Making a dent in youth unemployment

Some 20 young Barbadians are being given the opportunity to develop business ideas, increase their skills and make a contribution to the development of their peers and community.

This is being made possible through their enrollment in a Training of Trainers Workshop being conducted in association with the Youth Desk of the CARICOM Secretariat, and as part of the 10th European Development Fund’s CARIFORUM Crime and Security Cooperation Programme.

Speaking to members of the media during the launch of the programme at Sky Mall, Haggatt Hall this morning, Minister of Youth and Community Empowerment Adrian Forde said Barbados is pleased to be a part of the process, as the workshop will build capacity to deliver peer-to-peer training to at-risk, unattached youth and young offenders.

He said the workshop would also add to Barbados’ list of modalities for engaging and facilitating entrepreneurial activity among young people in Barbados in order to counter youth unemployment and reduce crime and violence.

“The CEBO (Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity) workshops are therefore the types of investment in development that are of interest to the Ministry of Youth and Community Empowerment. This is especially so given that entrepreneurship has been declared as a critical component within the country’s overall economic recovery strategy.

“This training will therefore support this strategy by producing a cadre of young people with the knowledge, skills and abilities to enable and support their peers by creating their own businesses and being gainfully employed in creative disciplines such as sports, entertainment, the arts, craft, fashion and beauty services. In essence, this training will support our efforts at reducing youth unemployment,” Forde said.

The training will take place over the next five days. (AH)