The Kenya Government has unveiled an initiative to increase employment and expand skills for the youth in Kenya.
The Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunity Project (KYEOP) will run for four years and is supported by a credit of Sh15 billion from the World Bank.
The Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Youth and Gender Sicily Kariuki has said the project aims to reach 280,000 youth.
“The youth who will have received foundational skills training at the ministry will proceed to NITA (National Industrial Training Authority) for further training in industrial related skills and workplace experience while some youth will proceed to the Medium and Small Enterprise Authority to get start-up grants and business development services,” said Kariuki.
The Cabinet Secretary announced an inter-ministerial national steering committee whose work will be to provide overall supervision, policy guidance and enhance visibility of the project.
KYEOP is a predecessor of the experiential Kenya Youth Employment Project that started in 2010 and ended in February 2016.
The pilot program was implemented in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu counties through the coordination of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA.
It provided 21,283 youth with employability skills training and 13,505 of these completed internships with private sector employers