SORDO has officially launched the Youth Empowerment & Social Enterprises (YESS) project at an event hosted with the Ministry of Youth & Sports and the Ministry of Environment & Climate Change. The project is fully youth-led — the delivery team is itself made up of young people — and over the past two months has engaged between 100 and 200 young people across Puntland and Somaliland to identify the first cohort of trainees for green entrepreneurship, clean cooking and TVET training. The first of three training cohorts begins in August 2026.

YESS builds on results already visible through SORDO’s Dan Deegaan clean energy enterprises, which have distributed more than 400 clean cookstoves, contributed to a 40% drop in reported respiratory issues among beneficiary households, and established women energy entrepreneurs now earning USD 80–120 per month. Over the next twelve months, YESS will incubate youth-led green and clean energy enterprises, connecting trainees to mentorship, micro-credit and market access as they become certified clean cooking agents and green entrepreneurs in their communities. Government guidance is now also expanding enterprise support beyond cooking into renewable energy, digital solutions and agribusiness.

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