JA Africa and the Z Zurich Foundation have launched a three year initiative targeting 20,000 young people in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Togo, linking economic opportunity and youth participation with efforts to build more peaceful and resilient communities. Announced on the International Day of Peace, Génération Équitable is the Francophone Africa phase of the JA Social Equity Program. The initiative will provide young people with entrepreneurship education, financial literacy, digital skills and work readiness training, with the stated aim of helping participants build livelihoods, address local challenges and participate more fully in their communities.
Of the 20,000 young people expected to participate, 5,000 are projected to achieve what the programme defines as transformative economic outcomes, including securing employment, starting businesses or significantly increasing their income. A further 15,000 are expected to record measurable improvements in skills and confidence. The programme projects that its benefits will extend beyond direct participants to a further 100,000 household and community members, bringing the anticipated reach to 120,000 lives by 2029. Burkina Faso is projected to account for 51,000 of those lives, followed by 45,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 24,000 in Togo.
The initiative builds on the first phase of the JA Social Equity Program, launched by JA Africa and the Z Zurich Foundation in 2022. Between 2023 and 2025, that phase directly reached approximately 175,000 young people and contributed to a broader impact estimated at 612,000 lives across nine African countries. According to the organisations, the first phase highlighted barriers that are particularly relevant to Francophone contexts, including thinner formal labour markets, uneven access to demand driven training and language specific gaps in learning provision.
Génération Équitable has therefore been designed around a more localised approach, combining in person leadership bootcamps with JA Africa’s eight module, self paced Digital Entrepreneurship Education Program, known as JA DEEP. Participants will develop social impact projects and practical responses to challenges in their communities while receiving support intended to reduce barriers to participation. The programme includes measures such as on site childcare for young mothers and assistive learning materials for young people with disabilities.
JA Africa will work with local delivery partners in the three countries. These include Gestion d’Entreprise Formation et Études alongside JA Burkina Faso in Burkina Faso, KADEA and Fondation Kinshasa Digital in the DRC, and YMCA Togo. The partnership also extends beyond direct training. The Z Zurich Foundation will provide skills based volunteering and capacity building support involving employees of Zurich Insurance Group. Both organisations are also seeking longer term institutional change by engaging national Technical and Vocational Education and Training boards and ministries responsible for youth and education.
In the DRC, engagement with ANADEC is intended to support formal curriculum adoption and contribute to a local ecosystem capable of sustaining access to skills and economic opportunities after the initiative ends. Simi Nwogugu, President and CEO of JA Africa, said the programme was designed around the connection between economic opportunity and community participation.
“Peace is strengthened when young people can see a future for themselves and have the tools to contribute to their communities,” Nwogugu said.
“Through Génération Équitable, we are helping young people in Burkina Faso, the DRC, and Togo turn ambition into livelihoods and local challenges into solutions.”
Adriana Poglia, Head of Enabling Social Equity at the Z Zurich Foundation, said the partnership combines funding, skills based volunteering and local collaboration to improve young people’s access to sustainable livelihoods. The organisations say the programme forms part of a wider body of work by JA Africa, which has delivered more than five million learning experiences across the continent over the past five years. By combining entrepreneurship training with leadership development and community problem solving, Génération Équitable is intended to address both individual economic prospects and wider questions of inclusion and community resilience.
JA Africa is also seeking additional funding partners to support the initiative’s long term sustainability and expand the resources available to young people in the three participating countries.
