Monrovia – BRAC Liberia Country Representative Aisha Nansamba has stressed that unemployment among adolescents and youth is counterproductive to the growth and development of Liberia.
Report By J.H. Webster Clayeh , [email protected]
Madam Nansamba was speaking at the launch of a study held at the Bella Cassa hotel in Sinkor, Monrovia on Friday November 8.
With support from FHI360 and NoVo Foundation, BRAC Liberia conducted a study, which results highlight the challenges, role and opportunities of young Liberian between the ages of 10 to 22.
The launch of the study comes as youth empowerment remains a major challenge in the country.
BRAC Liberia is working to intervene by providing access to life skills and livelihood training among adolescents and youths in Margibi and Montserrado Counties as part of a pilot project in a bid to ensure young people are self-supportive. The training also seeks to reduce teenage pregnancy in the country.
The BRAC Liberia Country Representative told FrontPage Africa that the livelihood and life skills training are intended to increase self-confident, resilience and engagement in income generating activities among young people.
“The life skills component serves as the basis for empowerment; we are providing training in sexual and reproductive health,” Nansamba said.
“After receiving the life skills, youths who are interested in the livelihood training would select a specific trade that suits their intent, which grants them the opportunity to make own decisions regarding the choice of employment path they wish to pursue”.
BRAC has been intervening in the empowerment of adolescents since 2014. During which, 373 beneficiaries were trained in hairdressing, baking, soap making, tailoring and other livelihood skills. The project was implemented in four counties namely; Margibi, Montserrado, Bong and Grand Cape Mount.
“This comes with lots of challenges. After learning from the past experiences, we narrowed down to be able to do comprehensive programs. In that, we have narrowed down the program into two counties to be able to document and see how the comprehensive package works,” she explains.
“To the youth, I can clearly say the future of this country is in their hands. They have some level of untapped potential. Reach out to the opportunities out there and you will realize your full potential.”
In her closing remarks, Nansamba hoped that the report would be used as a source of reference to inform the design of youth projects. And she also emphasized the need for youth led projects even during designing, use of ICT and performance of impact evaluations to identify the most effective approaches to address youth challenges.
Reading a letter on behave of the Labour Minister, Mr. Chester Clarke, an analyst at the Ministry noted,
“Manyyoung people have gone on the way side involving themselves into all kinds of unwholesome behaviors, simply because they cannot find something to do for themselves or because of peer pressure”.
He highlighted that the assessment outlined the challenges and opportunities, so it is important that various partners’ rally around those institutions wishing to improve the lives of adolescent girls in Liberia.
The note also stated that the outcome of this assessment, would serve a unique purpose in shifting the policy dimension on adolescent girls.
Meanwhile, during the launch of the study, young beneficiaries from Montserrado and Margibi Counties recounted the value of the skills they acquired during the trainings.
Also speaking, Carrie Ellett, BRAC USA Regional Advisor for Youth Empowerment, underscored the importance of young people reaching their full potential by making “informed choices” throughout their life.
“Whether it’s around pregnancy or marriage, they should be able to run their own businesses and get the skills they need to get formal jobs,” Ellett said.
The study indicated that, majority [over 79% of the young people are engaged in informal and vulnerable employment, respectively. Besides, 62.2% rural and 21.4 urban women are involved in agriculture which is the largest labor sector. The research also confirmed the existing rural urban disparities in the labor economics for the youth.
The research further identified opportunities the youth could leverage on including; Liberian Investment Act of 2010, Small Business Empowerment Act 2014, National Youth Employment and Empowerment Program (NYEEP) 2018, Buchanan City special economic zone (SEZ), €22.7 million EU funding for TVET reform and International Trade Agreements.
At the same time, John Sunday, who is the special assistance to Youths and Sports Minister D. Zoegar Wilson, praised BRAC Liberia for conducting the study. He said the study is extremely important as it reinforces the consensus reached in the regulatory framework of T-Vet.
This study will help bring about harmonization in the T-vet since it is demand driven. We look forward to developing youth programs and supporting existing ones. As the report provides information that will empower our young people, the government is prepare to make the most out of this report in developing young entrepreneurs who will develop and grow to become self-sustainable.
He added that the Liberian government’s Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) recognizes the important role young people play in the country.
“Youth empowerment and employment are the major force in sustaining the economy. These are all programs that will empower young people,” Sunday said.
“It’s good that young people become entrepreneurs, they do not have to do government jobs.”