400 youth from Elgeyo Marakwet have graduated with technical skills from 13 Vocational Training Centres (VTC) in the county, courtesy of the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works (YAW) program working with KCB Foundation’s 2Jiajiri programme.
258 of the youth also received business start-up toolkits to enable them to kick-start their entrepreneurship journey by creating their own employment.
KCB Foundation Acting Chief of Party, Bernard Barasa termed the graduation a milestone in tackling youth unemployment. The initiative was lauded by the county Governor Wisley Rotich.
“By working in partnership with the county government and institutions accredited by the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) we’re ensuring that the youth have the right technical capacity to take advantage of emerging opportunities at the county level. In addition, they will receive business development support from the KCB Foundation to enable them to start their own enterprises, should they wish," Barasa stated.