2017-06-26Staff Report 2 Kuzeeko Tjitemisa Windhoek-The government through the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation recently placed 1,233 job seekers from Kunene Region in various positions across the country. The labour minister Erkki Nghimtina revealed this in parliament last week, saying that during this financial year the ministry registered 13,676 job seekers in Kunene and had placed 1,233. Nghimtina was responding to questions posted by DTA chief whip Jennifer van den Heever who asked what initiative the ministry has in place to address youth unemployment in Kunene. For years Kunene has been ranked among the regions worst affected by unemployment. Nghimtina said the ministry has established a system (Integrated Employment Information System) that is accessible to all the regions and captures the details of job seekers, employees and training/education institutions. Nghimtina said the ministry is currently tasked to administer the Employment Service Act. This act requires employers to post vacancies to the Employment Service Bureau for employment officers to match job seekers with vacancies posted. He said this is an ongoing programme in all regions, including Kunene, and many young people have thus been assisted to get permanent employment. However, he said, the challenge is that most young people do not have skills required by the labour market. “As a result in most cases the ministry is unable to prove prospective employees as requested by prospective employers,” he said. Furthermore, Nghimtina said, when he took office as labour minister he sent a team of senior officials to all the regions to consult with the regional leadership to solicit project proposals that have the potential to create employment in their respective regions. He said he has so far received positive feedback and hundreds of proposals. “Selected projects that were submitted are being developed with the assistance of other government authorities such as the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development for possible funding. “These projects target young people in all regions, including Kunene,” he said, adding that the ministry is also in consultation with other relevant institutions to work together to assist the youth to acquire the appropriate skills needed by various industries. He said such skills would make young people employable or enable them to create their own employment. “We want to create employment opportunities in rural areas to address two main challenges: boosting the rural economy and at the same time curb the presently increasing rural-urban migration.” 2017-06-26Staff Report 2
