Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference
Case Studies from the Field
A collection of case studies that feature the experiences and lessons learned of YFS practitioners from around the world.
YFS Case Study No.1: The Role of Hatton National Bank in Creating Access to Financial Services for Youth in Sri Lanka
The success of HNB’s programs to reach youth demonstrate that it is possible to offer products and services that meet the needs of youth and contribute to the success of a financial institution with its eye not only on the present, but also on the future.
YFS Case Study No.2: A Case Study on Financial Services for Street Children
This case study explores the work of Padakhep, a non-government organization (NGO) which provides both non-financial (vocational training, psychological counseling, etc.) and financial (credit and savings) services in their effort to improve the lives of street children in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
YFS Case Study No.3: Safe and Smart Savings Products for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls in Kenya & Uganda
This case study details the unique partnership between Population Council, a research-focused NGO with expertise in adolescent girls programming, and MicroSave, a consulting firm with expertise in product development for low income clients, to develop and deliver critical financial services to adolescent girls by partnering with four financial institutions – two in Kenya and two in Uganda.
YFS Case Study No.4: A Partnership to Offer Education Loans to Nursing Students in Uganda
A key learning point on partnerships that evolved is that it is essential to identify and capitalize on mutual long term interests of each partner and to clearly stipulate the terms of the partnership in written agreements to ensure that responsibilities are upheld.
YFS Case Study No.5: Youth Financial Services: The Case of BRAC & the Adolescent Girls of Bangladesh
This case study focuses on the BRAC initiative in Bangladesh known as the Employment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program, which offers both credit and savings services to adolescent girls.
YFS Case Study No.6: Youth-Inclusive Financial Services: Marketing and Delivery is What Matters
This case study describes how PMPC exhibits that partnerships with schools can be an effective form of growing membership, promoting a culture of savings at a young age, and delivering much-needed financial services to underserved youth populations.
YFS Case Study No.7: Microfinance and the “Next Generation” The FINCA Aflatoun Curriculum Implemented in an MFI Setting
Aflatoun undertook this case study for two primary reasons: 1) to examine the implications of implementing the Aflatoun program, typically used in classrooms, in a non-formal setting, and 2) to stress any correlations between the Aflatoun curriculum’s success and its setting in an MFI.
YFS Case Study No.8: MEDA Works with Youth: YouthInvest
This case study provides a more detailed look at YouthInvest, a five year initiative focusing on entrepreneurship training, financial education and increased access to financial services (loans and savings) for economically active young people in Egypt and Morocco.
YFS Case Study No.9: Using Innovative Partnerships and Market Research to Link Financial Education and Savings Products for Girls
If adolescent girls and young women have access to high quality, low cost savings accounts, supported by financial education, not only will their propensity to save increase, but their attitudes towards and management and use of money will undergo a lifelong change.
YFS Case Study No.10: Save the Children Youth Financial Services: Adolescent Girls Project
This case study describes the Kishoree Kontha (Adolescent Girls’ Voices) Project implemented by Save the Children in 5 sub-districts of southern Bangladesh.
YFS Case Study No.11: Youth-Inclusive Financial Services: A Case Study from Bosnia
This case study describes in detail the experience of Partner Microcredit Foundation (Partner) in conducting market research, designing a specialized youth loan product, and the preliminary outcomes and lessons learned.
YFS Case Study No.12: Making Financial Services and Business Skills Development Available to African Children and Youth: Accomplishments and Limitations of Research and Monitoring
This case study examines Plan International’s “Making Financial Services and Business Skills Development Available to African Children and Youth” project, which has sought to create unique opportunities for youth to actively and independently improve their own living conditions in Niger, Sierra Leone, and Senegal.
YFS Case Study No.13: Exploring Youth Financial Services: The Case of Pro Mujer in Bolivia
This case study details the Youth Solidarity Group program in Bolivia which consists of 4-6 young people ranging in age from 14- 23 years.
YFS Case Study No.14: Product Development for Girls: Girls’ Savings and Financial Education
This case study details how Women’s World Banking has helped one of its network members, XacBank of Mongolia, design and roll out savings products and financial education programs for girls ages 14-17.
YFS Case Study No.16: First Middle Eastern Microfinance Bank Puts Youth First
Al-Amal Microfinance Bank (Al-Amal), the first microfinance bank in Yemen, discusses techniques for providing young people with appropriate financial services, including staff training and youth-friendly marketing and delivery channels.
YFS Case Study: Financial Services Offered to Youth
The case looks at a program established by Camfed International in Zambia targeting girl school leavers with a package of training and a business grant, accompanied by mentoring and support, followed by further training and the option of a loan for successful businesses.
YFS Case Study: Youth Loan Program
This case looks at Fundacion Paraguaya’s three inter‐related programs of microfinance, business education for youth and children, and a self‐sustaining agricultural school and how they impact the lives of the youth they serve.
Linking Youth with Knowledge & Opportunities in Microfinance (LYKOM) Project, Morocco: A Youth Livelihoods Program Case Study
This case study examines the LYKOM project of the Foundation Zakoura and Save the Children and funded by USAID in Morocco that included provided youth with financial and business literacy training; savings promotion; and access to credit for youth businesses, and family engagement.
Providing Social Support Savings & Microcredit Opportunities to Adolescent girls at Risk for HIV/AIDS in Kenya
This microfinance brief looks at the approach adopted by the K-Rep and the Population Council that addressed the livelihood-strategy constraints faced by adolescent girls at risk for HIV/AIDS in an urban slum in Kenya. The objective of the Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY) program was to reduce adolescent girls’ vulnerabilities to adverse social and reproductive health outcomes by improving their livelihoods options.
Blazing a Trail, Addressing Obstacles: Lessons from Save the Children and Foundation Zakoura’s Youth Microfinance and Training Program
This case study examines the challenges of Save the Children and Foundation Zakoura in implementing a USAID-funded financial services program for youth and the ways the institutions sought to address these challenges. This document examines the institutional, local market, and programmatic difficulties encountered, and offers recommendations and lessons learned.
Savings Demand Market Research Study West Bank and Gaza
This study examined savings demand in the West Bank and Gaza. Key recommendations included use of financial education, development of savings products with a focus on relationship banking, with a particular focus on entrepreneurs, unbanked women, adults saving for their children, unbanked youth and individuals with salary deposits.
Young Africans' Access to Financial Information and Services: Lessons from Surveys in Kenya and Ghana
This study is a quantitative analysis of the 2009 AudienceScapes surveys of Ghana and Kenya in order to provide guidance to development organizations active in financial services and mobile money projects. It explores the level of access to financial information and services among youth and young adults and provides common sense recommendations about how best to reach this important group. AudienceScapes is a research program and interactive website designed to help members of the global development community; 1) To find better ways to communicate with local stakeholders; 2) Assess local needs in media, communication technologies, development information and development policy;
Youth entrepreneurship: The YBI Network approach
Youth Business International (YBI) explores how three Network members are supporting young entrepreneurs around the world, with lessons for best practice.
Equity Bank: Stanford Case Study
This is the story of the development and success of Equity Bank in Kenya.
YouthInvest: A case study of savings behaviour as an indicator of change through experiential learning
Using the YouthInvest project as a case study, this article will look closely at ways in which behaviour change is possible through experiential learning for youth in Morocco.
