The International Labor Organization has begun the training of young Liberians in rural Liberia intended to build their entrepreneurial skills.
The training focuses on educating young men and women on how to start and improve their businesses in their communities.
The training commenced on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 in Botota Town, Kokoya District, Bong County.
About 25 young and innovative Liberians are participating after passing through a rigorous selection process.
The program is a Joint Project “Building Resilience of Youth, Women, and Vulnerable Groups through Social Protection Floor in Liberia using ICT,” aims to address the complex multi-sectorial and inter-connected challenges of human insecurities particularly food, social, and economic issues for the most vulnerable and neglected populations of the North-Central region of Liberia at the community level.
The project promotes the concept of human security through implementing this initiative as a model human security with “protection” and “empowerment” measures as the most appropriate approach.
Speaking on behalf of the International Labor Organization, ILO Finance Officer in Liberia, Momo Watson said the program is targeting 150 vulnerable community members to benefit from entrepreneurial skills training on how to start and manage their businesses.
He said beneficiaries were selected from six of the project communities (Bahn, Gbanquoi, Botota, Forkelleh, Zorzor, Yealla) in Nimba, Lofa and Bong Counties respectively.
“The objective of the step-down training is to build the entrepreneurial capacity of 150 vulnerable community members to start and improve their businesses; styled: Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB).
The SIYB is a management training programme with a focus on starting and improving small businesses as a strategy for creating more and better employment,” Watson noted.
He said the intervention is to ensure increased access to livelihood opportunities for women and young males and females in the targeted Counties for sustainable and inclusive economic and human development stressing that it is expected to take place in all six project communities in Nimba, Lofa and Bong Counties.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP’s) Program Director in Liberia, Boye Johnson emphasized the importance of the training in the lives of young Liberians.
He encouraged the participants to keep focus and apply the knowledge acquired to their lives and improve their businesses, adding, “I encourage you all to take this training seriously and add values to your lives.”
At the same time, the participant expressed excitement for the SIYB program and thanked the International Labor Organization and partners for the opportunity given them to improve their entrepreneur skills and their businesses.
They learned topics like skills of an entrepreneur, characteristics of an entrepreneur, business plan, record keeping, and marketing amongst others.
“This training will help me to know how to start my business and grow my business. I also learn to be professional entrepreneur because I have learned the characteristics of a professional entrepreneur” One of the participants asserted.
The training is expected to continue in Forkolleh next week.
