Impact of Implementation of Donor-Funded Projects on Youth Socio-Economic Empowerment in Rwanda: A Case of Youth Employability in the Informal Sector (Yeis) Project in Kicukiro

In Rwanda, there are many projects aiming on improving the lives of the youth as well as a considerable number of donor funded projects. This research investigated how the implemented activities of YEIS project impacted the youth's socio-economic status, it specifically understood how (i) Financial Literacy (ii) youth participation in TVET schools (iii) Financing and (iv) Existing policies have empowered the youth's socio-economic status four years after the end of YEIS project. The study used both descriptive research design and correlational research design. Out of the 729 beneficiaries reached by the project in Kicukiro district, this study was limited to a sample size of 259 beneficiaries. Questionnaires with Likert Scale were used to collect data and finally the study used descriptive statistics and inferential statistics as method of data analysis. The findings were analyzed using SPSS version 25. "Youth's existing policies" has the highest unstandardized coefficient (B = 0.396) and standardized coefficient (Beta = 0.481), "Youth Financing" also shows a significant positive impact (B = 0.227, Beta = 0.266, p < 0.001). "Youth participation in TVET schools" has a positive impact (B = 0.076, Beta = 0.140) and is statistically significant (p = 0.035). Conversely, "Youth's financial literacy" has a positive impact (B = 0.058) but is not statistically significant (p = 0.166). The constant term in the model is 1.122 and is statistically significant (p = 0.006). These results suggest that "Youth's awareness of existing policies," "Youth Financing," and "Youth participation in TVET schools" are the most influential factors in the model for the given outcome. Together, these findings underscore the importance of education and targeted initiatives for empowering youth and fostering societal progress. This study is recommending for further research outside the scope of this research, the study on sustainability of donor funded projects. Keywords: Youth empowerment, Donor-funded projects, YEIS project, Financial literacy, TVET schools, Financing, Existing policies, Rwanda. CITATION : Ntaganda, A., & Kwena, R. (2024). Impact of implementation of donor-funded projects on youth socio-economic empowerment in Rwanda: A case of youth employability in the informal sector (YEIS) project in Kicukiro. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 11 (1), 357 – 377. http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v11i1.2858