughter/son, the rate drops 2.5 percentage points; with two sons/daughters, the difference is not important, but among those with three children it is reduced to 65.2%.   

 Even though the situation has endured over time we, as a foundation that seeks the inclusion of adolescent mothers in the formal productive system, have learned many lessons and as a resultduring the months of April to June:   

• We achieved better encounter between the labor demand and the capacities of young women. This was possible thanks to our Employment and Opportunities Center (CEO) efforts on expanding knowledge of the current labor market and consolidating feedback information in all phases of the labor insertion process, through permanent dialogue with companies and young graduates. 
• We strengthened our partnership management and achieved 31 new employers. 
• We carried out 149 labor follow-ups ensuring job retention.  

• We developed 9 Workshops for strengthening skills, 212 had have benefited in these workshops. 
• We carried outthe job fair with the participation of Public Employment Service Agencies and 11 companies focused on the start of internships and employments.  
• We made the first two work closets of the year. One in Cartagena and Medellín, where we had the participation of more than 200 adolescent mothers. In this activity our graduates received training in effective image, work attitude and assertive communication and had have the possibility of acquiring clothing in excellent conditions for their working life.   
• In May we closed the first year of operation of the CREO Social Impact Bonus where more than 380 people found employment. La Juanfe participated as an operator and investor, contributing experience in the care of young adolescent mothers. 

 Finally, we will continue to work hardly so our teenage mothers manage to structure their life projects and have all the facilities to integrate into the labor system. 

EMPLOYMENT: EMPOWERMENT AND ECONOMIC AUTONOMY OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

During the course of the project, the Employment and Entrepreneurship Office (OEE) began a transition in order to be able to broaden the horizon and have more possibilities to offer new opportunities to our graduates, for this reason, our new name is the Center for Employability and Opportunities (CEO).

This first quarter we achieved:

• 41 employed teenage mothers.
• 30 teenage mothers with permanent jobs.
• The percentage of retention of adolescent mothers in Juanfe is 74% in jobs of 3 months and more.
• 25 new employers

We identify the skills demanded by the labor market to carry out complementary training focused on strengthening the skills of our teenage mothers

• During the first quarter of 2022, 2 courses and 3 workshops were held in which 145 adolescent mothers were trained.
• We make companies aware of the dual training strategy to work together on a new proposal for the academic plan of our young mothers

2021: IN THE MIDDLE OF RESILIENCE AND ECONOMIC REACTIVATION

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that global efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals have been insufficient and has unleashed an unprecedented crisis that further hinders the progress of countries and affects the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world to a greater extent. The health emergency has exposed and deepened inequalities, with impacts that are much more exacerbated among girls and women.

At Juanfe we are taking action, we are committed to continuing to BREAK CYCLES OF INTERGENERATIONAL POVERTY in adolescent mothers who live in situations of poverty, extreme poverty, vulnerability, risk, and exclusion.

At the beginning of the year, we faced a great challenge related to the reconstruction of labor markets, which implied low productivity, high informality, income inequality, and few decent work opportunities, affecting the achievement and job stability of many of our adolescent mothers.

However, the economic reactivation has been a great opportunity to increase the competitiveness of our adolescent mothers in the labor market.

Finally, we feel proud to achieve the positioning of our young women in different labor sectors despite all the social, health, and educational difficulties that arose during the year.

During 2021 we achieved:

• 592 graduated mothers are more competitive in the labor market because they have reinforced financial, technical, and soft skills through the 47 strengthening workshops offered this year by the Employment and Entrepreneurship Office.
• 265 graduates have strengthened their knowledge in beauty, table, and bar, hospital cleaning and disinfection, customer service, office automation, customer service, cash register management, thanks to the 15 courses that were developed during 2021.
• We identified 502 job opportunities.
• We manage 369 jobs, of which 107 adolescent mothers have been employed in different positions such as kitchen assistants, waitresses, sales consultants, bakery assistants, cashiers, operators, bartenders, waitresses, stylists, receptionists, among others.
  
  1.      Permanent jobs:211
  2.      Temporary jobs:116
  3.      Self-managed jobs: 42, of which 25 are permanent and 17 temporary
• We achieved 273 new alliances with companies such as:Patprimo, Tiendas D1, Hotel Casino Atlantic, Restaurante Da Pietro, Panadería By Gaga, Megastores, Peluquería Mola Beauty, Restaurante Healty, A.C.D. Temporal del Caribe, Efectividad, Baluarte.
• We strengthen our alliances and generated new ones thanks to business breakfasts, juanfe tours, and job fairs.
• We made 2 versions of the work wardrobe where more than 500 graduates had the possibility of acquiring ideal pieces to look effective in their work environment.

Before the crisis generated by COVID19, Colombia had a poverty of 26.9% of the population. The effect of the pandemic will raise poverty in the country to 38%, which translates into around 5.6 million new people entering poverty. 19 million Colombians living in multidimensional poverty.

Effects of the pandemic on our adolescent mothers

In addition to the situations of extreme poverty, exclusion, biological, human and social vulnerability experienced by our adolescent mothers, we identify others such as:

• Increased suicidal ideation
• Domestic violence
• Depression
• Food insecurity

By not having a “safe territory” to attend to every day, a feeling of abandonment and hopelessness has been unleashed. In the Foundation they not only find the fundamental psychosocial care to create sustainable life projects, quality technical education, education in values, citizen awareness, the importance of the maternal role, the affective bond between mother and child, among other educational opportunities and job inclusion but also they find love, respect, and a safe place where they can develop their full human potential.

Now more than ever it is essential to invest in the comprehensive empowerment of women in order to repair the social disasters triggered by the pandemic.

SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL AND LABOR INCLUSION

More and better job opportunities in today's new market.

Due to the health crisis and the social crisis in the country, the Employment and Entrepreneurship Office has been affected in the workplace with fewer job opportunities for our adolescent mothers, Therefore, our mothers receive training courses and empowerment workshops according to the new job opportunities offered by the current market. We guarantee the participation of graduates in our training offer through flexible models and we have created other necessary spaces related to psychological support for those graduates who have presented emotional and family problems as a result of the pandemic.

During the months of June-September we have achieved:

We are generators of female labor

a) Jobs managed: 143

b) Permanent jobs: 86

c) Temporary jobs 36

d) Own management jobs: 12

• We identified 130 job opportunities.
• We manage 143 jobs, of which 130 adolescent mothers have worked in different jobs as kitchen assistants, waitresses, sales consultants, bakery assistants, cashiers, operators, therapists, bartenders, waitresses, stylists, receptionists, among others.
• We carried out the Labor Closet for the second time in Cartagena, 237 adolescent mothers graduates had the possibility of acquiring ideal pieces to look effective in their work environment.
• We achieved 100 new alliances with companies such as: Patprimo, D1 Stores, Hotel Casino Atlantic, Da Pietro Restaurant, Bakery By Gaga, Megatiendas, among others. • We are committed to our mothers and their employers, strengthening capacities for the new labor market, for this reason, the OEE has carried out 240 job follow-ups.
•  We adapt to the new job market and continue to strengthen the skills of our adolescent graduates (we have carried out 19 strengthening workshops and 5 empowerment courses)
• We held the Business Breakfast for the strengthening and generation of alliances and we had the participation of 16 companies. 
• We had the participation of 12 companies in our job fair where they announced the vacancies available to employ mothers of Juanfe