Youth employment programme Latin America

Enabling vulnerable young people to build a better future through hospitality training
  • Over 2,100

    graduates

About our past programme

Head chef showing class a bowl

What we were doing

We have previously operated our youth employment programme in Latin America.

Our first programme launched in Brazil in 2005 in Costa do Sauipe, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Since then, we ran successful programmes in six countries across the region, supporting over 2,100 students to gain the skills they need to access meaningful employment. This included Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

Trainee hotel housekeeper making a bed

Who we helped

Our youth employment programme focuses on supporting young people, aged 18-24, who have faced a wide range of barriers, including people from low income families, those living without parental care, survivors of human trafficking, and youth in conflict with law and recovering from drug addictions.

Across the Latin America region, our programme worked to support refugees – mainly from North Triangle of America Central (TNAC).

During the 13 years our programme operated in Brazil, we supported race and gender equality with greater participation from young women. Scarlet’s story is an example of how the programme worked to empower black women in the country.

Past projects in this region

Hotel worker setting the table at restaurant

US Department of State: Supporting survivors of human trafficking

In 2010, we began a 5-year partnership with the US Department of State’s Office to Combat and Monitor Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) to explore how our youth employment programme can be adapted to support survivors of human trafficking in key locations. We adapted our programme model to ensure survivors could access the necessary psychological support during their training, as well as implementing a series of awareness raising workshops for hotel staff and local non-profits.

During the grant period, our programme supported over 60 survivors across Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Mexico and Vietnam to gain the skills and confidence they need to build promising careers in the hospitality industry and beyond. Learnings from this project have helped shape our approach to supporting survivors in our on-going programmes and supported the development of our work with Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS).

Find out more about our current programmes in other regions

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Group of students from TUI Academy Sri Lanka - youth employment project from Sustainable Hospitality Alliance

Asia Pacific

Our programmes are helping young people, including survivors of human trafficking, in the Asia Pacific region.

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Middle East and Africa

We are helping young people and working to increase disability inclusion in hospitality in this region.

Help us to continue to change lives

Find out how to become a partner

We are seeking partnerships with funders and non-profits to increase the impact of this programme across the world.