When young women gain access to skills, everything changes.
They build futures, support families, and shift what’s possible for the next generation.
Creating Pathways to Employment for Young Women in Zambia
At Pestalozzi’s SkillsHub, young people are gaining the tools, confidence and opportunities to build their futures — quite literally, brick by brick.
Catherine Chansa is one of several young women from the Pestalozzi SkillsHub in Zambia who has recently secured employment after completing training in bricklaying. For Catherine, this marks more than just a job. It is a step toward financial independence in a sector where women remain significantly underrepresented.
As the SkillsHub enters its second year, the programme continues to strengthen through new partnerships that expand opportunities for young people. One of these collaborations is with Build It International, a Zambia-based organisation with over a decade of experience training young people in construction trades and connecting them with employment pathways.
This partnership is helping to bridge the gap between training and real livelihoods — an urgent need in Zambia’s current context.
By 2030, around 375,000 young people are expected to enter the labour market each year, while historically only about 137,000 productive jobs have been created annually, according to the World Bank. For young women, the barriers are often even greater.
Construction and technical trades are still widely viewed as male-dominated professions, alongside additional social and structural barriers that limit access to vocational training opportunities.
SkillsHub is addressing these challenges.
For Catherine and her peers, this combination is already opening doors. Their success also signals something broader: when young women enter skilled trades, they not only transform their own prospects, but also begin to shift perceptions around what women can achieve.
As SkillsHub continues to grow through partnerships and employment pathways, more young people from under-resourced communities are gaining the tools, confidence and opportunities to build their futures — and contribute to their communities in meaningful ways.
