The Enhancing Employability and Leadership for Youth project was an M4P project that addressed the root causes of youth unemployment in Northern Pakistan through four components: working with local workforce development institutions to enhance curriculum and access, strengthening agricultural value chains with a focus on youth, promoting civic leadership in local institutions, and working with the national government to redesign Pakistan’s youth employment strategy in Northern Pakistan. Promoting young women’s economic empowerment was a key aspect of the project.

MSA oversaw research and assessment for the project. This included designing youth and gender-responsive research tools and overseeing a series of quantitative surveys, including a youth-centered labor market assessment, employer surveys, and household surveys. MSA also designed and conducted qualitative studies, including young leaders’ focus group discussions and intensive economic empowerment assessments for young women and men.