Young Leaders welcomes World Bank’s £20 million support to Youth Employment
The leader of Young Leaders-Sierra Leone Mr Unisa “Dizo”-Conteh (in photo) has welcomed news that the World Bank is happy to commit US$20 million to support youth employment in Sierra Leone.
Dizo says this commitment will “create reassurance amongst youth that the international community is serious about helping the country tackle youth unemployment,” which according to him is a “national emergency.”
He adds “youth unemployment is a deep problem in the country that is dragging the future of our colleagues {youth} backward.”
Speaking to Sierra Express Media via telephone interview, Dizo says: “Youth, even though they make up the largest portion of the country’s entire population, continue to suffer from serious deprivation and social exclusion.”
In a recent press release, the World Bank announced that it has “signed an agreement with the Government of Sierra Leone that supports the government’s short to medium term efforts aimed at building on successes of existing youth employment programs in the country through the Youth and Employment Support (YES) project.”
The release adds that the $20 million pledge to Sierra Leone is being “financed under the Crisis Response Window of the Bank designed to assist countries cope with the effects of the global economic downturn.”
“This means $25 million in total is now, within a month, being earmark in the area of youth employment,” Dizo says. He comes up with this total when taken into consideration a $5 million the government announced last month which it will use for the National Youth commission.
Dizo goes on to say that “Sierra Leonean youth, in both Sierra Leone and the disapora, can work together with all stakeholders involved to ensure the money is used for the intended purposes.”
Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
© 2010, https:. All rights reserved.
