Burkina Faso/Youth: IOM finances over 700 young micro-business promoters to the tune of more than 600 million FCFA
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) presented cheques to young promoters from the Plateau-Central, Centre-East and Centre-South regions on Tuesday November 26, 2024 in Tenkodogo. A total of 775 young people received their funding at an official ceremony.
"Burkina Faso faces many challenges when it comes to empowering young people. Despite the resources and potential at their disposal, many young people today face difficulties in their quest for economic opportunities, education and vocational training". These are the findings of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The main aim of the second phase of the "Youth, Employment and Migration (YEM) II" project is to contribute to the country's socio-economic development, while reducing irregular migration. The project has focused on developing sustainable alternatives, with an emphasis on strengthening the employability and entrepreneurial skills of young people.
According to Aïssatou Guissé Kaspar, IOM's Head of Mission in Burkina Faso, the second phase of the project has trained 805 young people in entrepreneurship in the three intervention regions: Plateau-Central, Centre-East and Centre-South.
Among these young people, 775 individual promoters and cooperatives benefited from a total of 622 million FCFA in financial support to create and strengthen their micro-enterprises.
"We are aware of the concerns of our young people".
This official funding ceremony was attended by several regional governors and other administrative authorities. "I would like to reiterate the availability of my organization, IOM Burkina, to support the priorities of the government and the people, especially the youth of Burkina Faso", said Aïssatou Guissé Kaspar.
Presiding over the ceremony, the Minister for Youth and Employment, Roland Somda, affirmed that this initiative is fully in line with the vision of the Burkina Faso authorities. "This initiative is to be highly commended, and we take this opportunity to salute the partner who has worked so professionally," he said.
He took the opportunity to recall the type of partnership that Burkina Faso expects. "It's time to remind ourselves that this is the kind of collaboration we need. We know the concerns of our young people. We appeal to all partners who come to Burkina Faso to fit in with the government's vision," he said.
"We're going to work in such a way that our children can benefit..."
Aminata Nakorba, testified to the great satisfaction of the beneficiaries on this day. "Through my voice, all the beneficiaries of this funding pledge to seize this significant opportunity for socio-economic empowerment offered to us to carry out our various projects", she formulated.
For the beneficiaries, it's a concrete opportunity to finance and strengthen their skills in job creation. Such is the case of the Scoop Relwendé cooperative in Plateau-central, which specializes in fishing. On November 26, 2024, its members received a check for 11,000,000 FCFA. "We're going to work in such a way that our predecessors, our children, can benefit from this sum, from the IOM," confided Sayouba Sinaré, a member of the cooperative.
It should be noted that in August 2017, IOM launched the first phase of the project "Strengthening employability andentrepreneuriat des jeunes pour réduire les risques de migration irrégulière" in the Centre-Est, Centre-sud and Plateau-central regions.
This project is part of the Burkina Faso government's efforts to address this persistent concern, with financial support from the governments of Italy and Belgium, and under the supervision of the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Employment.
This first phase, which provided technical and financial support for 375 young people in the Centre-Est region, has been extended in 2021 to the other two regions of Centre-sud and Plateau-central.
Source: lefaso.net/
