2015-07-22Staff Report 2 Windhoek The imminent closure of the Katutura Youth Enterprise Centre (Kayec) has drawn some youth to tears as they informed Minister of Youth, Sport and National Service, Jerry Ekandjo, about the threat hanging over this important community development centre. Kayec has been getting financial help from the United States Agency for International Development Agency (USAID), but this is due to come to an end soon. Victoria Ndemongela and Josefhina Simvula, two of the youths active at Kayec, couldn’t hold back their tears when sharing the news of the impending closure of the place they have been calling their home away from home. “It really hurts. Because our organisation is not recognised they plan on closing it down. This place is where kids from the streets go and do different activities, but now it will be closed. We used to be funded by USAID, but now they are pulling out. We need funding,” says Ndemongela. Unemployment, lack of affordable business erven, lack of access to business information, lack of access to business information, insufficient vocational training centres, lack of youth entrepreneurship training, concentration on traditional sport codes, in terms of sponsorship, ignoring or neglecting new ones – which may be considered non-traditional or glamorous – are part of the catalogue of problems the young ones tabled to Ekandjo. Close to 100 youth from across the Khomas region gathered at the Katutura Multi-Purpose Youth Resource Centre to present the challenges they face in their communities and what they expect from the government. The occasion, organised by the Youth Ministry, saw many raising relevant issues that need serious and urgent attention in their communities. They asked the ministry to help and possibly fund the centre in future. The youth present represented institutions such as the Junior Chamber International, Man On the Side Of the Road, Wisdom Youth and Young Achievers. They asked for better youth intervention, more information on youth programmes, educational training on drawing up business plans/proposals, sports facilities, and youth-friendly institutions, like community libraries and playgrounds. Ekandjo explained the role of the ministry and its different directorates and promised to budget for the issues in the mid-term review of the 2015/2016 budget due to be discussed in September. He promised to build vocational training centres and sport facilities in each constituency and urged youth officials and representatives in the different constituencies to make access to information easier, as well as allow for more youth participation in different programmes. The Minister has been visiting different towns to consult the youth on issues of concern to them. 2015-07-22Staff Report 2
