Four regions in Central Java were selected for the pilot project, namely Semarang City, Semarang regency, Demak and Boyolali.

Program manager Anugraha Dezmercoledi said the project would take place until 2022, with a 15-month pilot period and 36 months of full implementation.

“Our main goal is to teach young workers skills, both hard and soft, to improve their access to information," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The reason for choosing Central Java, Anugraha said, was because the minimum wage there was the second lowest in Indonesia, adding that gender inequality was still rife because 88 percent of the workforce was men.

Therefore, the main focus of the program is vulnerable youngsters, aged 18 to 34, including women and the disabled. The vulnerable group, he said, was those who have an income of less than Rp 26,000 per day.

"We are training 445 young people from these four regions. We will also continue to monitor them. There are those who want to become entrepreneurs after the training program and we will support them,” Anugraha added.

He said the project would cover a wider area as USAID was currently replicating and developing the program. (ggq)

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