By Ismaila Sonko
Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) under its technical Vocational Training component on Wednesday handed over toolkits’ worth of D1.5million to 168 youths to support their self-employment drives.
This support came after the 168 youths successfully completed skills training programs at the Gambia Telecommunication and Multi Media Institute in various skills such as solar installation, CCTV Installation and programming Satellite.
Raimund Moser, YEP Gambia projects co-coordinator, said this training provide the job opportunity for the trainees, noting that young people in the Gambia are facing challenges in the area vocational training.
Stephane Meer, Representative of the European Union delegation, said the Gambia has a youthful populated and those youth need the support to build their capacity in various areas.
He added that project is founded by the European Union as part of its support to the Gambia to reduce unemployment rate in the country.
Mr. Malick Bah, acting director at the GTMI, disclosed that YEP and his institution signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to train the youth on skills development and 10% of trainees are returnees from illegal migrants (Back Way).
Hadrammeh Sidibeh, Minister for Youth and Sports said YEP is an initiative project to provide job opportunities for the Gambian youth, pointing that youth empowerment is part of the government plans to reduce the youth unemployment rate in the Gambia.
Bintou Oumie Jawo and Kekunta Joof both commended the YEP on behalf of the trainees for the initiatives and they urged their fellow trainees to put the toolkits into a good use for their own benefit.
The Gambia Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) addresses the economic root causes of irregular migration by supporting youth employment and entrepreneurship. The project takes a market-led approach to improving the skills and employment ability of potential and returning migrants.
