In 2019, a consortium of academic, governmental and non-governmental partners embarked on defining and designing a more comprehensive and integrated approach to service delivery for South Africa’s young people who are NEET. Informed by existing comprehensive models of support, implemented by the European Union and beyond, the project carefully considered and consulted on the suitability and feasibility of a similar intervention adjusted for the South African context. The result was a comprehensive evidence-based proposal for the development and implementation of a BPS for youth who are NEET.
The BPS project has used a consultative approach of involving stakeholders from the start to provide input and guidance on the design of a multi-faceted package of support for young people in South Africa.
The objectives of phase 1 were to:
- define the building blocks of a South African programme of support to young people, and its target group;
- determine the delivery mechanism to the target group, the duration and programme pathways;
- based on a review of existing policies, propose a policy framework for the programme;
- determine the data systems requirements for successfully delivering the programme;
- based on available data, provide estimates on the cost of the implementation of the programme; and
- develop a proposal for a place-specific pilot phase, and a monitoring and evaluation framework.
The proposed BPS programme for South Africa’s young people, which was finalised at the end of 2019, set out a compound activation and guidance intervention model that proactively seeks out young people who are NEET. It emphasised offering face-to-face, tailored and multi-faceted support that meets the various needs of a young person. The BPS was founded on seven principles that, collectively, are meant to provide an activation strategy and a ‘seamless’ experience for NEET youth that means that young people no longer have to figure out pathways to (re)connection on their own. The seven BPS pillars combine peer-to-peer outreach, guidance counselling, referral to services within a community of practice, and are supported by a case management system that ensures a continuum of support.
In a next phase, BPS pilots will be developed to achieve proof of concept.
The work was funded and provided with technical support by the Capacity Building Programme for Employment Promotion, funded by the European Union and based in the Government Technical Advisory Centre in the National Treasury.
Phase 1 of the BPS project was led by SALDRU and conducted in partnership with the:
- Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Africa;
- Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg;
- DG Murray Trust;
- The Jobs Fund.
Read about phase 2 or go back to the project page.
Basic Package of Support for young people © 2019 by SALDRU (UCT), CSDA (UJ) is licenced under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
