Thrust to harness youth hailed

Herald Correspondent

Youths from Harare and Goromonzi have received start-up kits for various trades to empower them on income-generating projects for their self-sustenance.

The start-up kits which were handed over by the Provincial Development Coordinator, Mr Tafadzwa Muguti, were meant to empower the youths in hairdressing, dressmaking, motor mechanics, carpentry, baking and catering, welding, baking and décor, interior décor, shoe making, information technology, panel beating, auto electricians and electronics.

They were donated by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which funded Mavambo Children Vana (MCV) to equip a total of 133 groups (Harare 99 and Goromonzi 34).  Mr Muguti said the start-up kits will form the basis for the young people to grow Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

He said it was Government’s thrust to harness youths through a coordinated skills development process for accelerated economic growth.

“Skills development will steer the young away from the vices of drug abuse and criminal activities which can completely destroy their lives. It is our hope that the efforts by Mavambo Orphanage, our development partner, will indeed create a bridge to economic empowerment and will feed into the national objectives.”

“We have noticed the gender mix among the adolescents who have benefited in this programme. Women and girls often face barriers in accessing such trainings. The National Gender Policy adopted by the Government in 2014 affords equal opportunity to women and the girl child,” Mr Muguti said.

He said opportunities for women have been restricted to lower paid and lower status jobs than men and was happy that the programme created more opportunities for girls.

“I am particularly proud of our girls, who have been able to defy the odds by joining male dominated trades. I commend Mavambo Orphan Care and line ministries for ensuring that girls in male dominated fields are safe from sexual harassment during their training.

“We continue to advocate for the elimination of barriers which disadvantage the girl child. The Government aims to see women taking more challenging roles in the male dominated fields and remunerated accordingly.”

The start-up kits programme caters for children from disadvantaged backgrounds such as children living with HIV, teen mothers, school drop outs, children with disability and children with HIV positive caregivers among others.

Mr Muguti said government has pledged to give necessary support to adolescents to make sure the skills obtained are put to good use for economic development.

“We will work with relevant authorities to avail working spaces so that groups can fully operate within the confines of the law. We foresee growth and we will put all efforts to make sure economic empowerment and sustained use of kits is achieved by these adolescents and their families.

“We have a collective responsibility to develop our economy and build our nation. As government we remain committed to work with development partners whose objectives dovetails into the National Development Strategy 1 and Vision 2030,” he said.

MCV project is an orphans and vulnerable children and households with an overall goal of mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS on Zimbabwe’s vulnerable children by enhancing the sustainability of care and support services for the orphans and vulnerable children.