Youth Opportunities Program (YOP)
The Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) was a Government of Uganda initiative, launched in 2006 as a component of the World Bank-funded Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), that gave one-time unsupervised cash grants to self-formed groups of poor, unemployed young adults in war-affected Northern Uganda to fund vocational training and start-up tools for skilled trades. Due to oversubscription, 265 of 535 eligible applicant groups were selected by lottery to receive grants, forming the basis of a landmark randomized evaluation by Christopher Blattman, Nathan Fiala, and Sebastian Martinez (with Innovations for Poverty Action / J-PAL). Grants averaged about $374-$400 per group member. The program significantly raised assets, work hours, and earnings after 4 years, though these gains largely converged with the comparison group by year 9.
Randomized Controlled Trial, Lump-Sum Grant, Post-Conflict Recovery, Youth Self-Employment, Northern Uganda, Group-Based Grant
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Government of Uganda, Office of the Prime Minister (Northern Uganda Social Action Fund / NUSAF)
- City
- Kampala
- Country
- Uganda
Contact
- Website
- https://opm.go.ug/
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Number of recipients
- 5,830
- Funding type
- Government, Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 382 USD
- Payment frequency
- Lump Sum
- Distribution Type
- Direct bank transfer to group account (lump sum, unsupervised/unmonitored use)
- Benefit details
Self-formed applicant groups (averaging 22 members, ranging ~10-40) submitted a written business/vocational-training proposal to NUSAF. Eligible groups selected by lottery received a single unconditional cash transfer (group grants averaged roughly UGX 12.8 million, about $7,100-$7,500 total, or about $374-$400 per member) intended for vocational training fees and start-up tools/materials for a skilled trade. Once disbursed, the government did not monitor or supervise how the money was spent.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Open to young adults aged 16-35 in Northern Uganda (a region recovering from two decades of conflict involving the Lord's Resistance Army) who organized into groups and submitted a joint proposal describing a skilled trade or vocational training plan and requested grant amount. Groups were screened for eligibility by NUSAF; due to heavy oversubscription (535 eligible groups applied), funded groups were chosen by random lottery (265 selected) rather than by merit alone. J-PAL/IPA note the target population included entrepreneurs, job seekers, women, adults, and communities/individuals affected by displacement from the conflict.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 16
- Maximum age
- 35
Financial
- Employment status
- Unemployed, Underemployed, Gig / Informal
Citizenship
- Citizenship / immigration status
- Citizen
Geography
- Countries covered
- Uganda
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Research / participation requirements
Selected and comparison groups were part of a randomized evaluation led by Christopher Blattman, Nathan Fiala, and Sebastian Martinez, implemented by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). Participants (a panel of roughly 2,675-5,460 individuals drawn from the 535 groups) were surveyed at approximately 2, 4, and 9 years after the grant to track employment, earnings, assets, and social cohesion outcomes; the 9-year survey retained over 84% of the original sample. De-identified data is publicly archived on the Harvard Dataverse / IPA data repository.
Application Process
- How to apply
Application is closed (program historical/completed). Historically, youth organized themselves into groups (average 22 members) and submitted a written joint proposal to the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund / Office of the Prime Minister describing the vocational trade or skills training they intended to pursue and the funding amount requested.
- Selection process
NUSAF staff screened applicant groups for basic eligibility. Because eligible applications vastly exceeded available funding, 265 of 535 eligible groups were selected to receive the grant via random lottery, which also formed the treatment/control assignment for the accompanying randomized evaluation (AEA RCT registry #AEARCTR-0001042).
