Arm in Arm towards a more Inclusive Future: Stories from Yombo Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre for Youth with Disabilities

At UNFPA, our vision is to leave no one behind. We aim to create a world where everyone has access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, with particular emphasis on inclusivity. Yombo Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre for Youth with Disabilities (Yombo) in Tanzania stands as a leading example of this vision. The centre operates under the Prime Minister’s Office for Labor, Employment, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities in Tanzania.

Yombo is a colourful oasis on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, where sign language is spoken across the schoolyard, and students are considerate and adept at assisting each other. Two students, Amir and Lisa, walk arm in arm: Amir is ready to provide guidance if needed, while Lisa confidently uses her mobility cane as she queues for chai. Here, no one is left behind.

Lisa explains how Yombo offered her a new opportunity to complete her education despite her visual impairment. Before Yombo, she had completed Form Four but was not allowed to continue her education, facing discrimination and bullying daily.

For the students, Yombo is more than an educational institution; it is a safe space where they feel protected from the rejection and discrimination they face in their communities. Yombo fosters an inclusive environment where students make new friends, access rehabilitation programs, and receive educational, life skills, and vocational training. Lisa dreams of using her gardening skills in the agricultural sector. At Yombo, she learns to grow vegetables and plants, even with her mobility cane.

Amir describes how Yombo helped him start his dream of becoming a businessman. He manages the chicken farm and has sold over 900 chickens during his time at the centre. Training in agriculture and livestock-keeping is one of the courses on the Yombo curriculum. Other courses include welding, tailoring, and masonry skills training. Vocational training empowers students, promoting independence and ensuring that persons with disabilities fully enjoy their rights and choices.

Inclusion is at the heart of Yombo. The centre's health facility, part of UNFPA’s Safeguarding Young People program supported by the Embassy of Switzerland, provides medical equipment supplies and a refurbished waiting lounge. This facility shelters students and the community from the baking sun while they wait for health services. The health centre's proximity has ensured timely and appropriate medical care for the students and serves the Kiwalani and Minazi Mirefu wards, with a catchment area population of about 16,000.

Yombo is a step towards a more inclusive future. Just like Amir and Lisa, walking arm in arm, let's continue to take these steps together, leaving no one behind.

About Safeguard Young People

Safeguard Young People (SYP) is a regional flagship youth program that started in 2013, focusing on Southern African countries. The program expanded to Eastern African countries, including Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Angola, in 2021. Its goal is to improve the health and well-being of adolescents and young people aged 10-24 years, with an emphasis on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender equality. The program complements UNFPA’s existing work on improving SRHR for young people and is implemented in five selected regions in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.

The program has a governance and management architecture agreed upon with the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) through the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania, co-funding this program with UNFPA. At the national level, the program focuses on creating a conducive political, legal, and policy environment and developing capacity for Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and Youth Participation. It also supports effective coordination and partnerships in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. At regional and district levels, interventions strengthen institutions' capacity to deliver quality Comprehensive Sexuality Education/Life Skills and Social Behavior Change Communication for in-school and out-of-school young people. The program also supports scaling up integrated youth-friendly service provision in selected regions.