DHL partners Teach for youth employment in Uganda

DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Supply Chain, part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL Group), has launched a partnership, on July 17, with Teach For Uganda, a network partner of Teach For All, to eradicate education inequity, raise a nation of true leaders and promote educational opportunities and employability for young people in the East Africa country.

In a release by African Media Agency made available to OpenLife, the development  marks DPDHL Group’s 18th partnership with Teach For All under the new strategic framework(1), a focus to nurture employability and life skills of young people from difficult socio-economic backgrounds around the world, and its first partnership in Africa.

James Kassaga Arinaitwe, Founder and CEO of Teach For Uganda, said, “We believe in the potential of all children to thrive and become better leaders in their various communities. The partnership with DHL Uganda will accelerate our momentum and help us improve the lives of the children through excellent and practical education and develop our fellows as effective teachers and leaders in their communities and nation.”

Along with providing financial support, this partnership will also see employees from DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Supply Chain volunteer to support over 36 Teach For Uganda Fellows who will in turn make a positive impact in the lives of at least 15,000 students across Uganda.

“According to Uganda Census data, over half of Uganda’s population comprises youth under the age of 29 and it is estimated that 86% of those are unemployed, underemployed or at the level of becoming employable.(2) While we understand there is much to be done in order to close the gap, we hope that the engagement our volunteers will have with Ugandan youth will help improve these numbers,” said Fatma Abubakar, Country Manager, DHL Express Uganda.

Paul Erongot, Country Manager, DHL Global Forwarding Uganda added, “Globally DHL is committed to improving the communities in which we operate. Having been in Uganda for over 30 years, we want to be able to create a positive impact within the local community. We hope our volunteers’ interactions with these youth will help provide them with an understanding of

what the demands of the real working world are, and the skills they need to tackle these challenges head on.”

Zachary Mukwaya, General Manager, Country Operations Uganda, DHL Supply Chain continued, “We are looking at giving the youth exposure and access to business leaders as well as skills-based training. Over time as the interactions grow between DHL volunteers and the Teach for Uganda students, we hope to nurture a cohort of youth who are more confident, focused and own the skills needed to move forward in their careers.”

Teach For Uganda recruits exceptional Ugandan graduates from diverse fields of study, who are trained to become teachers, known as Teach for Uganda Fellows, then placed in underserved schools and communities around the country as Teach For Uganda participants. These teacher-leaders would commit two years as teachers and mentors to their students.

In addition to giving their time to Teach for Uganda, DHL volunteers will continue to support SOS Children’s Villages Uganda with whom it has had a partnership since 2013.

Deutsche Post DHL Group’s corporate responsibility program “Living Responsibility” is comprised of three programs focused on environmental protection (GoGreen), disaster management (GoHelp) and education (GoTeach). Under the GoTeach program, Deutsche Post DHL Group provides support to Teach For All as well as 18 other network partners in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.