ADDIS ABABA- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a new investment worth of 60 millionUSD (3.1billion ETB) to lift up the lives of millions of youth in 18 cities across the nation.
As to a press release issued for The , the new USAID Kefeta activity which means ‘to elevate’ will help youth find meaningful jobs and expand their voice in Ethiopia’s civil discourse. Moreover, the activity will also ensure better access to essential services such as banking, family planning, and healthcare for the youth.
“Youth across Ethiopia face a variety of social, political, and economic challenges. Each young person without the promise of a well-paying job, a voice that is heard in their community or access to a family doctor, hinders Ethiopia’s prosperity.”
In order to help youth achieve their own prosperous futures, the USAID Kefeta activity will work at the grassroots level with youth-serving organizations, private-sector businesses, and civil society. For example, the activity will establish an innovative, youth-led and youth-managed ‘Empowerment Fund’ that is projected to grow to over 20 million USD by 2026, which will finance youth enterprise start-ups, as to the press release.
The activity is said to support career centers in higher education institutions and community-based youth centers to reach over 700,000 youth with skills training, such as digital literacy and entrepreneurship training.
The two million youth targeted by the life-changing USAID Kefeta activity currently live across 17 secondary cities in semi-urban communities of Ethiopia and in Capital. Ultimately, empowering the country’s young population will help propel Ethiopia further forward toward peace, prosperity, and self-reliance, it was stated.
The launching event was held at Friendship Park in Addis Ababa in the attendance of ErgogieTesfaye,Minister of Women and Social Affair, representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Labor and Skills; and Ambassador Tracey A. Jacobson, the Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy, Addis Ababa.
USAID has not only engaged youth in Kefeta’s design from the start but is committed to ensuring this new activity will be youth-owned, youth-led, and youth-managed, it was stated.
The March 5/2022
