SOS Children’s Villages India, the largest self-sustaining childcare NGO in India, has facilitated the productive employability of over 1,820 young people in the country through its training programme. Over 970 young people, including 497 women, in Hyderabad were qualified in a wide variety of fields such as digital marketing, IT applications, engineering, nursing, nutrition, hotel management, beauty assistant, network administration, supply chain management, fashion design and apparel construction, to name a few.

Training, retraining and upskilling are essential, especially in the post-pandemic period, due to the loss of jobs; emerging jobs in the market, post-pandemic; and reduction of wages. Education and skills are an important part of the basket of care solutions that SOS Children’s Villages India has designed to provide tailored solutions to the most pressing challenges facing the country. The momentum of the initiative in India is building, not least because of the country’s rich demographic dividend. As part of its programme, the NGO has set up vocational training centers across the country to help young people develop with the necessary skills, and has stepped in with financial support, retraining and upskilling opportunities. , which facilitated employment opportunities and better sources of income.

Sumanta Kar, Secretary General of SOS Children’s Villages India, said: “The pandemic has caused an increase in the unemployment rate, strongly affecting vulnerable communities. We felt the need to equip and empower individuals, especially young people and caregivers. Vocational training centers across the country. We’ve seen an incredible response, with over 85-90% of young people finding placement opportunities in leading companies. We have received constant support from government agencies and companies to train and help with employment opportunities, enabling young people to adapt to the changing working environment.

“I lost my father when I was 14 to a serious illness. After his death, my family was in dire straits due to which I was unable to pursue higher education. I I heard about the SOS Children’s training program and after necessary assessment the organization enrolled me in the ITES – BPO course, at the TWG International Institute, in the IT for Girls section.

After passing the course, I was placed in a BPO company as a customer service manager,” said Deepthi, a young beneficiary. Over 970 youths qualified in Hyderabad, including 497 women.

l 1,820 young people were trained in one year; 1,164 were successfully placed with an average salary of Rs 15,938/- per month in 2021