Harnessing the Power of Two Umbrella Programs : The Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE) and the Jobs Umbrella Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) for Women's Economic Empowerment (English)

Umbrella facility for gender equality (UFGE) and jobs multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) supported interventions in South Africa tested the effects of improving firms' information on work seekers' skills through skill certificates and reference letters. Studies revealed that addressing information frictions between firms and applicants leads to better employment outcomes for youth and particularly benefits young women. The challenges were: over 50 percent of youth in South Africa were unemployed; and information frictions on jobseekers' skills contribute to high levels of youth unemployment and place women particularly at a disadvantage. The results show: studies found that providing young work seekers with branded skills certificates increased their employment rates by 17 percent. Meanwhile work seekers that used reference letters in their applications were 60 percent more likely to get a response. Employment rates of women that used reference letters increased by 50 percent. Study results have informed decisions to include skill certificates as part of interventions to narrow gender gaps in employment supported by World Bank projects in South Africa and Kenya.