Welthungerhilfe Sierra Leone under its Skill Up project has successfully trained and certified 171 youths from the Freetown Peninsular communities in technical and entrepreneurial skills in tourism business.
Emerson Kamara, the Deputy Commissioner of the National Youth Commission, said the Government of Sierra Leone is working with development partners to provide the necessary skills to our youths to enable them contribute towards national development.
He explained that middle level skills development is key to reducing unemployment in the country, and encouraged the graduands to make good use of their skills in creating jobs and improving their livelihoods.
Kamara said the National Youth Commission, has the primary responsibility of building the capacity of youths to participate in national development and also improve their living standards.
Philip Kamara, Project Coordinator for Skill Up, encouraged the graduands to make meaningful impact on their livelihood and their communities.
The project coordinator said they are working with the most vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalized people in Sierra Leone by improving livelihood security, as sustainable development could only be achieved if people are empowered to take the lead in their own development through capacity building advocacy and partnership.
Head of Skill Up Project, Jacob Johnson said the skill-Up Project in Sierra Leone is aimed at skilling young paraprofessionals and creating (self-) employment opportunities in different sectors of the economy.
“We targeted youths engaged in small businesses in the Tourism Sector to improve customer service relations, records management and promotion of health and sanitation,” Johnson said.
Skill Up provided one-year free intensive training of Tour Operators, Restaurant Managers and Finance Officers to enable them improve their business skills, he added.
The deputy Country Manager Welthungerhilfe Sierra Leone, Santigie Kanu, said training of young people and developing job markets in poor countries like Sierra Leone are urgent challenges to development, economic growth and the eradication of hunger and poverty.
He added that skill Up is an initiative carried out by Welthungerhilfe and financed by the Bauer Charity to empower youths with the required skills for job creation and livelihood.
According to the International Labour Organization, across the world 71 million young people between 15 and 24 years old are unemployed. In Africa alone, at least 150 million young women and men will flood into the labour market by the year 2030.
One of the graduates Lamtine Reffull, a Restaurant Manager, expressed profound thanks and appreciation to the donors, training facilitators and the Skill Up project for building their capacity on how to improve their business for increased income generation.
He encouraged his colleagues to make good use of the knowledge gained during the training by adding value to their respective businesses in the tourism sector.
One thousand nine hundred persons have been trained in courses to enhance their technical and entrepreneurial skills across Sierra Leone by the Skill Up project and partners.
23/09/2020. ISSUE NO: 7924