Vocational Training for Ugandan and Refugee Youths

Last registered on October 07, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Vocational Training for Ugandan and Refugee Youths
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014460
Initial registration date
September 24, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 07, 2024, 6:48 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Tilburg University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Bologna

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-09-24
End date
2026-03-30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Uganda experienced a major influx of refugees in 2016, the majority of whom still reside in refugee settlements located in remote areas across Uganda. However, as the humanitarian assistance in these refugee settlements is reducing (e.g., the World Food Programme reduced its food aid by up to 70%), refugees are starting to migrate to urban areas. This migration is particularly pronounced for young refugees, due to the prospect of greater employment and educational opportunities in urban areas.
In this project, we cooperate with a humanitarian NGO that offers 9-month-long vocational training programs to young refugees and Ugandans, in order to help their social and labour market integration in urban areas. We aim to evaluate the program’s effectiveness, and identify the channels through which the program is effective.
With humanitarian funding likely to decrease in the future, more and more refugees are expected to migrate away from refugee settlements to urban areas. As such, there is an increasing need to understand what challenges refugee youths face, and how programs can effectively alleviate them.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Tommasi, Denni and Till Wicker. 2024. "Vocational Training for Ugandan and Refugee Youths." AEA RCT Registry. October 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14460-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
360 eligible youths will be identified by local community leaders to participate in this RCT. 153 individuals will be assigned to the treatment group, while the remainder will be assigned to the control group.
- Control: individuals are not involved in ACAV’s non-formal vocational training program.
- Treatment: Individuals are enrolled in ACAV’s 9-month-long vocational training program. The program consists of a non-formal vocational educational course, business and basic management skills training, social and human integration training, apprenticeship, qualification exams, business plan preparation, and provision of a start-up kit.
Intervention Start Date
2024-10-07
Intervention End Date
2025-07-04

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Income, savings, loans, employment, well-being, migration, social preferences.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Preferences, remittances, mental health, productive investments.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Youths are identified by local leaders, and invited to apply to ACAV’s vocational training program. After an initial selection by local community leaders, 153 youths will be randomized into the vocational training program.

The baseline survey will take place in September 2024, while the endline survey will take place 18 months later. Subject to additional funding, a midline survey will take place shortly after the end of the vocational training program.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done by a computer – stratified based on: Zone of residence, his/her gender, and country of origin. Randomization will be implemented after the baseline survey had been completed.
Randomization Unit
Individual-level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clustering planned.
Sample size: planned number of observations
360 individuals.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
203 in control, 153 in Treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.268 standard deviations, for an 80% power at the 5% level. Assumptions: explanatory power of stratified variables of outcome variable: 10%; attrition rate: 10%, one-sided t-test.
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
TiSEM Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2024-09-17
IRB Approval Number
IRB FUL 2024-012