BY SIBUSISEKILE NDLANGAMANDLA
MANZINI– About 403 Tinkhundla Youth Committee (TYC) representatives are being mobilised across all 59 Tinkhundla and approximately 385 chiefdoms to connect young Emaswati with employment, skills development and income-earning opportunities under the Eswatini Youth Employment Opportunities Project (EYEOP).
The grassroots mobilisation forms part of EYEOP’s five-year target to support 30 000 young people by taking information about available opportunities closer to the communities where they live.
The representatives are being equipped with information on EYEOP’s objectives, programme components, eligibility requirements, application and selection processes, referral mechanisms and grievance redress procedures.
They will also serve as community-based mobilisers and referral agents, helping eligible young people understand available opportunities and connect with the project. The approach is intended to create a direct link between EYEOP and young people at community level, particularly through existing structures within Tinkhundla and chiefdoms.
Speaking during the engagement, Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE) Project Manager Thulasizwe Simelane said working through community structures was important in ensuring that young people received accurate information about EYEOP and the opportunities available.
The Manzini engagement brought together EYEOP implementing partners and representatives from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, EWADE, Microprojects, Eswatini National Youth Council and Ministry of Agriculture.
The partners are working with Tinkhundla Youth Committees as part of efforts to expand youth participation and improve access to information at grassroots level. EYEOP’s mobilisation campaign has already covered the Shiselweni and Lubombo regions before moving to Manzini, with Hhohho scheduled to receive the same briefing.
The nationwide rollout means the project’s community mobilisation effort will extend across all four regions, using Tinkhundla Youth Committees to take information from regional structures to communities and individual young people.
The 403 representatives will therefore form an important link in EYEOP’s efforts to reach its 30 000-youth target over five years. Through the grassroots approach, young people will have access to information on who qualifies, how to apply, where to seek assistance and how to raise concerns about the programme.
The initiative places community-level mobilisation at the centre of EYEOP’s strategy to ensure that opportunities reach young people beyond national and regional platforms.
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(Courtesy Pic)
