Kwale County Government and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the main German International Development Agency, have partnered to promote youths on skills development.
The move is aimed at training youths on vocational skills in a bid to help reduce the rate of unemployment in the coastal county.
Area Governor Fatuma Achani and GIZ Programme Director – Sustainable Economic Development, Bernd Lakemeir, signed the agreements on key areas of partnership for the benefit of residents.
GTZ has been supporting Kwale County in programs focusing on three areas of sustainable economic development, agriculture and food security and renewable energy and climate change.
In sustainable economic development, GIZ through the Go-Blue program, is supporting vocational education and training, to equip our youths with skills.
Achani also agreed to work together with GIZ in a collaborative biodiversity program, aimed at conserving the Kwale-Tanga maritime stretch.
Achani urged the youth to embrace Technical, Vocational and Education and Training (TVET), to acquire skills that will make them self-employed.
She says TVET has the potential to resolve youth unemployment and that is why the county was providing the requisite infrastructure, to make the TVET education accessible to all the young people.
The Governor said that her Administration would continue to support similar empowerment programmes, to improve the economic fortunes of youths and the county at large.
Achani advised youths to take advantage of the County government’s technical and vocational training for skills development.
She says the partnership will see the training of thousands of youths on different vocations of their choice, to make them self-dependent.
The Governor says ‘white colour jobs’ were no longer available in the labour market, hence the need for youths in the region to acquire skills to become employable in the job market.
She noted that the labour market was shifting from ‘white collar jobs’ to skills and people with technical and vocational knowhow.
Achani said the public sector was already choked and taking a toll on the wage bill and the youth should not continue to depend on the public sector for jobs.
“The National and County governments alone cannot provide the teeming youths in the country with the needed white-collar jobs,” she said, and called on the youths to embrace the various skill acquisition programmes.
The County Boss says her Administration is committed to taking the youths out of the streets and engaging them in meaningful ventures, to safeguard their future and that of their families.
She assured of the devolved government’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for the youths, to explore their potentials in order for them to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the society.
The Governor reiterated the call for youths in the County to embrace skill acquisition programmes, in order to be self-reliant.
“The youths should learn skills to be self-reliant and not depend on handouts from politicians,” she said, adding that the devolved unit was investing more in vocational and technical education.
The Governor says unemployment has been and still is the biggest challenge confronting the youth because apparently, majority of them do not have hands-on skills to earn a living or generate business ideas.
Achani says the County will continue to collaborate fully with the development partners on technical education and vocational training, to produce professionals with the necessary skills.
She regretted that the lack of awareness of the need for and benefit of, so-called blue-collar jobs like plumber, electrician, mechanic, carpenter or construction, affects youth’s willingness to enroll in TVETs.
Lakemeir who described the partnership as a lofty project, called on youths to take advantage of the opportunities the County is placing at their disposal, to achieve their potential and add-value to the local economy.
He said GTZ is cognizant of the fact that Kenya faces great challenges in combating unemployment, especially among young people.
He noted that true progress came from hard work and encouraged the youths to shun criminality and advised the youths to take advantage of the County government’s plans and programmes to give their lives a meaning.
The GTZ Director noted that with technical and vocational skills the youth could compete effectively in the local and global labour scene.
“Investing in youth skills can help integrate this population demographic into the labour market,” he said.
He encouraged the youth to enter into entrepreneurship, to create their own businesses and help the country to deal with the growing unemployment problem.
Lakemeir said TVET provides hands-on skills training required by not only industries but the individuals to create their own businesses.
By Hussein Abdullahi
