Grand Cape Mount County – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has embarked on a project to empower underprivileged women and youths by providing skills training and funds to start their own businesses.
Report by Edwin G. Genoway, Jr., [email protected]
The project was launched in Grand Cape Mount County over the weekend and it is sponsor through a catalytic funding received through the Funding Window Secretariat in New York, USA.
The US$500, 000 project targets communities in Grand Cape Mount, Nimba, Montserrado and Margibi Counties, and will run for a year under the theme, “Consolidating Peace to Social Cohesion and the Pro-Poor livelihood and Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth in Liberia”.
UNDP is collaborating with the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Youth and Sports, and Gender and Social Protection as well as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Project Officer of UNDP, Gerald Witherspoon said the government of Liberia role in the project is to take ownership of the quick transformation, which is set for beneficiaries.
He said because of the conflict sensitivity and training aspect of the program in terms of sustaining the peace of Liberia, the post United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) departure and the recent political transition, the project is also aimed at injecting some livelihood in economic empowerment into the communities.
He said the second phase of the project is to provide beneficiaries and kids to receive career entrepreneurship skills to start their business or to expand whatever business they already had.
The project is also intended to transform youths and women that are disadvantaged; it started September 2018 and will end next year September.
Mr. Witherspoon told FrontPage Africa shortly after the program in Grand Cape Mount County that the second phase of the project would empower disadvantaged women and youth into becoming entrepreneurs in their various communities.
“Our expectations is that hopefully the project demonstrates some sorts of transformation not only the lives of these beneficiaries but in the communities, in terms of resilient communities, we need to have individuals who are inclusive and are able to contribute to the communities, and so those who were selling coal, fish and other things are able to contribute to the community,” he said.
He noted that commercial motorcyclists and petty traders who were in search of opportunities to start their business could also benefit from the project.
“Based on that and the performance of our beneficiaries and our ability to provide communication and visibility to our partners and our donors we want to then skill up the activities,” he disclosed.
Emmanuel M. Johnson, Assistant Minister of Youths and Sports, said the UNDP is complementing the pro-poor agenda for prosperity and development, which focus is to improve the lives of Liberians.
“We are concern about the welfare of our people, mainly the young people and women in Liberia … and they asked us to send in our proposal and finally they approved it and it was done,” he explained.
Some of the residents of the county expressed appreciation to UNDP and the government of Liberia for launching the program in their county.
Martha Passewe, 32, a resident of Senji District, was overwhelmed to see herself part of the project. She promised to utilize the empowerment given her for the community’s benefit. She’s a mother of three and without a husband.
“I am happy to be a part of this program, I cannot get over it because right now I am suffering to feed my kids and the fish I am selling do not have profit; it is only from hand to mouth,” she said.
Abraham Kiazolu, who relies on gardening to feed his family, added that the little help of UNDP would now enable him start a new business that will benefit his community.
“Once I start to do something bigger than what I am doing, it will be a help to people because I will be able to stretch my hands to others or even provide job for other young people,” he noted.
The Town Chief of Senji, Siafa Perry, welcomed the transformation of the lives of people in the county.
“We are suffering for so many things here my son, we want the government to do even more, we want them to keep talking to their partners like UNDP and other great organizations to continue such program because government is alone is not able,” he noted.