Put youth development a priority, local authorities urged
North Western province minister Robert Lihefu has called on local authorities in the province to put youth development as a priority in their annual programs.
Mr Lihefu said the desire of the provincial administration is to have youth development resource centers in all the constituencies hence the need for allocating funds towards that.
He said this is in line with the new dawn administration’s strategic plan which has put youth development and empowerment at the center of its development agenda.
“Government will therefore continue taking all necessary and possible measures to empower our youths through acquiring of knowledge and skills through skills development initiatives,” said Mr Lihefu.
He stated that it is for this reason that government has increased the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
He said the increased CDF to each constituency has positively impacted a substantial number of young people who have either accessed skills training or school bursaries support.
He revealed that as at December 2022, a total of 2315 applications for skills training to various institutions with the value of K19.5 million were approved in the province.
“And I can assure you that government will preserve more resources towards education and training,” he said.
He was speaking when he addressed scores of youths who gathered at Solwezi City Mall in commemoration of the Youth Day.
He also said government has created an enabling environment to Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) through the creation of the ministry of Small Medium Development.
“This shows commitment and importance this government has attached to the welfare of SMEs which is mainly dominated by youths,” he said.
And in responding to various concerns raised by the youths, Mr Lihefu said government is committed to addressing the various challenges and concerns of the youths.
He said concerns by the youths are also the concerns of the traditional leaders and other stakeholders.
He said among the major concerns is the tarring of the Mutanda Mwinilunga road, the Kasempa Kaoma Mumbwa road among others.“All these roads government will work on them because they are economic roads,” he said.