BY SIBUSISEKILE NDLANGAMANDLA
MANZINI– The Eswatini Youth Employment Opportunities Project (EYEOP) is targeting 30,000 young Emaswati over five years as it expands its grassroots mobilisation network to connect young people with employment, skills development and income-earning opportunities.
The project is using 403 Tinkhundla Youth Committee (TYC) representatives across all 59 Tinkhundla and approximately 385 chiefdoms to take information about EYEOP closer to communities.
The latest engagement with the representatives was held in the Manzini Region as part of a nationwide mobilisation campaign aimed at ensuring that young people are informed about opportunities available through the project and understand how to access them.
The representatives are being equipped with information covering EYEOP’s objectives, programme components, eligibility requirements, application and selection processes, referral mechanisms and grievance redress procedures.
For a programme targeting 30,000 young people, access to information is an important part of connecting potential beneficiaries with available opportunities. The grassroots mobilisation creates a pathway through which information can move from project structures to Tinkhundla, from Tinkhundla to chiefdoms and then to individual young people.
This is expected to make it easier for eligible youth to learn about programme requirements, available opportunities and the processes they need to follow to participate. The Manzini engagement brought together project implementers and partners from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, EWADE, Microprojects, Eswatini National Youth Council and Ministry of Agriculture.
Their participation reflects the multi-stakeholder nature of the project and the different institutions involved in expanding youth access to economic opportunities. The TYC mobilisation forms part of a wider campaign that has already covered the Shiselweni and Lubombo regions before moving to Manzini.
The campaign is scheduled to continue in Hhohho, where Tinkhundla Youth Committee representatives are expected to receive the same briefing.
Once the regional engagements are completed, the mobilisation network will extend across all four regions of Eswatini. The five-year target of 30,000 young people places emphasis on reaching potential beneficiaries beyond centralised project structures.
Through the 403 representatives, EYEOP is creating a community-level channel for young people to receive information, understand eligibility requirements and access referral mechanisms.
The success of the mobilisation will ultimately depend on how effectively information reaches the intended beneficiaries and how many eligible young people are connected to the opportunities provided through the project.
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(Courtesy Pic)
