LocationsUN System in Zambia, Government of Zambia Hand-Over ICT Equipment to Rural Youths to Promote Empowerment and Employment
November 2, 2023
Hon. Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts, Elvis Nkandu and UNDP Resident Representative flanked by students from Mufumbwe Youth Resource Centre
The United Nations (UN) in Zambia has handed over 30 laptops, 30 desktops and accessories worth approximately Two Million Zambian Kwacha to Mufumbwe Youth Resource Centre, as part of the organisation’s commitment to contribute towards the Government’s efforts to increase support for youth empowerment and employment initiatives.
Receiving the equipment on 27th October 2023 in Mufumbwe, the Honourable Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts, Elvis Nkandu, MP, noted that the handover from the UN was part of Phase One GRZ-UN Joint Youth Programme, which is a response to a request made at the National Indaba in 2022 to rehabilitate, construct and equip the 23 Youth Resource Centres across the Country.
Launched in December 2022, the Phase One GRZ-UN Joint Youth Programme – under the theme: Unleashing Scalable Solutions for Youths Empowerment and Employment – we are trying to optimize youth resource centres by turning them into Youth Connekt Hubs which are also hubs of technology and hubs of production— Hon Elvis Nkandu, MP, Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts
The Joint Programme aims to contribute towards government’s ambition in its 8th National Development Plan of increasing support for youth empowerment and employment initiatives.
In a speech read on her behalf by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, Mr. James Wakiaga, UN Resident Coordinator Ms Beatrice Mutali expressed optimism that the recently re-stocked Youth Resource Centre in Mufumbwe will create a better learning environment with necessary tools and materials for up-to-date vocational training, as well as capacity development for centre staff in vocational training best practices.
We believe that young people must be equipped with skills and knowledge to shape a cleaner, greener, more climate resilient future. This event today is important in ensuring that young people gain and apply skills that will enable them to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development in Mufumbwe and Zambia at large— Beatrice Mutali, UN Resident Coordinator
The formulation of the GRZ-UN Joint programme on Youth was further informed by recommendations from Provincial consultations with young people which identified the need to support the rehabilitation, construction and equipping of Youth Resource Centres as one of the key approaches to youth economic empowerment in Zambia.
It is therefore within this framework that the GRZ-UN Joint Youth Programme was formulated to take advantage of innovative tools and platforms, such as the Youth Resource Centres, towards delivery of skills development, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to young people across the country.
It is planned that the Youth Resource Centre will be connected to the Youth Digital Platform, an information hub connecting various Youth Resource Centres to increase youth access to productive digital resources and opportunities, including the expansion of the reach of services being provided by the centre.
And according to a 2015 survey by the Zambia Information and Technology Authority (ZICTA) titled “Access and Usage of Information and Communication Technology by Households and Individuals in Zambia,” 70 percent of internet users in Zambia are youths.
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Learn more at: undp.org/zambia
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For more information and media interviews, contact:
UNDP Zambia: Mercy Khozi, Communications Analyst, mercy.khozi@undp.org, +260966750787, Lusaka
UNDP Zambia: Muma Bwalya, Programme Analyst – Inclusive and Sustainable Growth, muma.bwalya@undp.org, +260211 386200, Lusaka
