“If you educate a woman, you educate a nation”
Experiences from Else, an intern at Cadena and a student from Tilburg University studying ‘Global Management of Social Issues’.
For my bachelor, I need to do an internship at an international oriented company, therefore, I am currently working as an intern at Cadena IDP. One of the objectives of my internship is to write a consultancy assignment for Cadena on an issue or problem that the company is dealing with. The report shall provide Cadena and other project stakeholders with recommendations for the future.
For the report, I decided to look at the Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Project (YEEP) in Liberia. Since this is a three year project, quite some ‘challenges’ can be experienced during the implementation. It was agreed to focus on the second component of the project, which is related to ‘Job readiness skills’ for students at the University of Liberia. Next to this, I was also interested to see how gender is (or is not) integrated in the implementation of the component but also in the University as a whole.
In order to collect data for the research I spend two weeks in Liberia at the beginning of November. In general, it was my first visit to Africa, so the first days I was just amazed by all the things that I saw, the people with all their bright and colorful clothes, and I experienced how the country operates. It was really interesting to see and experience Africa in real-life, since I always heard a lot of stories, read books, and also saw a few documentaries about the continent.
For the consultancy assignment, I managed to interview staff from the University, many students from the University, staff from Cadena and an employee of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It was really interesting to speak with all the stakeholders and beneficiaries and to see their view on the project, but also on issues in the country like youth unemployment and gender. We had a lot of interesting discussions on how the country changed pre- and post-war, but also whether or not gender is considered to be a problem in Liberia.
Now that I am back in the office, I am busy analyzing my data and writing the report for Cadena. I am very grateful that I got the opportunity to go abroad, to Liberia. The most apparent thing that I learned during my stay in Liberia will probably be the proverb that one of the students brought up during an interview: “if you educate a woman, you educate a nation”.
Else Hagers
Project Support
Services for capacity building in African Higher Education Institutions to address national skills needs
From April 2025 to December 2025, Cadena is contracted by UNESCO to support the capacity development component of the UNESCO-China Funds in-Trust Phase III (CFIT III) by equipping higher education institutions (HEIs) with the necessary tools, expertise, and strategies...
Consultancy Services on developing East African Regional Competency standard in Domestic work collaboration between EAC and ILO
From August 2024 to March 2025, Cadena is implementing a project for the International Labour Organization (ILO). A recent mapping report on Labour Migration in East Africa by the East Africa Employers' Organization (EAEO, 2023) shows existing domestic workers'...
EU Framework Contract (SEA-2023) Lot 12: Education, Culture and Youth: Namibia
In December 2024, our consortium has won the tender for ‘Technical Assistance to Support the Namibian Training Authority (NTA) in improving the TVET offer related to the Green Transition’. This is a 2-year project. The objective of the consultancy is to provide...
EU Framework Contract (SEA-2023) Lot 12: Education, Culture and Youth: Djibouti
Our consortium is operative in Djibouti, we are providing services for the EU delegation and to IGAD (l’Autorité Intergouvernementale pour le Développement). The motive of this mission is to promote the voice, position, and participation of youth in EU actions in...
EU Framework Contract (SEA-2023) Lot 12: Education, Culture and Youth: Mauritania
In September 2024, our consortium started in Mauritania. The overall objective of this EU mission is to support the energy transition, industrial development, and decarbonization of the Mauritanian economy by strengthening the human resources skills necessary for the...
EU Framework Contract (SEA-2023) Lot 12: Education, Culture and Youth: Ivory Coast
From September 2024 onwards, our consortium supports the EU Delegation to strengthen the visibility and awareness of the Erasmus+ program in Ivory Coast - in all its components. The project targets public higher education institutions and vocational training...
EU Framework Contract (SEA-2023) Lot 12: Education, Culture and Youth: Jordan
Since June 2024, our consortium works closely with the EU Delegation in Jordan to promote better knowledge of EU culture, languages and the EU in general through various cultural events and public outreach and networking initiatives. Our consortium ensures the...
Best Wishes from the Cadena Team
Regional TVET Qualifications Framework for Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania completed!
We are pleased to announce that our team of nine key experts and 3 regional coordinators completed the Regional TVET Qualifications Framework for Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania (RTQF-EKT) and harmonised 44 occupational standards in the ICT, Transport, Power and Leather...
New project Uganda
The Government of Uganda and the Ministry of Education and Sports have recently given Cadena and our partner Mamza Consulting Ltd, the opportunity to start the OPEC funded project "Consultancy Services for Provision of Skills & Institutional Management Capacity...