Sustainable E-waste Management for Youth Employment in Central Province, Zambia

This project promotes a safe, inclusive and productive youth employment in Central Province, Zambia, by transforming the growing e-waste challenge into opportunities for decent green jobs within a circular economy framework. The intervention has adopted employment-centred strategy that addresses Zambia’s growing e-waste challenge while responding to the urgent need for immediate and inclusive youth employment in Central Province. The initiative delivers tangible results while laying the foundations for longer-term sustainability through skills development, enterprise support and institutional strengthening. At its core, the initiative is leveraging the labour-intensive potential of the e-waste value chain—including collection, repair, refurbishment, dismantling and pre-processing—to create safe, decent and productive green jobs for unemployed and underemployed youth, with a deliberate focus on young women and persons with disabilities. These activities are well suited to short-cycle training, rapid work-based learning and early employment absorption, making them appropriate for a time-bound intervention. The intervention is structured around three mutually reinforcing pillars: Creating immediate green jobs and work-based learning opportunities; Building skills and entrepreneurship for sustainability; Strengthening the enabling environment for safe and sustainable e-waste management To achieve the foregoing, the interventions working with the ILO’s tripartite approach, engaging government institutions, employers’ and workers’ organisations, training institutions, private sector actors and community organisations. Japanese technical expertise and private-sector know-how is being leveraged to support technology transfer, document good practices and innovation in e-waste management, in line with TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) priorities.

Project symbol

ZMB/26/01/JPN

Admin unit

CO-Lusaka

Start date

18/02/2026

End date

30/03/2027

Total allocation

924092

Total expenditure

Status

Active

97266

Development Partners

Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Country/Countries

Zambia

Outcomes

Outcome 3: Full and productive employment for just transitions