As a target group, EMACE recognized the youth who had been displaced as a consequence of the tsunami. Adding to the problem of being internally displaced, youth comprised a large segment of the unemployed in rural areas that predates the tsunami. In many rural areas non-farm employment opportunities are very limited, which was exacerbated by the lack of any demand-oriented skills. The lack of skills meant that those who migrated to urban areas had little chance of finding work that was monetarily sufficient, let alone fulfilling. Those unfulfilled youth, especially those who had escaped the conflict zones and lived in urban areas, quickly added themselves to the poorest and marginalized groups in society. Unemployment, especially of youth, leads to other social problems such as alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide, and civil unrest

EMACE identified groups of youth, who had the willingness and the aptitude to be trained in the area of masonry and bricklaying, through its area coordinators and in consultation with the local government officials such as the Grama Sewaka Niladhari and the Divisional Secretaries,. They were selected as they have been displaced and the training would give them direct employment thereby supporting families and the local communities; they had the physical profile for hard work and could be easy to train and will be in a position to fill a labour shortage in a skilled sector within a short space of time; involvement in this training programme will avert any tendency towards long term dependency on state/other support; and the trained youth will be able to support the infrastructural development in neighboring areas.