Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican government has disbursed more than 99.6 million meticais (about €1.5 million) from the state budget to support youth initiatives. The aim is to create more jobs and prevent young people from being recruited by terrorists, especially in Cabo Delgado and Manica.
The initiative is led by the Secretariat for Youth and Employment, through the Support Fund for Youth Initiatives (FAIJ), and focuses on supporting entrepreneurship.
Over the past week, more than 215 young people from more than four provinces, were awarded grants ranging from 45,000 to 190,000 meticais (€690 to €2,900) to develop projects and generate income.
The Secretary of State for Youth and Employment, Oswaldo Petersburgo, who delivered the checks to the beneficiaries in the district of Macate, Manica province, said that insofar as there were military gains in the fight against terrorism, the government supported active employability measures to respond to the needs of young people.
“This year, we are once again placing the support fund for youth initiatives at the level of the province of Cabo Delgado. It is important to highlight that, as there are military gains in the fight against terrorism, we also brought in active employability measures to respond to the needs of the population, especially the young,” Oswaldo Petersburgo explained.
Petersburgo stressed that military gains in Cabo Delgado were allowing the recovery of jobs, particularly in Macomia.
The beneficiaries
Laurinho Calimanjira, one of the fund beneficiaries in Manica, dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. “We are fully aware that we represent a part of the universe of young people who need the attention and support of the Government and of all those who directly or indirectly care about and work on behalf of youth,” Calimanjira explained. Young people wanted to “commit out loud and do everything to implement and carefully manage their projects”.
Secretary of State Petersburgo said that the government, through the Secretariat for Youth and Employment and cooperation partners, was implementing a training and production package in Cabo Delgado to the benefit of young people, and also had the mission of rehabilitating public buildings destroyed by terrorists.
Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas, but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed violence, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
