Minister calls for increased poverty alleviation projects among youths

State Minister for Northern Uganda, Ms Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny with some youths who completed a three-month training in tyre repair and maintenance at Paidha Town Council headquartes in Zombo District. (Image: George Buatre/ Kazi-njema News)

The State Minister for Northern Uganda, Ms Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, has encouraged and called upon development partners to enhance varied skilling initiatives aimed to address youth unemployment challenges in the country as they supplement government skilling programmes.

The minister said through such initiatives, the youth will be able to acquire life skills, create self-employment opportunities and the eventual poverty alleviation.

Her encouragement and call follow the passing out of 30 youths aged 14-24 in Paidha town council, Zombo district after completing a three-month-skilling programme in videography and filming, tailoring and garment cutting and tyre repair and maintenance.

“Government cannot fight poverty alone but with other partners. Therefore, as a government, we are committed to working together with such partners to enable the youths to employ themselves after training,” she said.

However, the minister decried the low number of girl children enrolling for skills training, appealing to development partners especially civil society organisations to convince them to embrace such programmes as they drum up support from the government.

Ms Kwiyucwiny underscored the need for girl children to obtain life skills saying they are more vulnerable to social-economic eventualities in their quest to eke out a living.

The Zombo district youth chairman, Mr Amos Jacan, urged the beneficiary youths to practise what they have been trained in in order to break the biting unemployment among them in the country.

He assured the beneficiaries of livelihood improvement that will better their financial and social statuses in communities once they practise their acquired skills.

Some youths who underwent videography & filming, tailoring & garment cutting and tyre repair & maintenance. (Image: George Buatre/Kazi-njema News)

“I advise the youth you have missed on this programme to continue trying until they succeed instead of keeping idle by the roadsides,” Mr Jacan said.

The project that targeted beneficiaries ranging from primary five school dropouts to Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) holders, saw both young men and women attain the training with 11 in videography and filming, 13 in tailoring and garment cutting and six in tyre repair and maintenance.

Emmanuel Birwinyu, who trained in videography and filming, is optimistic that with the skills obtained from the training, he will ably penetrate the market to earn a living.

According to Mr Emmy Kakura Kizito, the Executive Director of Life Concern (LICO), – a non- government organisation that initiated the project, the training will run for four years with funding from COOPERAID – a Switzerland-based organisation sponsoring the activities of Nebbi NGO Forum, CEFORD and LICO.

The four-year programme budget stands at Shs4.1b with LICO having a share of Sh1.2b, he revealed.

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