Brazil
Training Youth for Energy Jobs
Helping youth solve energy problems through job training
 Among
Brazil’s poor, youth unemployment can be as high as 66 percent.
Young people looking for work lack the skills, experience,
and education that make them desirable in a tight labor market.
Another, very different, problem among the poor is access
to electricity. Approximately 12 to 15 million people live
without electric power because they lack a connection to the
nation’s power grid.
In order to tackle these seemingly different problems, USAID devised a plan to address both issues at the same time: train youth to install renewable energy systems that do not rely on access to the nation’s power grid. The program, which is run through the Institute for Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy, trains students from the poorest neighborhoods to build renewable energy capacity. The program recruits 16- to 24-year-old men and women who attend an eight-month training course in the city of Fortaleza. In addition to technical courses, the program teaches students skills in networking, presenting, project development, and marketing. Students also have the opportunity to receive field training on renewable energy at private firms.
 The
program has succeeded in its goal to help youth find employment,
with over 60 percent of graduates now having jobs or attending
university full-time. Graduates have found placements in a
variety of fields; two students set up an organization to
help adolescents develop job-search networks while two others
created a recycling cooperative that also produces craft items.
A wind turbine manufacturer, who expects to need 300 new technicians
in the coming years, has offered internships to 50% of program
graduates.
The number of graduates who help solve the electricity deficit will continue to grow as the demand for renewable energy grows. Acquiring talents that serve in all areas of life, students continually prove that the skills learned in the program are providing valuable services to their communities and the emerging energy sector.
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