Monrovia – Over 19,000 young people between the ages of 15 to 35 years old will seize opportunities in Bong, Nimba and Montserrado following a US$5.8 Million agreement signed by Mercy Corps and the Swedish Embassy.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, [email protected]
More than 60 percent of Liberians are under the age of 25 and youth unemployment is a critical challenge for the country.
Mercy Corps Country Director Douglas Cooper said the embassy of Sweden in Liberia has been a major contributor to expand, improve job opportunities and stimulate markets for young people.
“Liberia’s youth are an untapped resource of energy, imagination and ambition. This enormous potential can be used to improve the country in the years ahead, or it can be a source of tension, political strife and violence if it is thwarted and ignored,” Cooper said.
The new program according to him is built on five years of previous programing that improved the lives of more than 12,000 young men and women.
601 youth entrepreneur started new small business ventures 727 young people were placed into the workforce through apprenticeships, with almost half ultimately being offered full-time posts by their host businesses.
Also speaking, the Head of Development Cooperation and Chargé d’affaire, Embassy of Sweden, Elisabeth Hårleman said the Promoting Sustainable Partnerships for Economic Transformation (Prospects) 3 Programme, aims at empowering the young people of Liberia.
She said the Embassy of Sweden has taken a decision to support the programme Promoting Sustainable Partnerships for Economic Transformation (Prospects) 3 with 46 million Swedish Kronor – (about 5.8 million US Dollars).
Prospects 3, is built on the previous two phases of the program, which reached about 12,000 young men and women, “it supported improved livelihoods, pre-employment and life skills for thousands of vulnerable young Liberians.”
The primary objectives is to support young Liberian men and women to find employment or become entrepreneurs; to support innovations for youth employment by tapping into private sector creativity and ability to create employment for young people; and to support results, learning, and research around youth employment issues in ways that contribute to national policy changes and greater coordination between youth stakeholders.
The aim is to contribute to increase youth employment. The program will work to improve the skills and confidence of 16,500 youth to seek economic opportunities; and will provide 1302 young men and women on-the-job training and access to employment information to improve their employment chances; and 1,355 young Liberians will receive business skills training and cash grants to start micro-enterprises.
In total, the Programme is expected to reach more than 19,000 young men and women from Bong, Montserrado and Nimba counties.
The programmes underlining logic is that all youth can be supported to empower themselves and make productive contributions to their communities.
“Prospects 3 will be equally accessible to young women and men, young people with disability, rural, urban and peri-urban youth, and vulnerable young Liberians. It is our hope that young people will take ownership of this initiative and transform their lives and that of their communities.”
“I have no doubt that as young people take advantage of this program and inspire themselves they will also inspire many other youth who are looking for meaning and direction to improve their wellbeing and that of their communities,” she said.